Atwater High quarterback A.J. Banks threw three touchdowns, connecting twice with star receiver Sylas Austin, but the Falcons couldn’t slow down Hilmar as the Yellowjackets ran away with a 52-28 victory at McSweeney Field on Friday night.

“Everyone’s plan has been to keep our offense off the field,” said Atwater head coach Seneca Ybarra, whose team dropped to 2-2 this season. “They want to keep A.J., Syslan and Vinnie (Valladao) on the sideline. That was Hughson’s MO, Gregori tried to do it and that’s what Hilmar did tonight.” The best way to do that is to keep the ball on the ground, keep the clock running and that’s what Hilmar did against the Falcons. Hilmar moved the ball with a two tight end formation and just overpowered Atwater.

The Falcons answered with big plays as Banks found Austin for touchdown passes of 47 and 45 yards to pull Atwater within 17-14 late in the third quarter. That’s already eight time the senior duo have connected for scores through four games this year.

Atwater running back Durrel Morrisson followed up his 229-yard rushing performance with three touchdowns last week with another big game against Hilmar. The senior scored on an 82-yard run and later hauled in a 72-yard touchdown catch from Banks that cut the Hilmar lead to 38-28 with 5:17 left.

However, Hilmar closed out the scoring with two unanswered touchdowns to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Yellowjackets have also won three consecutive games against Atwater. The Falcons will host a Pitman team that improved to 3-1 with a 28-19 victory over Golden Valley next week. 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.