Roundup: Cocio shines in first start for Merced College football
In a perfect world, Frank Cocio would never have seen the field in 2016.
With three quarterbacks in the program to start the season, Merced College coach Bob Casey hoped to redshirt the freshman, grooming him to be the starter in 2017 and 2018. The best-laid plans of mice and men.
The Atwater product was thrust into the backup role when Randy Jones was dismissed from the team after Week 3 and found out he’d be the starter for the rest of the season when Drew Trahan was ruled out indefinitely Thursday because of a back injury.
The short notice didn’t seem to bother Cocio one bit. He completed 16 of 29 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth as Merced College rolled Hartnell 41-10 on the road in his first career start.
“He did a good job. He was very unflappable,” Casey said. “Cocio saw the field well. We didn’t try to do too much with him, not because he can’t do it, but because the guys went out and executed the things we’d talked about all week. That made everything simple for him.
“I think we caught them on their heels with some big plays early, and we did a good job of never giving the momentum back once we had it.”
Cocio opened the scoring with a 41-yard TD pass to Nih-jer Jackson (four catches, game-high 135 yards) and followed with a 41-yard rushing score of his own to make it 14-0 Blue Devils (3-3, 1-2 Golden Coast Conference) at the end of one quarter.
Cocio threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cook and then found James Grasty with a 4-yard score with 41 seconds left in the half to give Merced a commanding 34-0 lead.
That was more than enough for the Blue Devil defense.
Iowa State-bound defensive tackle Kamilo Tongamoa and outside linebacker Soane Vaohea combined for 15 tackles and five sacks as Hartnell (4-2, 2-1) rushing leader Sherrod Hawkes was limited to 32 yards on nine carries. The Blue Devils also forced five turnovers, including a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by Wendel Sidelier.
“The defense played outstanding,” Casey said. “They like to get the ball out quickly, but we were winning the one-on-one battles. That forced the pocket back into their quarterback a lot and he was forced to pull the ball down and try to reset.
“We know what we have. We knew this was a performance we were always capable of. It was nice to see the guys go out and execute the game plan and then maintain their focus and intensity for four quarters.”
Women’s volleyball
UC Merced 3, Embry-Riddle 1 – Rachael Schaefer reminded everyone why she’s the reigning California Pacific Conference Player of the Year, recording a career-high 24 kills as the Bobcats (7-12, 5-4 Cal Pac) handed the Eagles (14-3, 7-1) their first conference loss 25-20, 25-19, 29-31, 25-11.
Jaysonna Johnson and Jade Fachin each had nine kills and a team-high three blocks, and Dominique Andrews also had nine kills as UC Merced racked up 61 kills. Brooke Wheeler set the offensive tone with a career-high 52 assists.
Women’s soccer
Embry-Riddle 1, UC Merced 0 in Prescott, Ariz. – The Bobcats produced just two shots on goal as they suffered their first Cal Pac loss. Maggie Morales made seven saves for UC Merced (8-2-3, 5-1 Cal Pac).
Men’s soccer
UC Merced 2, Embry-Riddle 1 in Prescott, Ariz. – Goals by Brian Chongtoua and Cruz Trenado proved enough as the Bobcats (7-5-1, 5-1 Cal Pac) kept pace in the conference title race. Cody Golbad had an assist, and Alan Ochoa made eight big saves.
Cross country
Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara – The UC Merced women finished seventh out of 16 teams at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Freshman Angelica Costilla-Mancha led the way, finishing 28th in 23 minutes, 12 seconds.
The Bobcat men placed 10th overall. Freshman Guillermo Rivas placed 26th overall in 26:32.
This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Roundup: Cocio shines in first start for Merced College football."