Merced College football goes blow-for-blow with MJC in scrimmage

Bob Casey was all smiles as groups of well-wishers, friends, parents and family made their way from the Stadium ’76 stands down onto Don Odishoo Field.

The Merced College football coach had plenty of reason to be pleased.

His Blue Devils more than held their own with top-tier Modesto Junior College in a scrimmage Thursday night. MC showed steady progress from its intrasquad scrimmage the week before and everyone came away from the encounter without a serious injury. It wasn’t a flawless performance, but provided plenty of reason for optimism going into next week’s season opener at home against Redwoods.

“I knew they were going to be bigger and physical,” Casey said. “You hear how being more physical is an area of emphasis for them this year. Honestly, that’s something that we’ve always felt like we had an edge with against them, while they’ve always been so technically sound. But I felt like we went play-for-play with them. They didn’t just control the line on either side of the ball and that was encouraging to see.

“I felt like we matched up in every facet. Both teams had some big plays. There’s definitely some areas where we need to be coached up, but overall I felt good.”

One of the key things to watch heading into the scrimmage was the quarterback battle between returner Randy Jones, Monterey Peninsula transfer Andrew Trahan and local product Frank Cocio. No one seized the starting job yet, and unfortunately for Casey, all three had some real nice moments Thursday.

Trahan got things started, heaving a 35-yard touchdown pass to Nih-Jer Jackson in the corner of the end zone on the opening drive. Trahan, dropped his pass right over the defensive back and Jackson accelerated at the last second to make a diving catch.

Jackson, who didn’t finish the season with the team last year, didn’t play much beyond the opening series, but showed he’s getting to be a handful for opposing secondaries in his sophomore campaign.

“Going into Saturday, I’m feeling really confident about the team,” Jackson said. “My role this year is to be a leader with so many young receivers out there. I just have to show them the way to be effective on Saturday and the rest of the season.”

Cocio threw the only interception by the quarterbacks, but countered it with a pair of touchdown throws. His best pass of came on a slant that broke Raymond Brooks free for a 32-yard score.

Jones might have been the most consistent, showing off his year of experience in the offense and moving at a tempo that his counterparts didn’t match.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Casey said. “I’d much rather have three guys with talent than the alternative. We’ll go back over the film, and I’m sure there will be a number of mistakes that need to be cleaned up. I was pleased with how we moved the ball, though.”

Defensively, MC forced a pair of interceptions, including some excellent coverage by Brandon Williams in the corner of the end zone. The Blue Devils played fast, rallied to the ball and contained Modesto’s short passing game much better than it has in previous matchups.

The only negative for the evening on the defensive side of the ball was surrendering a handful of passes over the top. Merced got caught looking in the backfield a couple times and both Pirate quarterbacks Shawn Munoz and Wyatt Clapper burned the secondary with long TD passes over the top.

The other area for concern entering Saturday came on special teams. The Blue Devils struggled with long snaps on field-goal tries and punting situations.

“We’ve got a number of guys doing it right now,” Casey said. “It isn’t anyone’s only position. We’ve got another week to get things ironed out, but I didn’t see anything that can’t be fixed.

“The main thing I was looking for was progress from our last scrimmage to this one, and unquestionably we were able to do that. A lot more guys got involved and made plays than in our last scrimmage, which is always good to see. We still have plenty of places we need to be better, but I feel good going into next week.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 9:28 PM with the headline "Merced College football goes blow-for-blow with MJC in scrimmage."