Bass scores 6 TDs to help Pride erase big deficit against Merced. Hilmar tops Livingston.
Another year, another Bass terrorizing the Merced High football team.
Last season it was Devan Bass scoring on a long touchdown pass in the final seconds to defeat the Bears.
On Friday night it was younger brother Payton Bass scoring six touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 1 minute and 33 seconds left in the game as the Pride (2-3, 1-0 Central California Conference) came back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to defeat Merced (1-4, 0-1) 50-47 at Joe Debely Stadium.
It was the second week in a row the Bears scored over 40 points and lost. This time they had a 31-13 lead early in the third quarter.
“The hurt us with big plays,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt. “They ran the ball with the jet sweep. They didn’t hurt us much up the middle. They were able to get outside. They had good speed.”
The Bears look like they were going to put away Pitman early.
Dhameer Warren threw four touchdowns and ran for another as the Merced offense has produced 130 points in the last three games.
Warren threw touchdown passes to Ezra Morales, Xavier Stewart in the first half and ran for a 15-yard score to help Merced build a 24-13 lead at the half.
Warren then connected with Morales again on a 50-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 31-13 with 10:33 left in the third quarter.
However, the Pride stormed back to tie the game at 34-all by the end of the third quarter.
Merced opened the fourth quarter with a 95-yard touchdown run by Andre Barnett to retake the lead at 41-34.
The Pride responded with a Bass 2-yard touchdown run. Pitman then scored on the two-point conversion to take a 42-41 lead with 5:32 remaining in the game.
Warren then hooked up with Jason Crockett for a 55-yard touchdown pass to give Merced a 47-42 lead with 3:38 left.
The Bears then recovered a Pitman fumble at the Pride 35-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs.
The Merced defense had the Pride facing third-and-22 after a sack, but Pitman gained 88 yards on pass play to move the ball down to the Bears’ 2-yard line. The next play Bass scored his sixth touchdown and the two-point conversion gave the Pride a 50-47 win.
“I don’t know what to say,” Scheidt said. “We had scoring opportunities we have to take advantage of and we’ve got to get stops to win the game. Winning games is hard. Our guys gave a great effort. They played hard. They’re very coachable. They come to practice, put in their time, they practice hard. I love being around them.
“It’s just hard to win football games.”
Hilmar 21, Livingston 10 in Hilmar – Isaac Sharp scored on a 63-yard touchdown run and Carter Azevedo hauled in a 6-yard pass from Tristan Crowley to give the Yellowjackets (3-2) a 14-3 lead at the half.
Eduardo Mendoza found Kameron Dhaliwal for a 47-yard touchdown pass, but Gaven Azevedo returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory for Hilmar.
The Wolves drop to 2-3.
Waterford 42, Le Grand 0 in Le Grand – Michael Vivo returned two punts for touchdowns to propel the Wildcats to win in the Southern League opener for both teams. Vivo scored on punt returns of 46 and 37 yards in the first half to help Waterford open up a 21-0 lead at the half.
Vivo added 6-yard touchdown pass to Zach Hughes in the fourth quarter.
Other area scores:
Gustine 42, Denair 28
Mariposa 22, Delhi 14
Stone Ridge Christian 28, Brookside Christian 6
Chowchilla, 35, Dos Palos 14
This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 1:23 AM with the headline "Bass scores 6 TDs to help Pride erase big deficit against Merced. Hilmar tops Livingston.."