Defense records shutout as Merced College football routs Contra Costa

The Merced College defense dominated from start to finish to help the Blue Devils rout Contra Costa 50-0 on Saturday night at Stadium ’76.

It was MC’s second straight win to improve to 2-3 overall.

The Blue Devils held the Comets offense to just 32 yards of total offense and just seven first downs. Daniel Chavez led the way for Merced College with 10 tackles, including four tackles for loss.

With Merced College thin at linebackers, running backs Leka Lotulelei and Alex Guteirrez switched over to defense and both recorded six tackles.

The defense even got into the scoring with a safety and a pick-six by Alex Andrade in the second half. Thomas Allegre and Marcus Moore also recorded interceptions for the Blue Devils.

Merced College quarterback Darrion Cole connected on a pair of touchdown passes and also ran in another score. Cole found WR Sanders for a 5-yard touchdown pass to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Cole added a 2-yard run with 1:03 left in the second quarter to give MC a 14-0 lead at the half.

Cole found receiver Markus Brady for a 10-yard scoring strike to extend the lead to 17-0 with 13 minutes left in the third quarter.

Sanders and Tristan Crowley added touchdown runs in the second half. Joseph Lema connected on field goals of 23 and 35 yards.

The Blue Devils head into their bye week before hosting Monterey on Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published September 30, 2018 at 10:01 AM.