Saturday, Sep. 29, 2012

Raiders deal LB 1st loss

Los Banos High fell short in the Western Athletic Conference opener Friday in a 35-14 loss to Central Catholic.

The Tigers outgained CC 400-340, and running back James Sams rushed for 198 yards, but the Tigers had trouble reaching the end zone -- his only trip was on a 2-point conversion following LB's second touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Chris Corpuz to Daeton West.

The teams were tied at at halftime, but Central Catholic pulled away after the break.

After Los Banos' opening drive of the second half reached the Central 11 before dying on back-to-back sacks of Corpuz by defensive end John Mundt, the Raiders quickly struck.

Nate Loya's 35-yard run set-up his own 36-yard score on an inside counter for a 21-14 lead. Then, after the Tigers went three-and-out, Central went 46 yards in four plays -- a drive aided by a Los Banos personal foul -- and Ray Lomas scored from 8 yards out for a 28-14 lead.

Los Banos again answered with a long drive that ended in agony, using 16 plays to move from its own 13 to the Central 15. But the last of seven sacks of Corpuz stopped the drive with 8:07 remaining in the game, stealing away any hope of a Tigers rally.

The Tigers have two weeks to stew on the loss -- tonight is LB's bye week. Next week LB hosts Ceres, a 41-20 loser to Pacheco in the WAC opener.