Blue Devils open season with strong performance against Redwoods

The Merced College football team scored 33 unanswered points to finish the game as the Blue Devils opened the season with a 40-18 win at College of the Redwoods on Saturday afternoon.

The Corsairs Teejay Tome scooped up a fumble at the Blue Devils’ 30-yard line and ran for a touchown to give Redwoods an 18-7 lead in the second quarter.

It was all Merced College from there as the Blue Devils defense shut out Redwoods in the second half.

Merced College quarterback Frank Cocio connected on a long touchdown with Nick Cook before the half to put the Blue Devils in front 20-18 at intermission.

The Merced College defense opened the second half with a defensive stand, turning away the Corsairs at the Blue Devils 2-yard line.

Merced College seized the momentum as Cocio threw a long touchdown pass to Brandon Sanchez to extend the lead to 27-18.

The Blue Devils will hos San Jose City College on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Stadium ’76.

This story was originally published September 3, 2017 at 7:23 AM with the headline "Blue Devils open season with strong performance against Redwoods."