Merced College football will travel to Feather River College for American Conference Bowl
The Merced College football team will play undefeated Feather River College in the Northern California Football Conference American Championship Bowl in Quincy this Saturday.
Kickoff is scheduled at noon.
The Blue Devils (8-2) wrapped up their regular season with a 31-19 loss to Monterey Peninsula on Saturday night, which snapped a seven game winning streak.
Merced College running back Justin Incaprera rushed for 101 yards on 25 carries in the loss.
Isaiah Hidalgo and Ronnie Harris both scored touchdowns and Malachy Harts connected on two field goals.
Merced College finished in a three-way tie atop the Golden Coast Conference with Monterey Peninsula (6-4) and West Hills Coalinga (6-4).
Heading into the postseason, the Devils have been dominant on both sides of the ball. Hidalgo (Central Valley) ranks sixth in the state in all-purpose yardage, averaging 137.1 yards a game, and he leads the state in kickoff return average at 32.6 yards and is second in punt returns at 14.8.
Freshman defensive end Jaylen Thao-Booth (Merced High) leads the state with 17.5 sacks. Freshman cornerback Jeremiah Robinson (Merced) is second in the state with seven interceptions, three returned for TDs.
Men’s Soccer— Merced College soccer has made the NorCal playoffs for the second time its two seasons of operation, this year as the fifth seed in the north (out of 24) and ninth in the state.
Sophomore striker Daniel Borges (Pitman) was voted Central Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Fellow Pitman alumnus and sophomore Felipe Lopez was voted Midfielder of the Year.
Joining them as first-team All-CVC performers: freshman striker David Mejias (Downey), freshman midfielder Benny Mejia (Turlock) and freshman goalkeeper Angel Ruiz (Pitman).
Women’s Water Polo— Merced College ended its season one game and one goal short of a final four appearance in the state tournament, with an 8-7 loss in the semifinals to San Joaquin Delta in Stockton at the NorCal finals.
Sophomore Libby Hamilton (Golden Valley) scored three goals and registered four steals in the elimination game. Freshman attacker Alina Hodges (Reedley) scored six goals in the 15-4 quarterfinal victory over Marin. Freshman goalkeeper Savonah Ward (Golden Valley) registered 15 saves against Marin and 11 against Delta.
Volleyball—The Blue Devils finished in fourth place in the CVC and qualified for the NorCal regionals. The Devils will travel to Modesto for a round one match against the Big 8 Pirates.
Sophomore Hannah Torres, outside hitter from Pacheco (Los Banos), was named first-team All- CVC. Sophomore setter Kianna Becerra (Livingston) was selected to the second team, along with sophomore libero Kayla Battles from Pitman.
UC Merced
Men’s Soccer — UC Merced’s men’s soccer team fell 4-1 to fourth-ranked University of Mobile on Thursday afternoon in the Mobile Bracket of the NAIA National Championship First Round.
The Bobcats finish their season, highlighted by program-record 17-match unbeaten streak, with a record of 12-3-5. Marcos Ceballos scored the Bobcats loan goal off an assist from Andres Lua.
The Bobcats were within a goal until the final minute, when Mobile scored twice to seal the victory.
Cross Country — Seven runners combined from the UC Merced men’s and women’s cross country team to run at the NAIA National Championships on Friday morning in Tallahassee, Fla.
Elizette Ysais highlighted the Bobcats with a UC Merced national meet record time of 18:54, good for 100th in the field of 326 total runners. Jonathan Chavez (26:27/209th) was UC Merced’s first men’s cross country runner to cross the finish line.
