Merced College gambles, falls short in overtime in bowl game against College of Sequoias
Coaching in his final game as the Merced College head coach, Bob Casey gambled on the last play going for the win.
Casey, who is stepping down as head coach after the season to become the Associate Dean of Kinesiology and Athletic Directer at Merced College, opted to go for two and the win in overtime.
However, a College of Sequoias linebacker knocked down a pass from Blue Devils quarterback Jacob Bettencourt and the Giants players celebrated a 40-39 win in the Valley Center Bowl at Stadium ‘76 on Thursday night.
As the College of Sequoias players spilled onto Don Odishoo Field, many Blue Devils players dropped to the turf in disbelief.
As Casey gathered his players in the end zone after the game one final time, he told him not to hang their heads.
“I decided to roll the dice,” Casey said. “But you guys put on a show tonight.”
It was a wild ending to a game that saw momentum bounce back and forth from sideline to sideline throughout the near four-hour game.
The Giants (6-5) drove 72 yards in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 33-30 lead after quarterback Nathan Lamb scored on a 1-yard run with 2 minutes and 4 seconds left on the clock.
Lamb hurt the Blue Devils with his legs, extending drives on runs and scoring three touchdowns on the ground in the second half and overtime.
“He was very tough,” said Merced College linebacker Cody Chapman, who had one of the Blue Devils three interceptions. “We had a lot of schemes ready for him to come up. We knew he was going to do it. We were just outplayed.”
Blue Devils quarterback Ryan Kraft was able to lead MC down the field in the final two minutes, connecting with Dasani Tate and Mateo Brinson on key pass plays. The Blue Devils moved the ball to the COS 2-yard line before settling for a 19-yard field goal by Agustin Piza on the final play of regulation to tie the game at 33-33 to send the game into overtime.
The Blue Devils won the toss and opted to play defense first.
Lamb broke free for a 21-yard touchdown run on the Giants’ second play to give COS a 40-33 lead.
Kraft was injured during Merced College’s overtime possession. The Blue Devils were able to punch in a touchdown on a 3-yard touchdown run by Justin Incaprera. The freshman running back scored two rushing touchdowns and scored on a 23-yard touchdown catch.
That’s when Casey chose to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt.
“It was time, we had momentum, it was like you know what, let’s go,” Casey said. “Let’s get it done. Let’s see what we can do and maybe we can catch them in a situation.”
The College of Sequoias defense was up for the challenge and preserved the win by knocking down Bettencourt’s pass.
“Of course we wanted to get this last win for (Casey), but we left it all out of on the field,” said Merced College linebacker Nate Ruiz, who also had an interception. “I love this group. We put a lot of work in together. We grinded, we faced a lot of doubt in the beginning, but we proved a lot of people wrong. We set a tone and a foundation for the future.”
Even coming up short, Casey said he had a blast in his final game as coach.
“It was everything you could ask for,” Casey said. “I enjoyed every minute of it. There wasn’t a moment that I didn’t enjoy.”
