Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008

Steve Cameron: Tough road, but Merced free to dream

As if Rob Scheidt doesn't have enough on his plate...

If you believe Mark Tennis, the longtime guru of California prep sports whose well-respected CalHiSports Web site is now affiliated with ESPN, Scheidt and his team have been handed a dream.

And a bit of a slap, too.

Merced is listed at No. 20 in the ESPN-CalHiSports preseason football rankings.

That also puts Scheidt's club eighth in Northern California behind defending state champ Concord De Salle (No. 1), San Jose Bellarmine Prep (No. 5), Fresno Edison (No. 10), San Jose Valley Christian (No. 13), Granite Bay (No. 15), Stockton St. Mary's (No. 17), and San Jose Oak Grove (No. 18).

So, that dream?

The system for selecting teams to participate in those post-season North-South bowl games has been changed this year.

Two new divisions have been added, including an Open division that is intended to match the top teams from each end of the state -- regardless of their size, league, etc.

Crucially, though, the old Division I bowl game remains in place.

Cutting right to chase, what this means is that even if national powerhouse De La Salle were to go unbeaten and sail into another bowl game, it would be in the Open division.

So...

A second Division I team from northern half of the state will play in the North-South bowl extravaganza.

We're talking about a mighty task here, but if overwhelming CCC favorite Merced can run the table through a rugged non-league gauntlet, stay clean in the conference and then win the Sac-Joaquin Section, well...

Merced would have a fantastic case to play in that Division I bowl game at the Home Depot Center down in Carson.

It's hardly a cinch, since Merced must play talent-rich, 10th-ranked Edison on the road, not to mention two other defending section champs -- Napa (No. 33 in the preseason rankings) and Loomis Del Oro (No. 47).

Throw in Madera and a couple of tough league games, and it will be huge accomplishment if Scheidt's gang arrives in the section playoffs unbeaten.

We're talking in wild hypotheticals here, but that would be the spot where you run into Tennis' backhand at Merced.

Mark and his staff gush over Merced's ability: "They have without question the most talent of any team in the section..."

ESPN-CalHiSports backs that up by putting four Merced players -- Stephon Mathis, Nathan Mayfield, Bernard Bolden and Kenny Cooper -- on its preseason all-section team.

Tennis on Bolden: "(He's) among the most dynamic players in Northern California."

Yet St. Mary's, which knocked an injury-wracked Merced team out of the playoffs last year, is ranked three spots higher.

Scheidt could be forgiven if he takes that as a mild knock on his coaching, although Tennis softened the blow by suggesting that Merced does face the challenge of breaking in Allen Huddleston as a No. 1 quarterback.

You may remember that St. Mary's returns QB Cody Vaz, who launched 33 touchdown passes a year ago -- though St. Mary's lost all but three defensive starters and has lots of gaps to fill.

At any rate, let's continue our "Dream Theme" and say that Merced somehow navigates through that entire brutal schedule, wins the section and sits proudly at 14-0.

Would it be good enough to make the bowl bid a lock?

Probably.

There is one scary scenario, however, involving the Central Coast Section, home to Bellarmine Prep, Valley Christian and Oak Grove -- along with several other sluggers from the tough Catholic Athletic League.

The winner of the CCS Open division -- Oak Grove nudged Bellarmine last year -- would have a big-time case for the Division I bowl bid if that team is undefeated.