Jeremy Jacobo stood among a throng of well-wishers with his jersey over his shoulder and a satisfied grin.
The Merced College quarterback accepted the congratulations of the excited Blue Devil faithful after Saturday's 33-21 victory against Monterey Peninsula at Stadium '76, but the Kameron Huddleston T-shirt he proudly wore reminded everyone what the contest truly meant to the MC players.
"This one was for Kameron," Jacobo said. "He's all I could think about all day. I couldn't sleep last night.
"We needed to win for him."
Just five days after Huddleston's death, Jacobo helped make sure that happened.
With starting quarterback Brendan Crawford on the sideline after taking a shot to the head, Jacobo orchestrated two fourth-quarter scoring drives, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kyle McMillin that put the Blue Devils up for good with 4:33 to play.
"I was excited for the chance to help my team win,' Jacobo said. "I'd seen Kyle running free all game, so I told him if I got in there I'd find him. It worked out pretty good."
The final two scoring drives capped a 23-point fourth quarter and an all-around dominant second-half performance by MC (1-0) in head coach Mark Kaanapu's debut.
As the afternoon heat began to take its toll on the visitors from the coast, both Blue Devils lines took over the game. MC outgained Monterey 238 yards to 50 in the second half and registered five sacks, half as many as the entire 2008 season.
The bulk of the offensive damage came on the ground.
After mustering only 50 rushing yards in the first half, MC's freshmen running back duo of Emmanuel Brooks (17 carries, 98 yards) and Stephon Mathis (13-64), and sophomore fullback Vince Wilkins (4-25) helped pound out 169 rushing yards in the second half.
"When you have backs like Emmanuel Brooks, Stephon Mathis and Vince Wilkins, you want to get them the ball," Kaanapu said. "They didn't have a lot of success in the first half, but they kept fighting and started to produce."
Unfortunately, the statistical dominance didn't translate into any third quarter points. Monterey expanded its halftime lead to 21-10 on a Nathan Bell 3-yard run with 13:56 to play.
MC answered on its next possession with 21-yard touchdown pass from Crawford to Eddie Beavers. Jacobo found McMillin on the next series and the Blue Devils put the game away with a Jericho Leota safety and a Brooks 1-yard touchdown run.
"This was a great way to start the season," McMillin said. "We went down early, but no one ever felt like we were out of the game."
Three first-half turnovers contributed to the Blue Devils' slow start.
Bernard Bolden fumbled on the game's opening kickoff and Monterey took advantage, scoring a 28-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.
Bell put Monterey up 14-0 with a 3-yard run in the second quarter after a Jacobo interception.
Crawford got MC got on the board with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Cooper. Fabian Miramontes cut the lead to 14-10 after nailing a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.
"The most rewarding part was that we won this game with contributions on all sides of the ball," Kaanapu said. "(Monterey Peninsula coach) Mike Rasmussen runs a tremendous program, and his team was disciplined and hard working, (and they) took advantage of our mistakes.
"It's good to get a win, but we did plenty of little things that could have cost us. We'll get them cleaned up and addressed on Monday."
Sean Lynch is a Sun-Star sports writer. He can be reached at 385-2476 or slynch@mercedsun-star.com.
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