Defense, special teams lift Merced past Beyer in playoff opener

Strong play from the Merced High defense and special teams helped pick up the slack for an inconsistent offense as the Bears opened the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs with a 44-22 win over Beyer on Thursday night at Veterans Stadium.

The Bears benefited from a strip-and-score from cornerback Dhameer Warren which covered 80 yards in the second quarter and a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter by Ulonzo Gilliam which helped boost Merced’s scoring.

“It was really a bizarre game,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, whose team improved to 8-3. “Beyer’s guys played hard. They’re unorthodox and they kept making plays. Obviously our guys made plays in different situations. Our special teams was big for us. We had the touchdown, good returns and good coverage.”

Despite giving up 22 points, the Bears defense harassed Beyer quarterback Brian Perry all night. Merced’s front four spent the bulk of the night in the Patriots backfield, led by defensive end John Becerra, who finished with two and a half sacks.

“Our quarterback was under duress all night,” said Beyer coach Doug Severe, whose team finished with a 7-4 record. “Their front four, especially their defensive ends came around the edge. They were besting some of our top offensive linemen. It was their best guys against our best guys.”

The Bears sacked Perry eight times to go along with hurries and hits they tallied throughout the game.

“We put a lot of pressure on them,” Becerra said. “As a defense we try to put our offense in the best situation we can. But this was an ugly victory for us. We had a lot of drives stall. We weren’t making the right plays. We had a lot of mistakes that we need to clean up. As a team, we just fought through.”

The difference was the Bears’ big-play ability.

It started early with Andre Barnett intercepting a Perry pass on Beyer’s opening drive and returning it to the Beyer 10-yard line.

Two plays later, Gilliam gave Merced a 7-0 lead with a 3-yard touchdown with 9:11 left in the first quarter.

The offense seemed to get going as Jake Foss connected with Stephen Williams on a screen pass for a 12-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to give the Bears a 14-6 lead.

Foss then connected with a wide open Josef Crossman for a 48-yard scoring strike to extend the lead to 21-6 with 11:35 left in the second quarter. Foss completed 13-of-20 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

However, the Bears offense didn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter.

Part of the reason Merced went through a scoring drought was Beyer played keep away with some long drives. Perry capped one of the Patriots shorter drives by finding a wide open Brandon Gray for a 21-yard touchdown that pulled Beyer within 28-14 midway through the third quarter.

The other reason Merced’s offense didn’t score is because it didn’t touch the ball because Warren somehow stripped Beyer’s Deangelo Dancer of the ball after a reception and raced 80 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

“I was going to make the tackle and when I went to hit him the ball popped out and right into my hands,” Warren said. “I didn’t even know it happened at first. Then I just took off.”

Gilliam also kept the Bears offense of the sideline when he closed out the third quarter with a 74-yard punt return to extend the lead to 36-14. It’s Gilliam’s second punt return for a touchdown in two weeks.

“Our defense did a decent job,” Severe said. “We turned the ball over in the first quarter and give them the ball at our 10-yard line. We had a blown coverage that resulted in a long pass. They stripped the ball and ran it in for a touchdown and we gave up the punt return. Our defense did a good job. We knew they would be a handful for us. We wish them the best in the playoffs.”

The Bears can now turn their attention to a rematch next week against Del Campo (6-5) in Sacramento in a quarterfinal matchup. The Cougars defeated Merced 26-21 in the opening week.

“I think we’re a different team from that game,” Becerra said. “We didn’t have a rhythm at the start of that game. Since then we’ve gained a lot of experience and a lot of chemistry.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 12:32 AM with the headline "Defense, special teams lift Merced past Beyer in playoff opener."