It’s time for “war.”
After a solid 33-0 win over Central-Fresno last Friday to open the 2026 high school football season, the Dos Palos Broncos will now turn their attention to the Los Banos Tigers in a longtime rivalry known as “The Westside War.”
The Frosh Soph will kick off at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity at 7:30 p.m.
“When Pacheco (Los Banos) opened, it kind of took attention away from playing Dos Palos. Pacheco became more important because of the crosstown rivalry,” explained veteran Tiger head coach Dustin Caropreso. “But with our game against Pacheco currently on hiatus, Dos Palos is now back to big significance.”
The Broncos dominated Central, a relatively new school still working to get its program established.
Dos Palos unveiled an excellent running attack, led by junior quarterback Nate Galindo. The junior gained 149 yards on just 10 carries. He showed great judgment in scrambling and picking up yardage, but also on both quarterback sweeps and RPO plays.
Another junior, running back Nick Emory, also had an impressive opening night, rushing for 82 yards on nine carries, while sophomore Brian Quiroz added 42 yards on three carries.
The Broncos took the opening kickoff and marched 71 yards to open the scoring, and they added another touchdown on their next drive as their defense held Central to a 3-and-out.
The big play on the drive was a Galindo pitch to Emory, who rambled down the left sideline all the way to the three-yard line and scored on the next play.
With Dos Palos holding a 12-0 lead in the second quarter, the Grizzlies were able to drive the ball down to the Bronco three-yard line behind quarterback Matt Martinez and receiver Rashon Lane. But the Broncos stuffed a run up the middle on 4th-and-goal from the three to keep Central out of the end zone.
Marvin Smith, who also had a good game on defense, scored the Broncos’ next touchdown in the second quarter on a five-yard run. Emory added another running touchdown in the third quarter, and Galindo hit receiver Quenton Herrera with a 11-yard touchdown toss.
Bronco head coach Rob Calvert noted that Central is a new program still trying to gain their footing, so this Friday will be very different against Los Banos.
“We will have a better chance to see where we are at this Friday,” Calvert said. “We did some good moments against Central, but we will have to work on some things and be ready for Los Banos. It should be a fun Friday night.”
Caropreso called Dos Palos “a sound football team. They are solid and are coached well.”
This will be the Tigers opener, and the coach said he will bring a young team to Dos Palos.
“We are young up front and young in the backfield, but we’re getting some good players from our frosh soph who went 9-1 last season,” he added. “We will be in the spread offense, but we will run more than we throw. We will play Los Banos football.”
