Blue Devils win, but not happy with their performance. Cook closing in on TD record.

If Nick Cook ever becomes a teacher his future students will have to earn their good grades in his class.

The Merced College sophomore wasn’t in a generous mood when asked to grade the Blue Devils’ performance in Saturday night’s 27-13 victory over Gavilan College at Stadium ’76.

“A D-plus,” said Cook, who caught five passes for 82 yards. “We’re 7-1, but we’re capable of doing a lot more. Our biggest problem is playing down to the other team’s standard. Penalties and turnovers, stuff like that will hold you back.”

The Rams came in winless on the season and the Blue Devils (7-1, 4-1 Golden Coast Conference) struggled to put them away.

In the first half the MC offense struggled to get in a rhythm, but still built a 13-3 lead at the half. The Blue Devils moved the ball in the second half, but turned the ball over three times.

Merced College coach Bob Casey said Cook’s grade may have been too high.

“We’ve got to play better,” Casey said. “We’ll struggle these next two weeks if we don’t play better.”

Cook would have graded out high individually for his performance. The Blue Devils star is closing in on the school record for touchdown catches in a single season.

Cook caught touchdowns of 24 and 18 yards from quarterback Frank Cocio to bring his season total to 15 for the season. The record is 16 according to Merced College sports information director Pat Kelly. The record was set in 1976 by either Ruben Nino or Lonnie Moore according to Kelly.

“For me to break the record would be special,” said Cook, who is from Fort Wayne, Ind., “Since coming out here I’ve put in so much work. God has blessed me with so many opportunities and not just football. With school and coming out to California. I’m just thankful.”

Cocio’s two touchdown passes brought his season total up to 23 for the season. He’s now three touchdowns shy of tying the school record of 26 set by Chris Schaefer in 1976. Cocio was limited to just 127 yards passing against the Rams (0-8, 0-4).

Casey focused more on the running game on this night.

After rushing for just 88 yards as a team in the first half, the Blue Devils got the ground game going in the final two quarters and finished with 233 yards on the ground.

Hanisi Lotulelei finished with 142 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Alex Gutierrez added 86 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

“We made some adjustments at halftime and we were able to run the ball in the second half,” Casey said. “We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror up front and decide what type of team we’re going to be. As always our defense kept us in the game. They shut them down.”

The Rams were held to just 58 yards on the ground on 29 rushing attempts and the MC defense did force two turnovers of its own as Jac Yurow and Terris Evans came away with interceptions. Ronnie Reyes recorded three tackles for loss, including the Blue Devils only sack of the game.

Gavilan was still able to briefly make it a one possession game on the first play of the fourth quarter with the help of a trick play. The Rams used a double pass as receiver PJ Reichert hauled in a backward pass and then threw to a wide open Jawaun Hardy for a 74-yard touchdown that pulled the Rams within 20-13.

The Blue Devils answered right back, however, on two plays. Lotulelei broke free for a 50-yard run that set up Gutierrez for a 14-yard touchdown run on the next play to extend the lead to 27-13 with 13:59 left in the game.

Merced College will be back in action on Saturday at home against Yuba College at 1 p.m.

This story was originally published October 28, 2017 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Blue Devils win, but not happy with their performance. Cook closing in on TD record.."