The Atwater High football team erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Los Banos 35-34 on Friday night at Loftin Stadium. Durrell Morrison scored on a short run early in the fourth quarter and then Falcons quarterback A.J. Banks threw a touchdown to Charlie Whitby for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:51 left in the game.

 

Los Banos drove deep into Falcons’ territory in the final seconds, but the Tigers tried to stop the clock by spiking the ball on fourth down. The mistake turned the ball over on downs and the Falcons were able to celebrate the victory.

 

Atwater improved to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the Central California Conference. “Overall, our defense came up with some key stops,” said Falcons head coach Seneca Ybarra. “We had some nice long drives that allowed our defense to get some rest. It was a good team win.”

 

Banks threw three touchdowns and ran for another score. Banks’ other two touchdown passes were hauled in by Sylas Austin and Isaiah Navarro. 

 

Merced 49, Buhach Colony 6 – The Bears finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record and clinched the outright CCC championship with the victory. Merced quarterback Vicente Cortez ran for a 50-yard touchdown and threw two more scores.

 

Merced’s Tyson Espinoza returned a fumble 81 yards for a touchdown and Cammarri Jackson, Dougie Andrews and Anthony Tacheira all scored rushing touchdowns for the Bears.

 

Merced will find out who it will open up the playoffs with on Sunday afternoon.

 

Pacheco 32, Livingston 22 – The Panthers picked up their first win of the season as they knocked off the Wolves. Pacheco scored 32 consecutive points to open up a 32-6 lead with 3:23 left in the game. Mathias Valencia scored two rushing touchdowns for Livingston and Tony Henry caught one touchdown. The Wolves drop to 3-7 overall 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference.

 

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