Blue Devils pick up first win on last-second field goal.
Joseph Lema kicked a 30-yard field with 1 second left on the clock to help the Merced College football team pick up their first win of the season with a 38-36 victory at San Jose City College.
The Blue Devils (1-3, 1-0 Golden Coast Conference) overcame three turnovers, including a fumbled kickoff return that was picked up by San Jose’s Kevin Lemus and returned 4 yards for a touchdown to put the Blue Devils in an early 14-7 deficit in the first quarter.
“A win is a win. I’m happy, but we make it too difficult on our ourselves,” said Merced College coach Bob Casey. “Our guys fought through it and they were able to come through in the end. The biggest thing is we were able to finish the game. If we were able to finish games, we’d probably be 2-2 or maybe even 4-0.”
Leka Lotulelei had a big game on the ground for MC, rushing for 113 yards and three touchdowns. The sophomore running back scored two second-half touchdowns that gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game at 35-28 with 10 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game.
“We were able to run the ball late,” Casey said. “I thought we wore them down and that opened some other things up.”
Alex Guteirrez added 51 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries for Merced College.
The Jaguars (0-3, 0-1) regained the lead late in the fourth quarter when George Landeros connected with Kirk Augustus for a 22-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left on the clock. San Jose City went for two and converted the conversion to take a 36-35 lead.
The Blue Devils were able to drive the field in the final seconds to set up Lema for the 30-yard field goal. Lema had missed a potential game-winning kick in the final seconds two weeks ago against De Anza.
The Blue Devils defense recorded eight sacks in the game. Kala Dusenberry-Lee finished with 2.5 sacks. Daniel Chavez and Wayne Williams added two sacks each.
Markus Brady finished with three catches for 78 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown reception from Darrion Cole that started the scoring with 12:28 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils host Contra Costa College on Saturday at 6 p.m.