Patterson battles back in second half to defeat Merced in key CCC football showdown
It was minutes after the game had ended and Patterson High senior Lolo Mataele still felt the sensation of goose bumps and chills on his arms.
Mataele scored two second-half touchdowns as the Tigers battled back to defeat Merced 24-21 in a key Central California Conference showdown on Friday night at Cathie Hostetler Stadium.
“Merced is a good team,” said Mataele, who rushed for 77 yards and the two scores. “We did our best. We battled it out, we did our thing.”
Mataele broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 14 early in the third quarter. The senior then gave the Tigers (5-1 overall, 2-0 CCC) a 24-21 lead with a 7-yard touchdown run with 7:36 left in the game.
Patterson battled back from an early 14-0 deficit.
The Tigers took some momentum into halftime with a late touchdown pass from quarterback Max Medina to Jeremiah Lugo that cut the Bears’ lead to 14-7 in the final minute of the first quarter.
“The conversation (at half) was it was 0-0 and we had to battle down and fight back,” said Patterson coach Rob Cozart. “Seventeen to seven in the second half, that was probably our best second half of any game we’ve played in a long time, just in all parts of the game.”
The Bears had momentum early.
Merced running back Chase Smith scored on two short touchdown runs that gave the Bears (2-4, 1-1 CCC) a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Smith finished with 111 yards and the two scores on 25 carries.
Cozart said Smith was the first player the Tigers coaching staff specifically schemed for this season.
“(Smith) is a guy,” Cozart said. “He’s got some speed and we knew it was going to be an issue containing him as much as possible to keep this game close.”
Merced defensive lineman Jalonn Booth dominated early, recording three first-half sacks.
However, the Tigers started double-teaming him with a running back on pass plays and ran away from him on running plays, which led to some success on offense in the second half.
The Bears also hurts themselves with three turnovers.
A fumbled exchange between quarterback Carter Haugen and Smith resulted in a fumble that the Tigers recovered at the Bears’ 1-yard line.
The Merced defense held Patterson to a 22-yard field goal by Christian Casillas, but that field goal proved to be the difference in the game.
“Ball security, that was the biggest thing,” Merced coach Rob Scheidt said. “If we protect the football, I think it’s a lot harder for them to score points and that’s the bottom line.”
The Bears had a couple of opportunities in the fourth quarter but failed on a fake punt attempt and later Haugen lost another fumble to stop another late drive.
The Bears had one final shot after a missed Patterson field goal. Merced turned to sophomore quarterback Quintell DuPree and the Bears moved the ball to midfield before finally turning the ball over on downs.
“Our defense has risen to the occasion all year and given our offense a chance,” Cozart said.
Merced may be in must-win mode the rest of the year if the Bears want to make the playoffs.
“Now it’s try to move forward and try to win the rest of them,” Scheidt said. “That’s the bottom line. If we don’t win the rest of them our season is over. We’ll see what happens. I guess in 2019 we were 5-5 and got in the playoffs, but we don’t want to be in that situation.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 11:44 PM.
