Scoggins, Slaton play big roles in Merced’s win over Buhach Colony

Rob Scheidt calls running back Ulonzo Gilliam his protection blanket. The Merced High coach feels as if he always can turn to his star running back whenever he needs a big play.

Scheidt didn’t have that comfort Friday night against Buhach Colony. Gilliam tried to play against the Thunder with a sprained ankle, but left for good after the first series on defense.

Paul Scoggins and Rayveon Slaton stepped up in his place. The junior duo combined for 209 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Scoggins added a 64-yard punt return for a score as the Bears defeated Buhach Colony 38-21 to set up a showdown against Turlock next week for the Central California Conference championship.

“Those guys had to step up and they did a great job,” said Scheidt, whose team won their fourth in a row to improve to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in the CCC. “I thought we ran the ball really well at times. This was good experience for both those guys and it was nice having them ready to go.”

Gilliam gave it a go on Friday night despite being limited in practice during the week. He knew early he wouldn’t be able to finish the game.

Scoggins started in the backfield and broke free for a 50-yard run, but he was stripped of the ball just before the goal line and Buhach Colony’s Donte Askew recovered the fumble in the end zone.

“I was in, but the ref didn’t see,” said Scoggins, who finished with 125 yards on 16 carries. “It’s still my fault. I should have held onto the ball.”

Scoggins made up for it as the Bears defense forced a Thunder punt and Scoggins returned it 64 yards for a touchdown to tie the score 7-7 in the first quarter.

“That felt good coming back from that fumble,” Scoggins said. “I knew I had to play better with Ulonzo Gilliam out. It was tough. Over the week, our coaches were pushing us, and Lonzi was there to help us out with plays to help get us ready.”

The Thunder (2-5, 0-3) gashed the Bears defense with big plays.

Alex Andrade scored a 28-yard touchdown on a sweep to cap Buhach Colony’s opening drive. Quarterback Andrew Morris connected with Darius Mack for a 42-yard touchdown pass on blown coverage to give the Thunder a 14-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

Buhach Colony’s last score came on a 59-yard reverse by Askew to pull the Thunder within 28-21 with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

It was a gallant effort by a Thunder team that has dealt with injuries all year.

Senior Hunter Stefani is playing only on the defensive line after chipping a bone in his foot three weeks ago against St. Mary’s. Running back Brandon Muse and outside linebackers Jace Alcazar and Antonio Escalante left with injuries against Merced and didn’t return.

“It seems like that’s how our season has gone,” said Thunder coach Kevin Navarra, whose team lost its fifth consecutive game. “Losing two outside linebackers and Brandon Muse played a huge factor. We were down to our last outside linebacker at one point, and running back – we were in the same position.”

With so many moving parts, the Buhach Colony passing game was out of sync in the second half. Morris completed just 1 of 14 passes in the final two quarters.

Merced put the game away in the fourth quarter as Slaton broke through the middle for a 45-yard touchdown run that extended the Bears’ lead to 35-21.

AJ Stewart added a 19-yard field goal with 1:11 remaining to give the Bears a three-score lead at 38-21.

“We’re still playing in spurts,” Scheidt said. “There’s a lot of drives we need to finish and third downs where we need stops to get off the field. Our guys are playing hard. We’re still trying to find that complete game like we had against Edison and the second half we had against Clovis North. That’s where we want to be.”

Merced quarterback Jake Foss completed 10 of 16 passes for 187 yards, including touchdowns throws of 68 yards to Brandon McKinney and 10 yards to Stewart.

The win sets up a CCC championship game next week against Turlock (6-1, 3-0) at Veterans Stadium.

“Next week is what we wanted it to be,” Scheidt said. “Turlock is a great team and we feel we have a good team. We’re going to have to play better than we have been.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 1:50 AM with the headline "Scoggins, Slaton play big roles in Merced’s win over Buhach Colony."