Merced, Oakdale set to clash in semifinal matchup

Trent Merzon isn’t a fan of participation trophies. The Oakdale High football coach feels trophies and banners should be earned.

That’s what Merzon loves about high school sports.

By the end of Friday night at The Corral, on one side of the field either Oakdale or Merced will be celebrating a big victory and making plans for a trip to a Sac-Joaquin Section title game. On the other side of the field, the other team will be in tears with its season suddenly over.

Two of the premier programs in the southern half of the section will square off in a Division III semifinal matchup when No. 4 Merced (9-3) travels to top-seeded Oakdale (10-2).

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

“Our kids don’t want to quit playing,” said Merzon, whose team has advanced to the semifinals nine out of the last 10 years. “Our kids don’t want this phase of their life to come to an end. Our kids grasp this is a fun time in their life. Each season is like a shooting star. It goes by so fast.”

It’s the first time good friends Merzon and Merced coach Rob Scheidt will face each other, with the Bears being placed in the Division III bracket for the first time.

Scheidt knows what his team is up against.

“They play hard,” Scheidt said. “They are a coach’s team. I watch them play and they play with the passion and effort that their coach has. I hope people say the same thing about our guys. It’s going to be a great game, because neither team wants to stop playing.”

The Mustangs are making their seventh semifinal appearance in eight seasons. Oakdale is almost unbeatable at home, compiling a 79-6 record at The Corral since 2004.

“I think we have two choices to make,” Scheidt said. “You can think, ‘Oh, no, we have to go to The Corral and they hardly lost in 70 games,’ or we can think this is awesome. I think that’s the approach our kids are taking; they’re excited to play in that venue.”

The two programs have contrasting styles.

Oakdale looks to pound the ball in its smash-mouth, wing-T attack featuring Will Semone, who has rushed for 559 yards in the Mustangs’ two playoff games, including a school-record 317 yards and four touchdowns last week against Vista del Lago.

“He’s doing a great job,” Merzon said. “We have a lot of guys doing a good job. For us, it all starts up front. Our goal is to play so well you can’t just talk about one guy.”

The Mustangs have other big threats in Cameron Cherry and Bronson Harmon, who combined for four more touchdowns against Vista del Lago last week.

“They are typical wing-T backs,” Scheidt said. “They hit the hole hard in a way that is only characterized by the wing-T. They are close to the line of scrimmage. They run the trap very well. If they get through the line of scrimmage and the linebackers, they are difficult for the secondary to tackle.”

Merced counters with its spread offense that is loaded with playmakers, including Central California Conference Best Offensive Player Ulonzo Gilliam Jr., who has topped 1,500 yards and has scored 22 touchdowns on the ground. Rayveon Slaton also has topped 500 yards and is averaging more than 8 yards per carry.

Merced quarterbacks Jake Foss and Dhameer Warren have plenty of weapons to choose from outside in receivers Tanner Pellissier, Stephen Williams, Paul Scoggins, Xavier Stewart and Josef Crossman.

“They are long, tall, athletic and well-coached,” Merzon said. “They are everything you’d expect to see in the semifinals.

“We’ve played teams that are fast. You take good angles and get there in a bad mood. Just being fast doesn’t make you good. (Merced) is big, fast and they are in a good system on both sides of the ball. They believe in the system.”

Merced feels it needs to carry over the same type of performance it had last week in a 41-32 win over Del Campo to have success against Oakdale.

“We have to play with the same effort, intensity and confidence we had last week,” Gilliam said. “We know Oakdale is not going to give up at all. If we get up, they will continue to fight. We have to play full throttle for four full quarters.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Merced, Oakdale set to clash in semifinal matchup."