Lotulelei’s big night helps Merced College football win share of conference crown

Hanisi Lotulelei had a career day with 33 carries for 283 yards and one touchdown as the Merced College football team capped the regular season with a 40-32 win over Cabrillo College on the road on Saturday night.

The win clinches a share of the Golden Coast Conference championship with Monterey Peninsula.

The Blue Devils finished with a 9-1 record overall and 5-1 in the GCC.

Merced College battled back from a 12-0 deficit to take a 13-12 lead at the half with the help of a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Frank Cocio and a pair of Joseph Lema field goals.

The Blue Devils then found the end zone three times in the third quarter as Cocio scored on a 3-yar run to give MC its first lead of the game at 20-12 with 10:27 left in the third quarter.

Elijah Macklin added a 56-yard punt return for a score and Lotulelei ran in a 21-yard touchdown to give MC a 33-18 lead with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. Lotulelei finished the regular season with 1,300 rushing yards.

Merced College linebacker Danny Chavez returned an interception 34 yards for a score to extend the Blue Devils lead to 40-18 with 10:05 left in the game.

Cabrillo made things interesting as quarterback Nick Martig tossed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to cut the MC lead to 40-33 with 2:48 left in the game, but the defense held. Martig finished with 380 yards passing and fourth touchdowns.

Christopher Meneley led the Blue Devils with 14 tackles. Jac Yurow added 12 tackles and an interception.

Merced College now waits to see who its will face in a bowl game.

This story was originally published November 12, 2017 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Lotulelei’s big night helps Merced College football win share of conference crown."