Buhach looking to stay in playoff chase against Merced

Buhach Colony High head football coach Kevin Navarra hopes to avoid a repeat of last year.

The Thunder never rebounded after a tough loss to Merced last season. Buhach Colony lost two of its final three games and missed the playoffs.

Now the Thunder (3-4, 0-2 Central California Conference) find themselves in a similar situation. Buhach Colony is coming off a tough 48-47 loss to Turlock last week.

The Thunder must find a way to rebound with Merced (5-2, 2-0) coming to town on Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Falcon Field.

“I think we got to a point last year where some of our players checked out,” Navarra said. “I haven’t seen it with this group. They believe they can beat Merced. They believe they still have a chance to make the playoffs. I don’t think it has much to do about Merced. It’s more about giving ourselves a chance to win. These guys don’t want to quit; they want to keep fighting.”

Beating the Bears will be a tall order, especially for a Buhach defense that has allowed more than 35 points per game in the Thunder’s last six games. Now Buhach is facing a Merced offense that is scoring in excess of 48 points per game.

“Last year some guys gave up; this year it’s do or die for us,” said Buhach Colony senior Aundre Sherman, a running back-defensive back. “We’re not looking to get knocked out early. We’re looking for a win. We want to get to the playoffs.”

The Buhach Colony defense has struggled since losing safeties Ryan Garrett (knee) and Logan Lemas (wrist) for the season a few weeks ago. Brandon Sanchez (shoulder) also has been out, leaving the Thunder without three defensive backs.

“I think at this point – with some of the personnel we’ve lost – we have to make stops,” Navarra said. “We’re not going to shut people out. We’ve got to make stops at crucial points in the game.”

The Thunder better make their stops early. Merced outscored Atwater and Pitman 75-6 in the first half the past two weeks.

“We have to keep pace with Merced offensively,” Navarra said. “Especially with the way we’ve played defense lately. We have to make key stops and get them in positions they haven’t been in. Their last couple games have been over early. They’ve been capitalizing on turnovers. Their offense only ran maybe 40 plays against Pitman.”

With three wins and just three games remaining, the Thunder will have to win out the last three weeks to reach the six-win total that has been the mark to secure a section playoff spot. However, with Buhach’s strength of schedule, the Thunder may only need five wins to make the postseason.

“We’ve done some projections using Calpreps, and we could easily have a couple five-win teams make the playoffs,” said Will DeBoard, the Sac-Joaquin Section director of communications. “Their projections have proved pretty accurate over the years. If that holds true, that would be the first time in a couple years that has happened.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2014 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Buhach looking to stay in playoff chase against Merced."