Friday, Nov. 25, 2011
Los Banos varsity football team exceeded forecast
Casa Roble wins 34-24 to end Tigers' season
By David Wittesports@losbanosenterprise.com
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ReprintLos Banos High was supposed to beat the weaker seed. The fourth-seeded Tigers were supposed to win at home against No. 5 Casa Roble, and handle the Rams' passing game the way they did Vanden the week before.
It wasn't to be, and instead Casa Roble will travel to Oakdale tonight after booting LB from the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs with a 34-24 win.
The Tigers didn't do a lot of the things they were supposed to do this year -- such as finishing third in the Western Athletic Conference. Instead, LB ran undefeated through league play for the outright championship.
The Tigers were supposed to be a bubble team for the playoffs -- instead they crushed their way to a 9-1 regular-season record and the fourth seed in the playoffs.
"I'm excited for them. It was a heck of a year. Not a lot of people gave us a chance," Los Banos coach Dennis Stubbs said. "To win 10 in a row and to play a team like Casa Roble -- they're number nine in the state in scoring, and we held them.
"We did some good things. It's just a learning process. We're proud of our efforts, and it was a heck of a season."
With mostly juniors in the skill positions, the Tigers were supposed to go wide-eyed in key situations. But quarterback Chris Corpuz and running back James Sams played like veterans, with Sams' year culminating in a 305-yard night in the loss to Casa Roble.
"I've just got to say watch out for the Tigers and the program, baby. It's a real solid program," senior defensive end Trent Taylor said. "I don't want to hear anything about being weak next year, because that's what they said about this year, and look what happened."
The Los Banos team that showed up in the first half of Friday's game played like a different team than the one that has lit up Loftin Stadium all season.
"We didn't start like we wanted. You've got to credit them too, but it just didn't seem like it was us," Stubbs said. "It looked like they just ran us over. We couldn't tackle, and we gave up some big plays."
After halftime though, Casa Roble made it into the end zone just once.
"We didn't change anything, we just kind of manned up," Taylor said. "Our game plan was set, and it worked, they just came out hard."
Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at (209) 388-6565 or by email at sports@losbanosenterprise.com.