MC football hoping to bowl over competition in season finale

Even during the low points of the season, Nyquel Alexander was never concerned about the Merced College football team going down in flames.

A season ago, a three-game losing streak, including back-to-back losses to open Golden Coast Conference play, would have quickly derailed the train. The sophomore offensive lineman said this group never batted an eye.

The Blue Devils made some adjustments and have run off four consecutive wins to secure the program’s first winning season since 1997. MC heads into Saturday’s regular-season finale with Cabrillo hoping to make a lasting impression to those that make bowl-game invitations. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Stadium ’76.

“It’s a good opportunity,” said Alexander, an offensive lineman. “It was never even really an option when we were freshmen. There’s nothing guaranteed, but still being alive for a bowl game going into the last game is pretty sweet.

“Even if we don’t get in, finishing the year 7-3 would be a good record to leave on. We’ve shown the community that we really have a good football team here, and hopefully it’s going to help bringing in recruits.”

Cabrillo (1-8) has struggled, averaging just 12.8 points per game while yielding more than 34 each contest. The Seahawks are entering the contest coming off their only victory of the season, defeating Gavilan 14-7 last week.

Merced is coming off its most dramatic victory of the season, completing a touchdown pass with 46 seconds left to pull out a 24-21 victory at Yuba.

Alexander said the performance was a glaring example of the difference between this year’s squad and last year’s.

“We made mistakes throughout the game, but we balled out when it mattered,” Alexander said. “Our chemistry is much better than last year, and so we stuck together and won the game.”

Blue Devils coach Bob Casey said all his team can do now is take care of business on Saturday and then wait and see.

“It’s definitely a self-motivator having the possibility of a bowl game,” Casey said. “Guys always try to finish strong or go out an a winning note, but it’s not the same as having something to play for. They know all they can control is winning Saturday.

“The only teams guaranteed are the two conference winners. After that, it could come down to the power rankings where we’re currently ranked fifth. The good news is two of the top four, Los Medanos and Shasta, are playing each other, so hopefully we could move past one of them. It’s no different than the BCS. You wait for someone to kick out a ranking and then make a decision that’s not just based off of win-loss or who is playing the best at the end of the season.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 5:21 PM with the headline "MC football hoping to bowl over competition in season finale."