Turnovers costly as Merced College football loses shootout to Monterey Peninsula
Monterey Peninsula quarterback Joshua Elmore threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more scores as the Lobos held off Merced College 40-35 on Saturday at Stadium ‘76.
The Blue Devils (4-4 overall, 1-1 American Gold Coast Conference) lost despite racking up 563 yards of offense.
MC quarterback Ryan Kraft completed 20 of 28 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns.
However, the Blue Devils defense struggled to slow down the Lobos ground game. Monterey Peninsula (4-3, 1-0) rushed for 249 yards, including 135 yards rushing from Devin Bradd.
The game was back and forth throughout.
Kraft connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dasani Tate to give the Blue Devils a 6-0 lead with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
After Monterey Peninsula responded with a 10-6 lead, Blue Devils running back Justin Incaprera scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns on the day to give MC a 13-10 lead with 5:15 left in the first half.
The Blue Devils would eventually trail 17-16 at the half.
Incaprera opened the second half with a 38-yard touchdown run to give the Blue Devils a 22-17 lead early in the third quarter.
The Lobos closed out the third quarter with an Elmore 1-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard scoring strike from Elmore to Quinton Lewis to take a 31-22 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils pulled to 31-28 after Kraft found Demoundre Evans for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 13:50 left in the game.
However, the Lobos sealed the win with a 39-yard field goal and a 2-yard Elmore touchdown run that extended the lead to 40-28.
Isaiah Hidalgo scored for MC on a 1-yard touchdown run to pull the Blue Devils within 40-35 with 2:01 left.
The Blue Devils fumbled five times in the game, losing three of them.
Incaparera finished with 83 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Merced College tight end Mataeo Brinson caught five passes for 118 yards and Tate finished with seven catches for 101 yards.
Blue Devils linebacker Cody Chapman led the defense with 20 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss.
Merced College is on a bye next week. The Blue Devils next game will be on Nov. 6 at Gilroy College at 1 p.m.
