Last Friday night, the Los Banos Tigers varsity football team (1–2) traveled to the Grape Bowl stadium in Lodi to battle the Lodi Flames (0–3) and came home with a 31–10 victory for their first win of the 2025 football season.
The Flames opened the game with a 63-yard, 10-play drive to score a touchdown and take an early 7–0 lead.
The Flames defense was tough in the first half of the game, limiting the Tigers to just 55 yards of offense, but the Tigers managed to score 10 points in the first two quarters of play.
After a short Flames punt set up the Tigers at the Flames 32-yard line, Gavin Blackwood-Estrada (5 of 9 passing, 87 yards, a TD and an interception) connected with Joshua Gargano (2 catches, 68 yards, and a TD) on a 20-yard pass completion to the Flames 12-yard line.
However, the drive stalled there, and the Tigers called on place-kicker Elias Salvatier (4 points after touchdown and a field goal), who nailed a 32-yard field goal to make the score 7–3 in favor of the Flames.
The Flames would add a field goal of their own to increase their lead to 10–3 late in the second period.
An Alan Moran quarterback sack resulted in a Flames fumble, and Angel Valerio (4 tackles and a fumble) recovered the loose pigskin at the Flames 21-yard line, with 2 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half.
Estrada (14 carries, 46 yards and 2 TDs) carried the ball on seven consecutive rushes. Finally, the Tigers quarterback used a seal off block from Justin Sherwood to power into the end zone from 7 yards out.
Salvatier added the conversion kick to knot the score at 10–10 going into halftime. The Tigers, who had deferred the coin toss to receive the second-half kickoff, took full advantage of that decision.
Gargano caught the ball at his own 17-yard line and slashed to the left sideline. Using blocks by Isis Villagrana, John Tevis and Gustavo Ruiz along the way, he scampered the 83 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Salvatier added the conversion, and with just 23 seconds off the second half clock, the Tigers held their first lead of the game at 17–10, one they never relinquished.
From that game-changing TD return, the Tigers defense, led by Adrian Rivas (8 tackles and an interception), Raul Diaz (6 tackles), Jack Goodger (4 tackles and an interception), Damian Calderon (5 tackles) and Valerio (4 tackles and a fumble), took complete control of the game, never allowing the Flames to cross midfield the rest of the contest.
Rivas set up the next Tigers score when he intercepted a Flames pass at the Tigers 35-yard line.
From there, the Tigers marched 65 yards in 15 plays, controlling the clock for over seven minutes. It resulted in a 1-yard plunge by Estrada for the score. Salvatier added his third conversion kick, and the Tigers held a 24–10 lead.
The Tigers would score a fourth and final touchdown. This one was set up by a Goodger interception at the Flames 48-yard line.
On their first play after the interception, Estrada tossed a shuffle pass to a sweeping Gargano, who rambled the 48 yards untouched into the end zone for the score. When Salvatier kicked the PAT, the Tigers held a 31–10 lead midway through the final period.
Donovan Greer replaced Estrada at quarterback, and he and the Tigers offense controlled the ball for the rest of the game to preserve the first victory of the year for the Tigers.
The Tigers will once again be on the road Sept. 12 as they travel to the Madera Ranchos to play against Liberty High School. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
