Merced can’t overcome slow start at Turlock

The last couple years, Merced High School has been the one hurdle the Turlock football team couldn’t clear. The Bulldogs lost four straight games to the Bears and settled for second place in the Central California Conference the past two seasons.

Turlock finally dethroned the three-time CCC champions with a 27-20 victory Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium to set up a winner-take-all Harvest Bowl against undefeated Pitman on Nov. 4.

“They’ve had our number the last two years,” said Turlock coach James Peterson, whose team won its seventh consecutive game to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the CCC. “We’ve finished second place to them when we’ve had A-plus talent. Merced’s had A-plus talent, too. It just seemed to go in their favor at the end of the game when we played them.”

Turlock won Friday’s matchup in the trenches as its big men won the battle on both sides of the ball. Merced’s explosive running attack was shut down by the Bulldogs’ defense, and the offensive line paved the way for Turlock to rush for 238 yards, including two touchdowns by quarterback Danny Velasquez.

Turlock held Merced star Ulonzo Gilliam, who came in averaging 152 yards per game, to 59 yards on 13 carries. The Bears were held to 61 rushing yards.

“We couldn’t run the ball,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, whose team dropped to 6-3 and 3-2. “We had a tough time up front. I don’t think we did a good job evaluating how they were up front during the week.”

Velasquez’s ability to create the big play was the difference in the first half for Turlock, which took a 17-6 lead. The teams were even on offense through two quarters with the Bulldogs holding a 172-162 edge in yards. However, when Velasquez broke containment, he made Merced pay.

The senior got around the right end and down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown run to help the Bulldogs answer a 10-yard touchdown run by Merced quarterback Jake Foss in the second quarter.

Turlock stopped a fake punt by Merced and took over at the Bears’ 41-yard line. Two plays later, Velasquez scrambled out of the pocket to his left and fired a 30-yard scoring strike to Dustin Grein to give Turlock a 17-6 lead with 2:22 left in the first half.

“Those big plays in the first half were the difference in the game,” Scheidt said. “Both times we had perimeter breakdowns. One time, a guy tripped, and the other time, we played the wrong shoulder.”

Meanwhile, Merced couldn’t come up with the big plays when it had opportunities in the first half. The Bears had an open touchdown on a trick play, with Gilliam throwing a pass after a reverse, but he couldn’t connect with a wide-open Dhameer Warren downfield. Late in the half, Merced had a drive stall when Tanner Pellissier couldn’t bring in a Foss pass deep in Turlock territory on fourth down.

Turlock’s defense continued to stifle the Bears in the second half, forcing two punts and a turnover on downs as the Bulldogs extended the lead to 24-6 on a 12-yard run by Velasquez in the third quarter.

“We knew Rayveon (Slaton) and Gilliam were great running backs,” said Turlock outside linebacker Mustafa Noel-Johnson, who had a sack and was all over the field. “We wanted to account for the cutback lane and the hole they were running to each time.”

Merced rallied as Foss threw touchdown passes of 18 yards to Pellissier and 19 yards to Stephen Williams to pull the Bears within 27-20 with 2:22 remaining. Foss completed 19 of 32 passes for 226 yards.

Turlock held on as Marco Lopez recovered an onside kick and the offense made a first down and ran out the clock.

The stage is now set for the biggest Harvest Bowl in the history of the series between Turlock and Pitman.

“Our coaches told us our last two games are both championship games,” Noel-Johnson said. “We were able to get past this championship game, and now next week is another one.”

Merced will finish the season in the Battle for the Mayor’s Cup against Golden Valley at Veterans Stadium, with the Cougars needing a win to qualify for the playoffs.

“(Golden Valley) is right in the thick of it,” Scheidt said. “We’re going to have to be ready to play because they are going to come after us.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 12:44 AM with the headline "Merced can’t overcome slow start at Turlock."