Los Banos red-zone execution costly in CV loss

The Los Banos football team has not been a detail-oriented group through the first seven weeks of the season.

The Tigers have had enough talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, to be in every single game. Executing the little things that can make the difference in those tight ballgames has proven difficult, however. The lack of attention to detail cost LB again in 16-8 loss to Central Valley at Loftin Field on Friday night.

After struggling to move the ball for most of the night against a stout Central Valley defensive front, a 53-yard Hail Mary from Christian Corral to Andre Castillo in the final minute gave the Tigers one final chance in an eight-point game. With not timeouts left, Corral sprinted the team to the Hawk 12-yard line and took a knee instead of spiking the ball.

The lapse in concentration cost the Tigers two plays and 20 seconds, as he killed the clock on the next play with an incomplete pass. Los Banos (4-3, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference) did still have two chances to score or at lest pick up a first down, but the entire rhythm of the series was thrown off. A fourth-down heave off the finger tips of a diving Dustin Johnson ended the comeback bid.

“The game on the line, you have to know the situation,” Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso said. “We’re yelling at him to spike the ball and he takes a knee. There’s plenty of other things that cost us the game. It doesn’t come down to that one play, but that lack of focus throws off the whole final drive.

“We practice our red zone stuff all the time, but we aren’t executing when it matters. A game like this, we knew it would come down to who took care of the ball, and we didn’t do it.”

While Corral’s knee was the most glaring example of a missed detail because of when it came in the game, it was just a microcosm for the Tigers’ entire evening.

LB made four trips to the red zone and came away with all of eight points to show for it. In stark contrast, the Hawks (6-1, 2-0 WAC) only made three trips inside the Tiger 20-yard line, but scored points every time.

The first of those came at the end of the first quarter.

Central Valley’s combo of active defense and strong special teams pinned LB on its half of the field for almost the entire first half and gave the Hawks consistent short fields. Angel Lopez cashed in one of those with a 31-yard field goal to open the scoring.

Poor gamesmanship cost the Tigers in Central Valley’s very next series. A holding call on a fourth-and-2 should have forced a punt, but LB was flagged for taunting after the play, gifting the Hawks a first down and new life. CV made it hurt as quarterback Willie Soriano ran in from 7 yards out six plays later to make it 10-0.

Los Banos’ only meaningful drive of the first half came in the final two minutes, but ended without points. Llaret Villanueva had his 31-yard field goal try blocked and returned by CV for a touchdown with 50 seconds left in the half. A penalty flag negated the score, keeping it 10-0 at intermission.

The Tigers picked right back up shooting themselves in the foot with the opening kickoff of the second half, as Villanueva lofted a pooch attempt. LB failed to give a CV player a chance to make a fair catch, handing the Hawks the ball at the Tiger 38. Central Valley took full advantage, with Soriano punching it in from 1-yard out eight plays later to make it 16-0.

Los Banos looked poised to respond to open the fourth quarter, but fumbled a read option at the Hawk 10.

The Tiger defense kept hope alive. LB yielded just 88 total yards in the second half and handed the ball right back to the offense. Corral and company finished what they’d started the previous drive.

Chris Kyles handed Los Banos a first-and-goal with a 59-yard run. The Tigers mustered just 30 yards on 26 carries the whole rest of the night. Mason Leao punched in a 1-yard score a couple plays later and the Tigers converted the 2-point conversion to make it a 16-8 game with 4:31 to play.

The Lod Banos defense kept hope alive, handing the ball back to the offense twice in the last 3 minutes of the game. Corral (20 of 38 for a season-high 249 yards) almost cashed in the chance, connecting with Castillo (five catches, 101 yards) for the 53-yard bomb. The Tigers came up just one more completion short, however.

“We have to change our mindset in the red zone on both sides of the ball,” Leao said. “We should have stopped them on one of their touchdowns and we definitely should have scored more of our chances.

“I feel like this was a game we should have won. It’s just something we have to learn from and come back ready to work harder at practice next week.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 12:18 AM with the headline "Los Banos red-zone execution costly in CV loss."