Merced College football rally falls short on the road

Some teams thrive when the pressure mounts. They develop a hyper focus and execute with precision in the final minutes of a tight game.

The Merced College and Reedley football teams weren’t in that group, entering Saturday night’s contest a combined 0-6 in games decided by seven points or fewer. In a classic something-has-to-give matchup, the Blue Devils lost 34-27, ensuring the program’s 17th consecutive season without a winning record.

Merced never led, but freshman quarterback Randy Jones came off the bench to lead a second-half comeback. Jones’ third touchdown pass of the game cut Reedley’s lead to seven with 2:06 to play. The Blue Devils (3-5, 1-3 Golden Coast Conference) remarkably got two more possessions but couldn’t force overtime.

Reedley (5-3, 3-1), which entered the game with the state’s sixth-rated defense, yielded a season-high 512 yards of total offense and its second-most points this year. Five Merced turnovers helped negate all that offense, however.

There was almost no offense to speak of in the first half, as Reedley provided the only score on its first possession when Robert Avery ran 15 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0. Merced’s best chance to answer came on its ensuing drive, but Nathaniel Nelson fumbled at the Tigers’ 28-yard line. That was one of two times the Blue Devils crossed midfield in the opening half.

Merced badly lost the field position battle in the first half, starting at its 20-, 17-, 7-, 14- and 4-yard lines on its next five possessions. The Merced defense forced a fumble at the Reedley 33 late in the second quarter, but Noah Croninger pulled a 46-yard field-goal attempt wide to keep it 7-0 at intermission.

The offense picked up after the break. Jones completed 12 of 17 passes for 234 yards and touchdowns to Jeffery Richardson and Croninger (three catches, 78 yards). Josh Stevens got the Blue Devils’ ground game going and finished with 19 carries for 132 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown.

Croninger’s second touchdown catch trimmed the lead to 34-27 with just over two minutes left. Reedley recovered the ensuing onside kick, but quarterback Austin Bray fumbled the ball back to Merced on the next play.

Jones was intercepted two plays later, but the Blue Devils’ defense produced a three-and-out to force a punt with 1:06 to play. But the final drive never got going, and Merced dropped another close game.

Men’s soccer

UC Merced 4, Pacific Union 0 in Merced – Brian Chongtoua scored twice to help the Bobcats (12-4-1, 8-3 Cal Pac) win their sixth game in a row in their final home game of the regular season.

Cruz Trenado and Irvin Zapien also scored, and Heriberto Diaz and Bernardo Garcia combined for three saves to post the shutout.

Women’s soccer

UC Merced 3, Antelope Valley 0 in Merced – Veronica Villacorta, Karen Lepe and Daisy Bonilla scored as the No. 24 Bobcats (11-2-3, 6-1-2 Cal Pac) picked up their first win as a ranked team.

Gabby Vinco came off the bench to make two saves to help preserve the shutout.

Women’s volleyball

Pacific Union 3, UC Merced 2 in Merced – Jesika Tyler had a career-high 20 kills and Genna Garrett had 29 assists and 10 digs, but the Bobcats (12-9, 5-4 Cal Pac) surrendered a two-set lead in a 17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-12 loss to the Pioneers (13-12, 3-5).

The loss was Merced’s fifth in its last six matches.

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Merced College football rally falls short on the road."