Foss delivers late in Merced win over Pitman

Much of the second half was a struggle for Merced quarterback Jake Foss, but when he needed to make a throw he delivered.

Foss delivered a perfect pass to A.J. Stewart on a post pattern for a 47-yard touchdown with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left. That proved to be the difference in the Bears’ 28-21 win over Pitman on Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium.

“He was struggling, but he came through in the end,” said Stewart, who finished with 130 yards on nine catches. “He wasn’t nervous at the end. That’s why I love him as my quarterback.”

Foss started strongly, completing 10 of 12 passes in the first half for 141 yards and a touchdown. The junior quarter led the Bears on three scoring drives in their four possessions as Merced (4-3, 2-0 Central California Conference) outscored Pitman 14-0 in the second quarter to lead 21-7 at halftime.

Merced seemed in control as Foss hooked up with Brandon McKinney for a 28-yard touchdown in the first quarter to answer Pitman’s touchdown on its opening drive.

The Bears then marched 77 yards on nine plays to start the second quarter with Ulonzo Gilliam scoring on a 34-yard touchdown run to give Merced a 14-7 lead.

After a Gilliam interception late in the second quarter, Merced cashed in with a Paul Scoggins two-yard touchdown run to take the 14-point lead into halftime.

“We played so well in the second quarter,” Merced coach Rob Scheidt said. “They’re a good team, and they’ve been a second-half team. I’m proud of our defense, though, because that was a tough 21 points for them.”

The Pride (4-3, 1-1) got the break it needed in the second half as safety Sinue Cortes picked off Foss and returned the ball to the Merced 43-yard line.

The Pitman offense capitalized as Devan Bass scored on a three-yard touchdown run to pull the Pride within 21-14.

“That interception was huge,” Pitman coach Tom Tyler said. “The plan coming out of the locker room – because we were down –was to get a stop and score, and that’s what we did. That got us back in the game.”

The Bears’ offense was out of sync in the third quarter. Merced’s four third-quarter possessions ended with an interception, a punt and twice being stopped on fourth down in Pitman territory, including after Merced linebacker Keanu Wilkenson intercepted a pass to set up the Bears at Pitman’s 18-yard line near the end of the third quarter.

“They pinched the heck out of us,” said Scheidt, referring to the defensive ends playing closer to the middle to stop the run. “They basically said, ‘Hey, throw the ball.’ We did a good job out of our 30 series (passing) routes. We should have stayed with it. The other side of it is our defense gave us opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Pitman quarterback Jacob Perez was a thorn in Merced’s side most of the night, especially on third and fourth down. Perez led the Pride on an 87-yard drive early in the fourth quarter, hitting a big third-down pass to Marcus McBay for 11-yards to extend the drive early. Perez later added a 17-yard run on third-and-12 to move the ball deep into Merced territory.

Tyress Pope capped the 13-play drive with an eight-yard touchdown run that tied the score 21-21 with 7:37 left.

After both defenses forced three-and-outs, Foss found Stewart for the go-ahead touchdown as Stewart beat Cortes for the score.

“I saw man (coverage) across the board, and I took the shot deep,” Foss said. “A.J. made the play. We got out of rhythm as an offense, but that TD pass got us back.”

The Bears’ defense still had to come up with a big stop after Bass returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Merced 26-yard line with 4:27 left.

However, on fourth-and-one, Perez scrambled around the left end for the first down, but as he was fighting for extra yards, McKinney dislodged the ball from Perez and pounced on it at the Bears’ 10-yard line with 2:34 left.

“You can’t ever fault a kid for trying too hard,” Tyler said. “He gave tremendous effort, and I thought our offensive line and defensive line played well tonight.”

Merced’s offense got a first down on an 11-yard pass to Stewart, enabling the Bears to run out the clock.

“At the end of the game, we give up that kickoff return and our defense came out and played,” Scheidt said. “That last play, if our guys quit on the play, (Perez) might score. Our guys didn’t quit, and we got the ball back.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 1:08 AM with the headline "Foss delivers late in Merced win over Pitman."