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Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Merced dethroned with blowout loss to Pitman

Merced's three-year reign over the Central California Conference came to an end with a giant thud.

Pitman shoved, stomped and just flat ran over Merced on its way to a 49-7 win on Friday night at Merced College.

The win likely secured a playoff spot for Pitman (4-2 CCC, 6-4 overall).

Meanwhile, Merced's season is suddenly over.

No fourth straight title.

No playoffs.

"I don't know what happened, I kind of feel like I'm in a total fog right now," said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, whose team dropped to 4-2 and 4-6. "The kids never expected this to happen. I don't think anybody did. You have to give (Pitman) credit. They did a great job."

Pitman dominated from start to finish. Merced didn't have an answer for Pitman's Wing-T attack. Markus Sanders broke free all night on his way to 251 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Sanders had 210 yards by halftime. Merced had just 88 yards of total offense.

"(Sanders) was everything we'd thought he'd be," Scheidt said. "You watch him on film and sometimes he looked like he did tonight."

Merced didn't look anything like a team playing for a title.

Usually Merced players are jumping up and down, yelling on the sideline. The energy spills out onto the field.

"It was just a weird game," Scheidt said. "I don't know if it was the whole pregame ceremony for the seniors, which I feel bad for them. But even the plays during the game, I didn't hear any pops or thuds and that's rare for one of our games."

The players noticed the lack of energy, too.

"It wasn't there," Merced offensive lineman Gary Womack said. "As soon as we got down, everybody kind of just started looking down at the ground. I'm usually one of the guys that's up and chipper on the sideline. For some reason, we came out flat.

"I guess we didn't want to win the championship as much as we thought we did."

Before Merced knew it, they were facing a 28-0 deficit. Pitman scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions.

"We just didn't step up," Merced defensive end Jarrod Mounce said. "I don't know what happened. We studied everything they do all week. We just didn't get it done.

"It's tough. It hurts"

Merced's lone score came after Pitman's only turnover of the game.

Merced linebacker Andy Saeteurn stripped the ball from Pitman's Nathan Romo and Bobby Porter recovered.

Two plays later, Eric DeAnda scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to cut Pitman's lead to 28-7 with 3:37 left in the first half.

There weren't many more bright spots the rest of the way.

"If you want to win a championship you have to be up and ready to play each week," Scheidt said. "If you're not, you're not going to win a championship."

Central California Conference

PITMAN 49, MERCED 7

At Merced College

Pitman 14 14 14 7 -- 49

Merced 0 7 0 0 -- 7

First Quarter

P -- Dominick Walker 12 run (A.J. Derr kick)

P -- Colton Risely 3 pass from Hayden Baldwin (Derr kick)

Second Quarter

P -- Markus Sanders 70 run (Derr kick)

P -- Sanders 1 run (Derr kick)

M -- Eric DeAnda 2 run (Jose Mena kick)

Third Quarter

P -- Sanders 7 run (Derr kick)

P -- Sanders 23 run (Derr kick)

Fourth Quarter

P -- Nathan Romo 72 run (Derr kick)

Records: Pitman 4-2 CCC, 6-4 overall; Merced 4-2, 4-6.

JV -- Merced won 14-13.