Blue Devils climbing the polls, rankings after 3-0 start, but don’t tell coach Casey.

People are starting to take notice of the Merced College football team’s 3-0 start.

The Blue Devils are ranked No. 18 in the JC Athletic Bureau’s California Community College Football Coaches Poll this week. Merced College is ranked No. 1 in the Northern California American Division in this week’s California Community College Athletic Association/California Community College Football Coaches Association poll.

Here’s a tip: Don’t bring up the polls and rankings to Merced College coach Bob Casey.

“I don’t want to know where we’re ranked,” Casey said. “To me, it doesn’t matter where we’re ranked now. It’s about where you finish.”

The Blue Devils will look to continue their streak on Saturday night when they host West Hills (1-1) in the Golden Coast Conference opener for both teams at Stadium ’76.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Casey’s Blue Devils became the first Merced College team to start the season 3-0 since 1995 with last week’s 21-7 win over Shasta College.

Casey wasn’t sure the last time Merced College started 4-0. As it turns out, Casey played it. It was the same 1995 team that started 4-0 and finished 9-2.

“It was bad enough the last time we started 3-0 I played here,” Casey said.

The Blue Devils defense has led the way early on this season, giving up just over 10 points per game in the three wins. Linebacker David Perales has been one of the standouts with 20 tackles and 5 and 1/2 sacks. Demarkus Jones leads the team with 22 tackles.

The Blue Devils have 14 sacks as a team.

“They play 60 minutes of football,” Casey said. “Our defense plays as hard as they possibly can. They don’t take a play off. They’re all about it.”

Offensively, the Blue Devils have been hard to stop. Quarterback Frank Cocio has completed 37 of 72 passes to go a long with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

Running back Hanisi Lotulelei has 360 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 47 carries. Receivers Brandon Sanchez and Nick Cook have combined for 450 yards receiving and five touchdowns. Both receivers are averaging more than 23 yards per catch.

“Nick’s been a captain. He’s a leader and he’s been consistent if not our most consistent guy on that side of the ball every day in practice and in games,” Casey said. “Nick isn’t one of the bigger guys but he had success for us as a freshman last year. He’s a matchup nightmare for everybody.”

West Hills picked up its first victory last week with a 34-10 win over Yuba. Falcons quarterback Myron Norfleet rushed for three touchdowns in the win and has six touchdowns on the season and leads West Hills with 126 yards rushing.

“They’re so different than anybody we’ve faced so far this year,” Casey said. “Their quarterback runs around well. They like to spread you out laterally and force you to cover the whole field. It’s going to be a challenge for our defense.”

Casey says he hasn’t noticed any extra energy surrounding the 3-0 start. It’s been business as usual as they get ready to start conference play.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re over excited,” he said. “This group just focuses on the next week. They’re taking it step by step. I think they like playing for each other.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Blue Devils climbing the polls, rankings after 3-0 start, but don’t tell coach Casey.."