MC football closes season with dominant win
It seems like a lifetime ago that the Merced College football team entered the season with a ranking of 26th in the nation.
The Blue Devils never realized that potential, winning just three times in their first nine games. Despite the struggles, Bob Casey’s squad at least never stopped playing hard. MC showed some pride on Saturday evening, closing the season with a dominating 38-3 victory over Cabrillo.
The Blue Devils’ defense held Cabrillo (2-8, 0-6 Golden Coast Conference) under 150 yards of total offense, recorded six sacks and forced four turnovers. Linebacker Damon Small had a team-high 10 tackles and 2 1/2 sacks. Devron Davis intercepted a pair of passes and Demario Guyton’s 47-yard pick six was his sixth interception in five games.
The Merced (4-6, 2-4) offense controlled the ball on the ground, pounding out 170 rushing yards behind sophomore Josh Stevens (20 carries, 147 yards). Quarterback Nathaniel Nelson was an efficiant 10 of 16 for 191 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Stephon Cross. Justin Stefani added two touchdown runs.
Men’s water polo
NorCal Tournament in Pleasant Hill – Caleb Rogers turned in a team-high six goals to go along with two assists and six steals, but Merced College had to settle for fourth place at the NorCal Tournament with losses to Diablo Valley College (27-10) and San Joaquin Delta (15-11).
Taylor Heckathorn had four goals and Isaac Santana chipped in three goals and nine assists for MC (19-10)
Men’s basketball
Sequoias 66, Merced College 52 in Fresno – Andrew Judie scored a team-high 19 points and Anthony Nolen chipped in 11 in a loss to Sequoias at the Fresno City Tournament.
Nolen had a nice tournament, turning in 18 points in a Blue Devils (2-4) victory over West Hills on Saturday.
UC Merced 86, Whittier 78 in Merced – Aaron Laflin had a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds as the Bobcats picked up their first victory under coach Kevin Pham.
Merced (1-3) had four different players finish in double digits.
Women’s basketball
Merced College 83, Fresno City 79 in Merced – Trinity Washington etched her way onto the all-tournament team with 21 points as the Lady Devils (4-2) took third place at the Coca-Cola Shootout.
Jovanah Arrington had 15 points, Samantha James added 11 and Merced hit 20 of 21 free throws.
Warner Pacific 62, UC Merced 58 in Merced – Jecinia Trinidad (seven rebounds, four steals) scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter, but a disastrous third quarter proved too much for the Bobcats (0-5) to overcome.
Shelby Howard had a game-high 19 points and Christina Castro chipped in 14 in the loss.
This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 7:52 PM with the headline "MC football closes season with dominant win."