‘This is a tough one.’ Merced College squanders 20-point lead late against Feather River
The Merced College football team suffered a gut-punch type loss, squandering a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter in a 31-30 loss to Feather River College on Saturday afternoon at Stadium ’76.
The Blue Devils seemed in control, leading 31-10 after three quarters.
The Golden Eagles stormed back behind a strong effort from quarterback Jared Taylor, who led three late scoring drives as Feather River outscored Merced College 21-0 in the final 5:07 of the game to complete the astonishing comeback to stun the Blue Devils (2-2).
“This is a tough one,” said Merced College coach Bob Casey. “It’s going to stick with us awhile. It hurts.”
The fourth quarter stats weren’t pretty for the Blue Devils.
Merced College was outgained 233 yards to 15 in the fourth quarter by Feather River, which improved to 3-0.
The Blue Devils were whistled for six penalties in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over twice in the final frame.
“Feather River is a good football team. We let this one get away from us,” Casey said. “We had guys trying to make that one play that was a difference in the game. They tried to put the nail in the coffin. We just didn’t finish. You have to play 60 minutes of football. Today we played well for 59.”
The Blue Devils looked good early.
Justin Incaprera rushed for 159 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown run to finish off Merced College’s opening drive.
Blue Devils quarterback Ryan Kraft threw for 173 yards and connected with Demoundre Evans on two touchdown passes of 18 and 30 yards. Kraft also added a 32-yard touchdown run.
The Blue Devils appeared to be headed to a third consecutive win.
However, the Golden Eagles stormed back late.
Taylor connected with Chandler George for a 28-yard pass that set up Chance Bustillos’ 1-yard touchdown run that cut the Merced College deficit to 30-17 with 5:07 left on the clock.
Kraft fumbled a handoff exchange with running back Romello Presley that was recovered by Feather River at the Blue Devils’ 35-yard line.
Four plays later, Taylor scored on a 17-yard touchdown run to pull the Golden Eagels within 30-24 with 2:59 left.
The Blue Devils offense went three-and-out on the next possession and Feather River then went 89 yards for a score to take the lead.
Taylor broke free for a 28-yard run and he connected with Jacob Backus for a 45-yard pass during the game-winning drive. Tanner Hall powered in the touchdown on a 2-yard run to give Feather River a 31-30 lead with 39 seconds left.
The Feather River defense forced a fumble from Kraft two plays later to close out the victory.
Merced College travels to Yuba on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.
