The Los Banos Tiger junior varsity football team (6-4 overall, 4-1 CCC), traveled to Atwater Friday night to battle the Falcons, with a share of the CCC league title on the line.
The Falcons defeated the Merced Bears last week to set up a possible three-way tie for the CCC championship, with Los Banos needing a victory to secure their share of the league title.
Atwater scored first in this game when Isaiah Navarro connected with Charley Montaro on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Falcons added the conversion for a 7-0 early lead.
The Tigers tied the score at 7-7, when they marched 53 yards in eight plays for the touchdown. Quarterback Moises Perez (3/3 passing, 30 yards, 11 carries, 151 yards, 2 TD’s) connected on passes to Zayden Affonso-Stiers and Martin Pena, accounting for 22 yards, and Michael Coelho (9 carries, 38 yards) and Perez added added 27 yards on the ground to set up a first and goal at the Falcon four-yard line.
Isis Villagrana powered over the goal line for the four-yard touchdown, and Leonardo Molina kicked the conversion for the 7-7 tie.
The Tigers needed just two plays to score their second touchdown, with Perez bolting 55 yards to the end zone, and with Molina’s conversion Los Banos held a 14-7 advantage.
A Montaro touchdown run and the conversion kick knotted the score at 14-14 with 3:23 left in the game.
The Tigers began their winning drive at their own 12-yard line, and with a combination of 13 running plays by Coehlo and Perez accounting for 87 yards, the young Tigers had a first and goal at the Falcon one yard line. Perez scored the one touchdown, and Coehlo ran in the two-point conversion for a 22-14 Tiger lead with :58 seconds left in the game.
Now it was up to the Tiger defense to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. Falcon Jerry Rivas returned the ensuing kickoff into Tiger territory at the 48-yard line, putting Atwater in excellent field position to begin a tying touchdown drive.
It was not to be, however, as Tiger safety Zaiden Nerrell (6 tackles, INT) killed the drive when he intercepted a pass deflected by Justin Sherwood, preserving the 22-14 victory, and a share of the CCC league title.
Nerrell paced the Tiger defense with his six tackles, and Zayden Affonso-Stiers, Joshua Montes, Vincente Iniguez, Adan Zarate and Jayden Garza each collected five tackles for Los Banos.
