Friday, Sep. 03, 2010

Los Banos football can't stop Rocklin in air

Rocklin quarterback picks apart Los Banos defense as Tigers fall 26-14 in opener

Jimmy Laughrea's arm was too much for the Los Banos High football team Friday.

The Rocklin quarterback, a verbal commit to Boise State, completed 24 of 38 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns in Rocklin's 26-14 win over Los Banos.

"Their quarterback was the difference. He was so calm and collected back there," Los Banos coach Dennis Stubbs said. "I thought our defense played great. we just gave them a couple of short fields."

Stubbs said before the game his goal was to make Laughrea use his arm. Rocklin demonstrated they were thinking the same thing when Laughrea started the game with three straight passes as Rocklin went three and out.

The first score of the night came as the result of an interception, which gave Rocklin the ball on Los Banos' 26-yard line. Brian MacDonald punched the ball in from the 2 on the first play of the second quarter.

The kick went wide, giving Rockling a 6-0 lead.

Los Banos answered with a ground game featuring senior running back Darron Brown, who broke a 29-yard touchdown run around the right end three minutes later for a 7-6 advantage. Brown finished with 113 yards on 17 carries.

"At times offensively we showed we can move the ball," Stubbs said.

A heavy blow, emotionally, came at the end of the first half, when Rocklin drove 59 yards in 18 seconds to score on the last play of the half to retake the lead.

Rocklin extended its lead with a 3-yard Marvin Gardner touchdown run in the third before Los Banos closed the gap with a 1-yard Ryan Carmo quarterback sneak.

Carmo's sneak was made possible by a 34-yard Daeton West reception over the middle four plays earlier. West took the ball over the middle, side-stepped linebacker Austin Miller and burned down the right side.

Laughrea's second touchdown pass to Williams sealed the scoring with about six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Carmo, starting just his third game for Los Banos, finished with 96 passing yards. As time wound down, Carmo created more action with his feet, moving the ball to the Rocklin 34 before the drive ended with a second interception.

"It was a pretty good game," Stubbs said. "I'm proud of our guys."

Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com