MC football finishes Yuba with Stevens’ big runs

Josh Stevens knew he needed to remain patient.

The Merced College running back had used his patented quick cuts to cleanly reach the second level of the Yuba defense a handful of times on Saturday night, just to get tripped up before he could break a big one.

Rather than get frustrated, Stevens stuck with the game plan, trusting it was just a matter of time.

His faith was rewarded when it mattered most, breaking free for an 84-yard score early in the fourth quarter. The sophomore tacked on a 35-yard score as the Blue Devils pulled away for a 28-6 victory at Stadium ’76.

“I was telling my teammates, ‘I’m going to break one. I need one. I need one now,’” said Stevens, who finished with 182 yards on 22 carries. “It takes time, but you got to be patient.

“I’d seen my right tackle pull, Gurnak (Dahami), we call him G Money. He hit his block, hit his man and I busted it out.”

The Blue Devils (2-0) controlled the game from the opening whistle, but after a fast start, struggled to put Yuba away going into the fourth quarter.

Despite moving the ball pretty consistently (469 total yards), the offense wasn’t as efficient as in Week 1. That was to be expected with backup quarterback Nathaniel Nelson making his first collegiate start. MC coach Bob Casey sat three starters for disciplinary reasons, included starting quarterback Randy Jones.

Nelson filled in well, tossing a 44-yard touchdown to Nih-jer Jackson on his very first pass. The pair hooked up again for a 13-yard strike later in the first quarter to give Merced a 14-0 lead.

Nelson finished the game 20 of 28 passing for 264 yards.

“He did everything we asked him to,” said Casey, whose team is 2-0 for the first time since 2009. “He’s a smart player. He made the throws he had to and took what was there. He showed the same intangibles that we saw coming out of high school.

“He’s a competitor and guys rally behind a guy like that.”

Businesslike as Nelson was, the offense began to stall in the second quarter.

The MC defense held Yuba at bay for most of the opening half, but the 49ers (0-2) broke through with 39 seconds left in the half. Austin Thompson hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Hopking to trim the lead to 14-6 at intermission.

The Blue Devil defense made sure it never got any closer.

MC forced four turnovers in the game, three coming after the break. Devron Davis provided the first one, intercepting a ball at the Merced 9-yard line and returning it to the 16. Stevens put the game out of reach on the very next play.

“Big-time players make big-time plays is all I have to say about that,” said sophomore defensive lineman Rufus Williams, who finished with seven tackles and a sack. “Our coaches had us very well prepared for this.

“You’re as good as you practice. We push ourselves to our limits everyday and it showed today.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 12:37 AM with the headline "MC football finishes Yuba with Stevens’ big runs."