Part 1 of the “Revenge Tour” went very well for the Dos Palos Bronco Senior youth football team last Saturday night at Los Banos’s Veterans Stadium.
Dos Palos, the No. 4 seed in the Tri-County North Division playoffs, traveled west on Highway. 152 to take on arch-rival and No. 1 seed Los Banos. Several Broncos came up with their best games of the year as Dos Palos upset the Tigers, 24-14. The win avenged a regular-season loss to the Tigers, 20-0.
Part 2 of the “tour” will come this Saturday as Dos Palos will travel to Madera Ranchos for the North Division title at 5 p.m. against Firebaugh. Earlier this year in the regular season, Firebaugh defeated Dos Palos 12-6. The No. 3 Falcons upset Madera Ranchos, 12-6, last Saturday to advance.
Dos Palos received excellent two-way efforts from players like Chaz Merrell, Billy Scott, Quinten Herrera, and John Snapp. The Broncos opened their first drive by returning the kickoff deep into Los Banos territory.
Snapp, at running back, carried the ball in for the game’s first score. Diego Garcia kicked the two-point conversion to give Dos Palos an 8-0 lead. Late in the first quarter, Herrera hit Vicente Enriquez for a 15-yard touchdown pass, and again Garcia’s kick was good for a 16-0 lead.
With about three minutes to go in the second quarter, the Tigers got on the board to close the gap to 16-8, but with 2:15 left in the half, Herrera hit Billy Scott with a 30-yard touchdown pass. Los Banos’ Eric Franco closed the gap to 24-14 on a touchdown run right before halftime.
With the scoreboard being lit up, it seemed likely that a second-half shootout would occur, but the final half was scoreless as both defenses stepped up and turnovers stopped drives. The Tigers drove deep into DP territory several times but were continually turned away by turnovers or fourth down stops. Merrell picked off two LB passes, and Scott had one interception to stop drives. The Broncos also came up with five quarterback sacks.
Late in the third quarter, Los Banos was stopped deep in Dos Palos territory. The Broncos fumbled on their next play to put the Tigers back in business, but the Broncos’ defense was able to hold again and keep them out of the endzone.
Dos Palos kept the ball on the ground and chewed up the clock to secure the big win.
Head Coach Jeremy O’Banion said that his squad is peaking at the right time heading into the Firebaugh contest.
“That was the best game we played all season,” said O’Banion. “We played very well. We have figured things out, and we have a lot of guys participating and contributing. It’s a lot of fun to watch. We played phenomenal on defense. Right now, our defense is as tough as nails.”
