West Hills defense dominates Merced College football

The West Hills College front four was as good as advertised.

The Falcons’ defense entered Saturday afternoon’s game at Stadium ’76 ranked No. 1 in the state in points (12.6) and yards allowed (218.6) per game.

That success starts with the defensive line. Merced College was dominated at the line of scrimmage for the first time this season. The Blue Devils produced season lows in yards (161), points (13) and rushing yards (minus-five) as the Falcons improved to 8-1 with a 34-13 victory.

“We never could get an offensive rhythm going,” Merced coach Bob Casey said. “They’re the No. 1 defense in the state for a reason. They completely controlled the line of scrimmage, and nothing we did seemed to change that.

“Our defense did everything they could to keep us in the game, but we just didn’t do enough to help them out.”

Almost half of the Blue Devils’ offense came on one play as Merced (3-6, 1-4 Golden Coast Conference) jumped out to an early lead.

Randy Jones found Stephon Cross on a seam rout down the middle of the field. Cross sprinted 78 yards untouched into the end zone for his team-high sixth touchdown catch to make it 7-0.

That was virtually it for the Merced offense.

Josh Stevens became Merced’s first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher since the 1990s during a loss to Reedley on Oct. 31, but the Falcons had his number Saturday. The sophomore carried 12 times for minus-four yards. The Blue Devils’ passing game didn’t have any additional success. Jones and Nathaniel Nelson combined to complete just 13 of 32 passes. The quarterback duo was sacked seven times and turned it over twice.

One turnover, a Jones interception, helped West Hills ( 5-0 GCC) tie the score late in the first quarter, handing the ball to the Falcons at the Merced 16-yard line. Cort Groathouse ran in a two-yard quarterback keeper four plays later to make it 7-7.

With the offense struggling, Merced needed to produce points any way it could, turning to the special teams to make something happen. Damon Small blocked a West Hills punt, and Earl Chambers returned it to the Falcons’ 3-yard line. Jones put the Blue Devils back on top with a one-yard quarterback sneak.

The Merced defense made its only real mistake of the opening half on the ensuing series, as Groathouse converted a third and 14 with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Dandre Fuller, tying the score 13-13.

The Falcons went on top for good less than two minutes later, blocking a punt and handing the offense a first and goal at the 1. Jaques Buchannon punched it in to send West Hills into halftime ahead 20-13.

“It was frustrating, but we didn’t feel too bad being down just seven at halftime considering how the offense struggled,” said linebacker Paul Parks, who led Merced with nine tackles. “The defense felt like it just needed to do what it had been doing and the offense would get going like it always does.”

It never did.

A blown assignment allowed West Hills to all but put away the game with its opening possession of the second half. A scrambling Groathouse found a wide-open Fuller (two catches, 101 yards, two touchdowns) for a 67-yard scoring reception and a 27-13 lead.

The Blue Devils never threatened a comeback. Merced produced just 78 yards from scrimmage in the second half.

Tashad Charity’s 12-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter ended the scoring.

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "West Hills defense dominates Merced College football."