Devils hope to be physically, mentally ready

Devron Davis said he and his Merced College football teammates used the bye week to get their minds right.

As much as the Blue Devils needed a physical break from the constant rigors of the college football season, the sophomore defensive back said the break offered time for spiritual healing as well.

After a promising start to the season, Merced (2-3, 0-1 Gold Coast Conference) has lost three straight. More concerning than that was the way the Devils lost their last two contests, mentally unraveling in crunch time and racking up 26 penalties for 258 yards.

“We did a lot of talking about it as a team last week,” Davis said. “We have to get back to the things we did the first two weeks of the season. We need to stop talking and just get back to playing. We need to be a team that lets the scoreboard do our talking.

“We’ve been letting our emotions get the best of us; that’s why we spent a lot of time the last two weeks getting our minds right.”

Nothing accomplishes that like putting together a few wins. The schedule certainly presents an opportunity, with contests against Monterey Peninsula and Gavilan the next two weeks.

MC will try to right the ship beginning tonight with a trip to Monterey Peninsula (3-2, 1-1). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

“The big difference between last season and this season was we’d beaten Hartnell going into the bye,” Merced coach Bob Casey said. “Having lost three games in a row brought a lot of negativity into it. We worked on getting guys’ spirits back up and have come out and had one of our best weeks of practice in probably a month.

“We can still achieve many of the goals we set out for ourselves. Looking at the home and away dates and how similar the teams seem to be, it looks pretty unlikely that anyone is going to run the table in the conference. So it wouldn’t be shocking if there was a two- or three-team tie for first at the end of the year.

“Right now we just need to be focused on getting back in the win column and get some momentum coming back home against Gavilan next week.”

Monterey certainly doesn’t have a lot of numbers that jump off of the page.

Despite playing one of the weakest schedules in Northern California through the first five weeks, the Lobos are averaging just 323 yards and 60 rushing yards per game. The defense has been MP’s star, yielding 311 yards a game and just 15.8 points per game.

That said, the Lobos have yet to square off with an offense nearly as potent as MC’s.

“You watch them on film and not a lot stands out, but you realize they don’t make a lot of mistakes,” Casey said. “They’re a well-coached team and always play tough at home.

“They do their best to hang around the game and then try to take advantage of any mistake you make along the way. It’s the kind of game where we need to jump on them early. If we let then get settled in, it could be a real fight.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Devils hope to be physically, mentally ready."