Roundup: Merced, Hilmar, Dos Palos all advance to semifinals with playoff wins.
The Merced High football team erased a 14-point deficit in the second half, scoring 32 consecutive points as the No. 6 seeded Bears upset No. 3 Case Roble 38-26 on Friday night in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinals.
Desmond Thompson scored three touchdowns and Cody Chapman added two scores as Merced seized momentum in the second half and never looked back.
“It’s one of the most rewarding wins I’ve ever had,” said Bears coach Rob Scheidt, who picked up win No. 165.
The game couldn’t have started off worse for Merced (7-5) as the Rams ran the opening kickoff to the Bears’ 1-yard line and punched in the first score of the game.
Before Merced could catch its collective breath it was staring at a 14-0 deficit and eventually trailed 20-6 at the half.
“It wasn’t like we were getting it handed to us,” Scheidt said. “We had some unfortunate things happen. So we told our guys we’re going to go out and score on our first drive of the second half. We felt we had some good things dialed up.”
Merced did just that, cutting the lead to 20-12.
Thompson and Chapman added two quick touchdowns and suddenly the Bears had a 24-20 lead.
Case Roble (7-4) couldn’t stop the Bears the rest of the way.
“Our guys knew it and they kept rolling,” Scheidt said. “We had some key interceptions. Our defense was getting them off the field on three-and-outs. We were physical up front and our secondary was doing good things.”
Merced cornerback Alfonso Gary added an interception return for a touchdown that gave the Bears a two-score lead late in the fourth quarter.
The Bears will face No. 2 Oakdale, which defeated Patterson 67-21 on Friday, in the semifinals on Friday. It’s a rematch of a semifinal in 2016 won by the Mustangs 35-21.
Sierra 63, Atwater 14 in Manteca — The No. 5 Falcons (8-4) took an 8-7 lead on a 36-yard screen pass from Julius Peacock to Daniel De La Rosa in the first quarter.
It was all Timberwolves and running back Kimoni Stanley the rest of the way. Stanley rushed for five touchdowns as Sierra (9-3) ran away from Atwater.
Bradshaw Christian 42, Los Banos 13 in Sacramento — The Tigers’ Cinderalla run ended as the No. 4 Pride churned out a win in the Division V quarterfinals.
Bradshaw Christian (9-2) outscored Los Banos 22-0 in the second half to pulled away.
The Tigers’ two scores came on touchdown passes from Colby Copp to Landon Ramos.
Hilmar 49, Bear River 17 in Hilmar — The No. 2 Yellowjackets will face No. 3 Ripon Christian in next week’s Division VI semifinals.
Hilmar quarterback Seth Miguel completed 15 of 18 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Aidan Azevedo caught four passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns and Justin Barros added eight catches for 140 yards and two scores. Barros also added a touchdown on the ground.
Denair 21, Le Grand 14 in Denair — Aaron Martinez connected with Carlos Martinez on a 58-yard scoring strike to pull the No. 4 Bulldogs (6-6) within 21-14 with 38 seconds left.
However, the No. 1 Coyotes recovered the onside kick to preserve the win.
Martinez completed 10 of 16 passes for 160 yards and two scores.
Mariposa 52, Vacaville Christian 27 in Mariposa — The No. 2 seeded Grizzlies advance to the Division VII championship after a convincing win.
It’s the Grizzlies’ first section championship game appearance since defeating Le Grand 9-7 in the title game in 1995.
Dos Palos 49, Exeter 39 in Dos Palos — Ryan Ramirez rushed for 103 yards and four touchdowns as the No. 3 Broncos (11-1) advanced to the Central Section Division V semifinals.
Tyree Martin added 168 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Dos Palos.
The Broncos will travel to Oakhurst to face No. 2 Yosemite next week.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 12:02 AM.
