Blue Devils looking to start fast for a change against Reedley. Cocio will play.

Slow starts have plagued the Merced College football team this season. The Blue Devils have trailed going into halftime in each of their last three games.

The Blue Devils have been able to seize the momentum in the second half in most games to make up for the slow starts as the Blue Devils come into Saturday’s game against Reedley College at Reedley High with a 5-1 record overall and 2-1 in the Golden Coast Conference.

However, MC head coach Bob Casey would like to see his team avoid having to battle from behind every Saturday.

“The difference has been whether we catch the ball,” Casey said. “We run the same plays. We just drop balls in the first quarter that we catch in the third and fourth quarter. Once we get some momentum and get in a groove things start to click and we run on all cylinders.”

Casey knows the Blue Devils can’t always rely on his team rallying in the second half. Merced College has scored 51 points in the first half compared to 147 points in the second half this season.

The Blue Devils fell behind Hartnell 14-0 last week and it took a near miracle in a 53-yard punt return by Nick Cook in the final minutes to deliver a 33-28 win.

“Last week we had two drives in the first half where we were in range to get points and then penalties took us out,” Casey said.

The Blue Devils expect another tough opponent in Reedley (3-3, 1-1).

The Tigers are led by quarterback Randall Johnson, who has passed for 855 yards and 10 touchdowns. The freshman has also rushed for 290 yards and seven touchdowns.

“Reedley is a team that has gotten a ton better since early in the year,” Casey said. “They have athletes all over the field. They’re physical. They definitely look the part.”

Merced College will have quarterback Frank Cocio. The sophomore took a hit to the helmet late in the game against Hartnell, but he’s been cleared to play.

Cocio has thrown for 1,380 yards and 17 touchdowns. His favorite target has been Cook, who is putting together a monster season with 31 catches for 575 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The status of the Blue Devils second leading receiver Brandon Sanchez is up in the air after he suffered a leg injury last week.

“He’s working through it,” Casey said. “We’re going day-to-day with him.”

The Merced College defense continues to be able to keep the Blue Devils in the game when the offense stalls. David Perales picked up two more sacks against Hartnell to bring his season total to 10 and 1/2. He also leads the team with 47 tackles.

The Blue Devils can take some of the pressure of their defense by getting the offense going early.

“We’ve got to limit our mistakes,” Casey said. “One of the big things have been dropped passes and not converting on third downs. We’ve got to get some momentum going early and move the ball. That’s something we haven’t been able to do early in games this season.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Blue Devils looking to start fast for a change against Reedley. Cocio will play.."