Merced College’s offensive line has been clearing path to victories

The evening started like any other.

The Merced College football team stepped onto the Gavilan field Saturday looking to establish the run. The Blue Devil offensive line did a little more than that.

Bob Casey’s squad ran the ball 36 times in a row before tossing a play-action pass with about three minutes to play in the second quarter. It was the start of a record-setting day as MC (4-3, 3-0 Golden Coast Conference) racked up new school highs in rushing yards (518), total plays (91) and 100-yard rushers (three) in a 43-14 victory.

The game plan never called for 82 run plays to nine passing, but as left tackle Xavier McAllister put it, why go away from the run if they don’t show they can stop it? The performance was vindication for a Blue Devil offensive line that took much of the blame as Merced stumbled to a 1-3 start.

“It just took us a while to get on the same page,” McAllister said. “We were basically five guys playing together for the first time, and injuries kept making us change things in those first few games.

“There was definitely a lack of chemistry. I think that made what we did against Gavilan feel even more accomplished, because of those struggles to start the year.”

After being forced to rotate a number of bodies in because of injuries, Bob Casey’s squad finally settled in on a regular rotation of six guys. McAllister, Ricardo Montilliano (left guard), Ty Allen (center), Brandon Wooldridge (right guard), Eric Rodriguez (right tackle) and Joseph Orinstein (right tackle) all played major roles in last week’s dominant effort.

The group will look to keep that momentum going at home on Saturday as the Blue Devils host Reedley (3-4, 2-1 GCC). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“We knew there were going to be some growing pains basically putting five new guys out there,” Casey said. “It just seemed like whenever they made a mistake early on, it came at a crucial moment. Our offense requires a lot of communication and understanding of each other, and it took a while for them to reach that comfort level.”

To a man, the line believes things turned for the better in the team’s upset of then-NorCal No. 9 Hartnell.

MC accumulated 363 yards of total offense in the 42-28 victory, with 164 coming on the ground. The Blue Devils have run off three consecutive victories since, averaging 309 rushing yards over the span.

“I think we’re not only seeing the changes, but we’re feeling them, too,” Montilliano said. “The last three games, we’ve just become much closer as a unit. While it was great to go out and perform like that last week, we have to put it behind us. These next two weeks are huge for our goals and conference title hopes.

“We’ve got to keep working.”

Reedley enters the contest having lost four offensive shootouts, each by five points.

The Tigers have averaged 41 points per game and surrendered 34.3 ppg. Quarterback Joshua Allen makes the team go, accounting for 1,447 total yards and 24 touchdowns.

“This is a great situation to be in,” Casey said. “We’re undefeated in conference, and all the rest of our games matter. The goal all along has been to win a conference title and play in a bowl game. A win on Saturday gets us a little closer to that goal.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Merced College’s offensive line has been clearing path to victories."