James Burns: Merced football wins lesser of two rivalry games; Santa Fe next

Merced simply couldn't compete, its faithful forced to face the music.

The march ate up the final 5 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Small forward gains, one right after another, the heavy-lifters first, followed by the gunners and flag carriers.

This was a drive Knute Rockne would have been proud of.

Yes, Golden Valley's 100-piece band and color guard were impressive on Friday evening, their instruments shining under the lights of Don Odishoo Field.

The band stole the show in the waning moments of the junior varsity game, filing out onto the track in their immaculate game-day uniforms, a seemingly endless stream of tubas and trumpets.

Quite the sight.

Then the varsity game began -- this Battle for the Mayor's Cup -- and Merced took over like lava would a Hawaiian village. A slow-to-start orange glow, building speed as it goes.

Destructive.

Disruptive.

Golden Valley scored on its first two possessions, showcasing the misdirection and deception of the Veer offense, while whipping the Merced sideline into an absolute frenzy.

Fullback Matt Delora sprinted past Merced safety Andrew Mendoza for a 16-yard score. Quarterback Tyler Arnsberg later found the end zone on a 25-yard sprint as the underdog grabbed the game by the...

"They're taking it to us," yelled Merced kicking coach Reno Marinelli.

But trends and traditions aren't broken easily, and by the second quarter Merced had figured Golden Valley and its tricky offense out.

Golden Valley fumbled three times in the quarter, lost one possession to an onside kick and punted away another.

Merced ate up the mistakes like Pacman pellets, becoming almost unstoppable in its pursuit of the Cup.

Golden Valley's 14-7 first quarter lead vanished faster than Houdini's assistant. Merced outscored its crosstown rival 48-6 in the final three quarters, with most of the damage coming from Eric DeAnda.

The record-setting running back one-upped his 307-yard effort in last week's victory over Buhach Colony with five rushing TDs on Friday evening.

Final score: Merced 55, Golden Valley 20.

With the win, Merced tied the series up at 8-all. But really...

This city feud hasn't been close for years. Merced has outscored GV 169-50 in the last four games.

"I've said it before, there are a lot of teams in this conference that want to be contenders," Merced coach Rob Scheidt said. "But it's tough to play up week in and week out.

"This group is showing that they can do that.

"The feeling never gets old," he later added, "especially for this group. To win our its third straight game after losing the first four, we're going to savor this moment.

"They're soaking it up, and they should."

Fortunately, for Merced County football fans, the fall of one rivalry gives way to the rise of another.

Don Odishoo Field will be the backdrop to one of the county's oldest grudge matches next Friday, the Santa Fe Bowl.

Atwater took care of its end, thumping Pitman 42-14, ensuring next week's game will be ripe with championship implications.

"Playing Golden Valley is like playing your family. But ever since city league, it's always been us vs. Atwater," Mendoza said. "To me, that feels like more of a rivalry than GV."

The Santa Fe Bowl will be the hottest ticket in two towns.

As for the Battle for the Mayor's Cup, hey, it was great seeing Mayor Pro-Tem John Carlisle carry the trophy onto the field, but let's be honest...

The only thing that rivaled Merced on Friday was the band.

James Burns is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.