Shasta offers Merced College football its first big test

The Merced College football team isn’t about to short-change its season-opening wins over Redwoods and San Jose City to open the season.

The Blue Devils (2-0) employed a successful formula of dominant defense and special teams along with efficient offense to control both contests. Merced did what it has often failed to do in the last few years: not allowing teams it’s better than into the contest.

As good as Bob Casey and his squad feel about their early showings, they acknowledge that tonight’s opponent is an upgrade in class. Shasta will make the long trip from Redding for a 5 p.m. kickoff at Stadium ’76. The Knights (2-0) have been every bit as impressive in their first two games, but the wins came against West Hills and Hartnell, two programs that have dominated MC’s Golden Coast Conference the last two years.

“It’s still so early, there’s no way to tell how good our opponents have been versus how good their opponents have been,” Casey said. “Historically, they’ve beaten two teams that have been very successful the last couple (of) years. Watching film, there’s no doubt this is going to be the best team we’ve played so far.

“They’ve definitely got athletes, but it’s their efficiency that makes them so good. They don’t make mistakes and they do a great job of forcing you into uncomfortable situations on both sides of the ball.”

Merced College is looking for its first 3-0 start since 1995. It’s the same scenario the Blue Devils were looking at a year ago when it suffered a 37-24 loss to the Knights in Redding. Shasta got the best of MC in 2014 as well, pulling out a one-point thriller with a last-minute touchdown in Merced.

The teams have used almost identical approaches to open the season.

Both have pounded the ball on the ground while taking shots in the passing game to keep opponents honest. They’ve both won the turnover and special-teams battles, handing the offenses short fields and opportunities at easy points.

“Offensively, they are definitely the most balanced team we’ve seen,” Casey said. “If you try to take one thing away from them, they’re very capable of beating with another. Defensively, they’re going to get up in our guys’ faces and challenge them to beat them. We’ve had a big advantage in special teams the last two weeks, but I think this week it’ll be very even.

“It should be a good game between two pretty even teams.”

The Knights’ pressure defense has produced six sacks and eight turnovers in two games, including four interceptions against Hartnell last week.

Shasta has spread the ball around through the first two games with 11 different ball carriers and 12 different pass catchers. The one constant has been quarterback Tim Naylor, who has accounted for 364 total yards and five touchdowns.

“They’re more of like a trickery team,” MC sophomore linebacker Cristian Nava said. “They like to do that. They do a lot of reverses. It’s just about getting the guys in the right spots and then going out and making plays.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Shasta offers Merced College football its first big test."