Merced cruises to rout of Central Valley to set up showdown next week with Golden Valley
A missed practice this week meant Merced High School running back Chase Smith didn’t start on Friday night against Central Valley.
The Bears junior still found plenty of time to impact the game, rushing for 120 yards and four touchdowns on just eight carries and intercepting a pass on defense as Merced defeated the Hawks 56-14 at Cathie Hostetler Stadium.
“It was a little frustrating in the first quarter, not being able to play because I missed a practice,” Smith said. “I had to get over it, overcome it. I think I did pretty good, though.”
With Smith on the sideline, the Bears (5-4 overall, 4-1 Central California Conference) needed just three plays on their opening possession to score as sophomore running back Adarias Morales-Saetern broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run to give Merced a 7-0 lead with 10:51 left in the first quarter.
Smith then started his scoring onslaught with a 7-yard touchdown run to extend the Bears’ lead to 14-0 late in the first quarter.
“I thought we played really physical last week and got after it,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, whose team won its third consecutive game. “We came out and it was easy right away, you kind of let up and that’s what our guys did.”
“I think we found out who we were and got back to who we were and finished the game out right,” Scheidt added.
Central Valley (1-7, 0-4 CCC) answered with a 15-play drive that covered 59 yards. Hawks senior Elijaih Johnson capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to cut the lead to 14-6 with 8:34 left in the first half.
The Bears answered two plays later as sophomore quarterback Quintell Dupree connected with senior receiver Jeremiah Folau for a 23-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-6.
The Bears defense was stout all night, registering five sacks and three turnovers.
Defensive end Malaki Leach stripped the ball from Central Valley quarterback Darius Jackson and raced 38 yards for a score to give Merced a 28-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Merced junior Jalonn Booth recorded two sacks on the night.
“That’s what our defense does,” Booth said. “We have to get out there and get stops. When we are getting stops we have to look to do more for the team. We can’t be satisfied with doing our job.”
The Hawks hit a long pass as Jackson connected with receiver Anthony Ramirez for a 51-yard touchdown to pull Central Valley within 28-14 with 2:05 left in the first half.
Then Smith took over.
The junior intercepted a pass late in the second quarter to set up the Bears in Central Valley’s side of the field and then Smith scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 3 seconds left in the first half to extend the Merced lead to 35-14.
Smith added touchdown runs of 75 and 3 yards in the third quarter to help stretch the Merced lead to 49-14.
On the 75-yard run, Smith drew a flag for waving to the Central Valley cheerleaders as he ran by the sideline on his way to the end zone.
Smith had to hear it from Scheidt when he got back to his sideline.
“It was bad,” Smith said. “He was on me, it was bad. It was just a reaction. I didn’t plan it or nothing.”
The win sets up next week’s Battle for the Mayor’s Cup against Golden Valley. Merced has defeated the Cougars 16 consecutive times.
“It’s going to be fun,” Smith said. “They’ve got a great team, we’ve got a great team. It’s going to come down to a good game.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 11:35 PM.
