Merced High ready to kickoff the season Friday against Clovis West

The first game of every football season is always special. For players moving up from the junior varsity team, it’s their first time playing under the lights in front of big crowds.

Merced High coach Rob Scheidt has been coaching for 24 years, including 20 at Merced, and opening night still gets his adrenaline going as he prepares the Bears to host Clovis West on Friday at Veterans Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“The thing is, most programs nowadays are going year-round,” Scheidt said. “That whole time you’re trying to simulate football. This is a chance to actually play football and that’s really fun for our guys.”

Clovis West is ranked fifth in the Central Section by The Fresno Bee and defeated the Bears 49-39 in a shootout last season. The Golden Eagles are led by two big-time recruits in five-star linebacker Caleb Kelly and four-star receiver Darian Owens, who has verbally committed to a Pacific-12 school.

“One is a preseason All-American and the other is a UCLA commit,” Scheidt said. “They’re as good as advertised. Both are big and can run. ... They’re both really skilled players and present problems for any team they play.”

Clovis West is the start of a challenging nonconference schedule that includes games against Monterey Trail (Elk Grove), Edison (Fresno), Clovis North and Lincoln (Stockton). There isn’t an easy game in there and Merced surely will be tested by the time it starts conference play.

“High school football has changed a lot,” Scheidt said. “Every game matters as far as rankings and how your team is perceived. Nonleague games used to be where you honed your skills. Now every game is big.”

Merced won’t be a pushover either.

The Bears lost some key players like Central California Conference MVP Jabar Byrd (running back/defensive back) and CCC Offensive Player of the Year Tyrone Williams (quarterback).

However, Merced returns plenty of pieces from a team that averaged over 44 points per game last year, including a third-year starting receiver in senior A.J. Stewart and another playmaker in senior receiver Brandon McKinney. The Bears also have a big-play running back in junior Ulonzo Gilliam, who ran for 618 yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging 9.8 yards per carry last season.

The key for the Bears offense is junior Jake Foss at quarterback, who Scheidt said was great this offseason. His first official test comes Friday.

“A lot of it depends on the maturation of our quarterback,” Scheidt said. “Our skill guys are really good. We have three veterans on the offensive line. We’re still filling in those other two spots. We have three really good running backs. We’re deep at wide receiver with six guys, who can all play. It’s going to come down to that trigger guy.”

Here’s a look at some of the other top matchups Friday:

Buhach Colony at Manteca

The Thunder face a physical Manteca team that finished 9-3 last season. Buhach Colony is hoping third-year senior Hunter Stefani and senior linebackers Kory Woods and Jace Alcazar can help turn around a Thunder defense that gave up more than 28 points per game last year.

Woods will also be a force for the Thunder offense at running back a long with Brandon Muse.

Golden Valley at Clovis East (Lamonica Stadium)

The Cougars were impressive in their scrimmage last week against Patterson with quarterback Armando Muzquiz throwing three touchdowns. Junior receiver Cadrian McDaniel gives Muzquiz a big-play receiver.

Cougars coach Dennis Stubbs was also impressed with his defense against Patterson.

“We answered a lot of questions,” Stubbs said. “I was really impressed with how our defense was all over the place. We had some guys playing fast and getting after it. It was fun watching them fly around.”

Stone Ridge Christian at El Capitan (Stadium ’76)

The Gauchos are looking for their first win in program history and will face the defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII champions.

El Capitan has seniors for the first time and will count on players like running back Joshua Stewart and receiver Marcos Dinkins for big plays to help out junior quarterback Chase Whitaker.

The Knights feature one of the sack leaders in the state in Mark Hooker, who recorded 22 sacks in 13 games last season. Stone Ridge Christian also returns all five offensive linemen, which is key to its double-wing offensive attack.

Atwater at Central Valley (Ceres High)

The Falcons looked comfortable in their new spread-veer option offense in last week’s scrimmage against Livingston with Noah Torres scoring on two long touchdown runs and Michael Vargas breaking free for a 60-yard score.

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 7:45 PM with the headline "Merced High ready to kickoff the season Friday against Clovis West."