The Dos Palos-Los Banos rivalry has had a new player for a few years now in Pacheco High School, and so a week after the Broncos hosted the Tigers in the traditional Westside War they made the trek to Los Banos to take on the Panthers.
Pleasantries were exchanged in the middle of the field Friday night as DP Mayor Katy Reed and LB Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Lewis were honorary captains. The Broncos won the toss, the Tigers elected to receive and we were off. Sort of.
Things started sluggish with a couple punts and a missed field goal, but once the clock switched to the second quarter the Broncos were off and running away to a 33-0 victory at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Quarterback Nate Galindo, from the shotgun, took the snap and darted 1-yard up the middle for the first of his 3 rushing touchdowns.
Senior running back Eric Franco made it 14-0 after going for the right sideline out of the backfield, taking a perfect spiral that went backwards from Galindo, then weaving his way for a 28-yard TD run.
Dos Palos almost tacked on another score right before halftime, but Nick Emery was stopped a yard short from the 10 as the clock put up 0:00. The Broncos back would not be denied at the start of the second half, though, as he took a draw on the first play from scrimmage 75 yards to paydirt.
“Nick Emery had a biography night rushing,” Dos Palos coach Rob Calvert said of the 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior who amassed 127 yards on just 6 carries. “Eric Franco and Ace O’Banion had a good night receiving and came up with big catches on third down.”
O’Banion had a breakout night as the 6-3, 220-pound senior tight end had a team-leading 4 catches for 54 yards. Franco snagged 3 passes for 49 yards and Emery added 2 receptions for 32 yards from Galindo.
Galindo had a big night in the air, completing 12 of 19 passes for 141 yards. He had an even bigger night on the ground, racking up 187 yards on 13 carries with those trio of TDs.
And then there was the other side of the ball.
“Defense pitched a shutout,” Calvert said. “The leading tackler was JJ Corchado and Nick Emery with 5.”
The Broncos (3-1) host Roosevelt-Fresno at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
As for Pacheco, coach Jeremy Siemiller did find a couple positives.
“Defense played alright considering they were playing with their backs against the wall the whole night,” he said. “Going to start getting ready for Livingston this week. It should be a winnable game for us on homecoming, but we shall see.”
Kickoff for the Panthers (1-2) is set for 7 o’clock Friday.
JV just miss out
The junior varsity Panthers were in a one-score game with the Broncos, but on a third and 28 from the Pacheco 45 Eli Van Worth connected with Leandro Salazar in stride to about the 25 and he surprisingly evaded every oncoming defender for the 45-yard score in the 15-7 win.
The Panthers were able to get inside Dos Palos territory, but the Broncos were able to get the turnover on downs and take a knee to end the game.
“I felt as though we were prepared to go into this game and come out with a positive result,” Pacheco JV coach Anthony Turner said. “We made a great play on our first offensive drive with a big pass from Tripp Kim to Angel Guzman-Lopez and got some key fumble recoveries and an interception early in the game.
“We just were not able to capitalize on those turnovers with points and eventually DP found ways to score and we couldn’t respond.”
Novice fall
The novice (formerly freshman) team fell to 0-3 after a 27-0 loss Thursday night against visiting Hughson.
Pacheco will have this week off before travelling to Livingston for their Western League opener on September 24.
