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Friday, Sep. 11, 2009

Sean Lynch: Merced College football coach making quite an impression

You only get one chance to make a first impression, or so they say.

For first year Merced College head football coach Mark Kaanapu, it rang true.

Kaanapu knew it and so did the bulk of the people surrounding the program.

He entered MC's season opener with Monterey Peninsula as a novelty. Just the fourth head coach in Blue Devils history, the MC faithful happily turned out in droves to see if anything would be different from the previous regime.

Throw on top of that the added emotion of the Blue Devils losing one of their own -- Kameron Huddleston -- earlier in the week, and there was plenty on the line.

So how did Kaanapu do?

To put it in football terms, he kicked it right between the uprights.

Being the consummate professional, Kaanapu downplayed the 33-21 victory. Despite all that went right for the Blue Devils, their new coach still had a laundry list of things the team will need to improve upon heading into this Saturday's contest at De Anza.

It's what you expect from any good coach, to keep the ship even keel and continue striving for perfection.

But actions often speak louder than words, and in this case, all you need to know about the importance of the victory was the embrace -- or bear hug to be more accurate -- Kaanapu and athletic director Steve Cassady shared after the game.

Cassady even walked away doing a double fist pump.

Why?

Because the largest crowd I've ever seen in my three years covering the Blue Devils witnessed a team headed in the right direction.

MC's performance had plenty of flaws, but they're the kinds of imperfections you can live with.

Four turnovers aren't likely to be the norm with this team, and more importantly, at least in my opinion, the Blue Devils never put their heads down because of them.

Even when the nightmare start happened and MC found itself down 7-0 just 20 seconds into the game, there was no sense of panic.

Heck, MC even forced two turnovers of its own.

Equally impressive was the Blue Devils' ability to move the ball against a solid opponent.

MC racked up 393 total yards and only had to punt once in the game. Had it not been for the turnovers, the Blue Devils might have had a much larger margin of victory.

The team's discipline was vastly improved, too.

"How many times have you seen an MC football team only commit one stupid penalty in a game?" Cassady asked me afterward.

It was a first for me.

MC was only hit for one personal foul in the game on a late hit, and it was on a bang-bang play right along the sideline, where the defensive player already seemed to have committed himself.

Kaanapu also pointed out that the Blue Devils were flagged for an excessive celebration penalty, but let's just say the team didn't exactly get its money's worth on that one.

The point is that the Blue Devils turned in an all-around good show and all indications point toward them just getting better.

Local kids made the bulk of the big plays in the game and the 600 fans in attendance witnessed a team that fought for the entire 60 minutes.

A good showing at De Anza on Saturday and that crowd number will likely increase when MC returns home Sept. 19.

Kaanapu had one chance to make Merced County take notice. At the very least, the team's first performance has earned him a second one.

Sean Lynch is a Sun-Star sports writer. He can be reached at 385-2476 or via email at slynch@mercedsun-star.com.