Roundup: Merced College football opens season with loss to Foothill

Cam Rottler threw three touchdown passes to lead Foothill College to a 27-6 win over Merced College in the season opener on Saturday night at Stadium ‘76.

Rottler wasn’t efficient on the night, completing only 14 of 35 passes, but finished with 280 yards passing.

B.J. Boyd added 87 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries. Boyd’s 11-yard touchdown run gave the Owls a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes and 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

Rottler later found Raj Ward for a 66-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 13-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Blue Devils looked to seize the momentum just before the half as Daniel Guerrero pulled down a 16-yard touchdown pass from Darrion Cole on fourth-and-goal to cut the lead to 13-6 with 12 seconds left in the first half.

However, the Owls scored on the final play of the half as Darrius Thomas came down with a Rottler pass in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown as time expired in the first half. The Owls went into the half with a 20-6 lead.

The Blue Devils failed to score in the second half.

Cole finished 15 of 31 for 157 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Linebacker Chris Munoz led the MC defense with 12 tackles and safety Anthony Caballero made a big play in the second half with an interception in the end zone.

The Blue Devils head to Cupertino on Saturday to face De Anza at 1 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball

Holy Names University 3, UC Merced 1 in Oakland — The Bobcats dropped to 3-7 on the season with a 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21 loss to the Hawks.

Sierra Allen led Holy Names with 21 kills.

UC Merced was led by Dominique Andrews’ 13 kills. Jalen Carey finished with 13 digs and Madison Mitchell recorded 25 assists.

This story was originally published September 8, 2019 at 6:44 AM.