College roundup: Croninger’s big game helps Merced College earn bowl bid
After splitting time between wide receiver and kicker as a freshman, Noah Croninger opted to focus on his kicking and punting this season.
The idea was to keep his legs fresh, and Croninger has thrived for the Merced College football team. He ranks ninth in the state with 37.7 yards per punt, has made six field goals and routinely denies opponents return chances with touchbacks.
The plan changed when Merced was down to its third quarterback and Croninger, who played the position at Dos Palos, was called into emergency service. It had all been theory until Saturday afternoon, when starter Frank Cocio took a shot to the ribs and was pulled for precautionary reasons.
Croninger showed he still has some skills. The sophomore went 6-of-10 passing for 76 yards and a score, rushed for a team-high 139 yards and two scores and kicked two field goals as the Blue Devils closed the regular season with a 48-0 rout of Cabrillo at Stadium ’76.
The news got better Sunday as Merced (7-3) learned it will host Hartnell at 6 p.m. Friday in its first bowl game since 1997.
“It’s awesome,” coach Bob Casey said. “It validates that they played well enough throughout the season to get recognized. We lost some heartbreakers and some conference games early that kind of took us out of the title hunt, so all we’ve been playing for is one more game. The guys will get that, and we just want to try and enjoy it.”
Merced took an early lead as Cocio connected with Nick Cook for a 52-yard touchdown pass on the Blue Devils’ opening possession. Cocio found Daniel Kelley for a 3-yard TD pass on Merced’s next possession to make it 12-0 after one quarter.
The Blue Devil offense wasn’t nearly as efficient in the second quarter, but Merced expanded its lead thanks to the defense. Nathan Duran intercepted a pass and returned it 3 yards for a score. Keyontae Woods followed with a sack of Cabrillo quarterback Jeff Schweitzer in the end zone for a safety. Croninger tacked on a field goal from the ensuing possession, and Merced went into intermission leading 25-0.
The Blue Devil defense dominated all afternoon, forcing six turnovers and allowing just 141 total yards.
The second half was all Croninger. He broke TD runs of 79 and 47 yards on consecutive series, then capped his evening with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Nih-jer Jackson in the fourth quarter.
“We’d talked about maybe getting Noah some reps anyway,” Casey said. “He’s been taking reps in practice for weeks, so he was ready. Frank took a pretty good shot and was in discomfort when he threw, so we made the change.
“They were bringing a lot of pressure off of the edges and squeezing the run, and Noah kind of countered that. He caught them not knowing his speed and did good job reading the end and pulling the ball back at the right times.”
Men’s soccer
Marymount California 2, UC Merced 0 in Merced – The Bobcats suffered a worst-case-scenario, as the Mariners struck twice in the first 26 minutes of the Cal Pac Tournament championship game.
UC Merced (11-7-1) never recovered, getting just one shot on goal in the loss. Bernardo Garcia made two saves in the loss.
Women’s basketball
Pacific 111, UC Merced 50 in Stockton – Allison Wisdom paced the Bobcats (1-2) with a team-high nine points, but UCM was no match for the Division I Tigers in an exhibition loss.
Brittany Martinez and Kylee Scheib each scored eight points for the Bobcats.
This story was originally published November 13, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "College roundup: Croninger’s big game helps Merced College earn bowl bid."