ATWATER — Senior receiver Lawson Aviles scored on a 15-yard run to give Hughson High a 27-21 overtime victory over Atwater High on Friday at Dave Honey Field.
Hughson had a chance to win the game earlier, but kicker Noe Pacheco just missed on a 26-yard attempt on the last play of regulation.
Atwater High got the ball to start the overtime stanza and had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. But a botched snap
was recovered by Tristan Benham, giving possession to Hughson.
“The second they snapped that ball, it dribbled over in my direction, and I just dove on it,” said Benham.
Starting at the 25, Aviles gained 3 on the Huskies’ first overtime play, followed by a 7-yard gain by Wilbanks.
On the next play, Aviles took the ball from quarterback Hudson Baldwin and zoomed around the right end, breaking a tackle before dancing into the end zone.
“We have so much talent on this team,” said Aviles. “We believe we can compete with anybody.”
Though Aviles scored three of Hughson's four touchdowns on the night — the other came on a 7-yard TD pass from Baldwin to tight end Valente Soria — it was Wilbanks who stole the show.
The senior running back carried the ball 34 times for 195 yards and wore down the Falcons defense with his battering-ram style. His longest run of the night was a 15 yarder.
The 5-10, 200-pounder — who also plays middle linebacker on defense and was in on just about every collision in the contest — will probably be feeling it in the morning.
“Nah, I'm good,” said Wilbanks. “I was born for this. I’m big boned; it runs in my family. I can take the hits. I love the contact.
“But I couldn’t have done any of it without my offensive line. Those guys were amazing tonight.”
The Huskies (2-0) took a 21-14 lead — their first of the game — when Aviles cashed in from 16 yards out with 7:12 to play. Atwater tied the game with 2:59 left on the clock when backup quarterback Jayden Ybarra hooked up with Isaiah Navarro on a 4-yard strike to make it 21-21. It was the Falcons’ lone touchdown of the second half.
The Huskies started the ensuing drive from their own 20-yard line and marched inside the Falcons’ 10 on nine plays —
seven of them handoffs to Wilbanks — to set up Pacheco’s field goal try.
“Every single play, I knew Eli was going to get yards,” said Baldwin. “They couldn't stop him at all.”
Just like Atwater (1-1) couldn’t be stopped in last week’s 65-64 OT win over Vacaville. The Falcons rolled up 686 yards of total offense, as quarterback A.J. Banks completed 23 of 32 passes for 466 yards for seven TDs and zero picks, and carried the ball 16 times for 101 yards and another score. Meanwhile, 6-5, 215-pound receiver Sylas Austin caught 11 passes for 323 yards and five scores. However, not only was their production limited against the Huskies, Banks didn’t even finish the game. He sat out the fourth quarter with what appeared to be an ankle sprain after completing 6 of 13 passes for 95 yards. Fifty-seven of those yards came on one play — a TD pass to Austin that gave the Falcons a 21-14 lead with 27 seconds left in the first half.
Austin, meanwhile, caught just three passes on the night for 64 yards, as cornerback Noah Bradley made him a non-factor.
“Actually, I wasn’t confident at all coming into the game,” said Bradley. “I’m a junior and he’s a senior; I’m 6-1 and he’s 6-5. But I was in his head. I could tell.”
Baldwin, a reclassed freshman, earned the start over senior Russell Spaulding and finished 8-of-17 for 106 yards.
“I don’t quite feel like the starter yet,” said Baldwin. “It’s still going to be a battle. But I feel more confident in that battle now.”
As for head coach Sean King, he was facing the Falcons for the first time since he played at Johansen High (Modesto) and lost to them in the 1996 postseason.
“I had a lot of my old teammates calling me and reminding me this week,” said King. “This one feels a lot better than the one in ’96.”
The three-time defending Sac-Joaquin Section champs will be on the road for a third consecutive week as they make the short trip to Turlock for a matchup with unbeaten Pitman (2-0) at Joe Debely Stadium.
