Football Roundup: Hilmar, Los Banos, Stone Ridge Christian all eliminated from playoffs

Shawn Jansen
·2 min read

It was a rough night for the three Merced County teams still alive in the Sac-Joaquin Section football playoffs as Hilmar, Los Banos and Stone Ridge Christian were all eliminated on the road on Friday night.

Hilmar and Los Banos were one win shy of playing for a section championship and Stone Ridge Christian fell in the Division VIIB championship game.

No. 2 Casa Roble 34, No. 3 Hilmar 14 — The No. 3 seeded Yellowjackets faced a high-powered Rams offense led by quarterback Connor Campbell, who had thrown for 2,118 yards and 28 touchdowns coming into the game.

Campbell threw for four touchdown passes against the Yellowjackets in the Division V semifinals.

Hilmar cut the lead to 21-14 in the second half, but Casa Roble pulled away. Yellowjackets star Caden Bailey rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Quarterback Matt Ellerd added a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Hilmar finished the season with a 8-4 record.

No. 2 Casa Roble (11-1) will face No. 1 Twelve Bridges (12-0) in the championship game next week.

No. 1 Bridges 54, No. 4 Los Banos 14 — Tigers quarterback David Herrera missed most of practice this week with an illness and only played the first half against the Rhinos on Friday.

Herrera threw two touchdowns, connecting with Yahir Zuniga on a 37-yard touchdown pass and with Caleb Robertson on a 39-yard scoring strike.

Cade Torres, Cole Ramos, Jett Lindeman and Lorenzo Chavez all finished with seven tackles for the Tigers defense.

Los Banos finished the season with a 10-2 record.

No. 1 Woodland Christian 39, No. 2 Stone Ridge Christian 0 — The wet weather combined with a tough matchup against a very talented Cardinals team was too much to overcome for the Knights (9-2).

Woodland Christian recorded its eighth shutout of the season to win the Sac-Joaquin Section VIIB championship.

Woodland Christian will play VIIA champion Ripon Christian in a NorCal Bowl play-in game next week.

“Lots of rain caused lots of problems,” said SRC head coach Anthony DeJager. “Our guys played hard but (Woodland Christian) was excellent.”