Bears look to turn momentum into playoff revenge against Vanden
The Merced High football team will face a familiar opponent in Vanden on Friday night when the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs begin. The Bears lost a 26-25 heartbreaker in the first round last year to the Vikings. This time Merced will hit hte road as the No. 6 seed at No. 3 Vanden with the kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
Vanden returns many of their key players from a year ago on a team that finished 9-1 in the regular season, including a defense that recorded six shutouts and surrendered just 7.9 points per game.
“It's the same team,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, whose team enters the playoffs after winning their fourth consecutive Central California Conference championship. “So there's just a few different skill guys, but they're as skilled and they're O-line, D-line, are the same guys. Their linebackers are the same guys, they have the same quarterback. As a coach, you know that they're going to be better because they're a year older.”
Turnovers and untimely penalties plagued Merced against Vanden in a game that was played on a very wet and muddy field at Cathie Hostetler Stadium. Vanden took advantage of three turnovers, including a pick-six in the first half.
Scheidt says the Bears (8-2) have to avoid those mistakes this time. “We have to do what we’ve been doing the last six weeks. We can’t turn the ball over. We have to possess the football and keep their offense off the field. Turnovers killed us last year. In a one-point game, giving up a pick-six and another pick that set up another score. That was really tough for us to overcome.”
The Bears have dominated in their last six games, winning all six and averaging almost 54 points per game. During the winning streak, quarterback Raul Moreno has thrown for 646 yards and 14 touchdowns with just one interception. The Bears senior running back duo of Dougie Andrews and Anthony Tacheira have combined for 859 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns in the past six games.
The Bears defense will have to try to slow down a Vikings offense averaging 32 points per game. Quarterback Victor Zambrano returns for Vanden and he will distribute the ball to the Vanden list of playmakers which includes Anthony Clayton, Pherone Oates, Ryen Amey, Karter Lindsey, Cassius Wimbush, Kingston Bates and Joshua Bulda.
Three other MUHSD teams will be in action tonight in Sac-Joaquin Section Bowl Games. Golden Valley will travel to Central Valley, Atwater will make the trip to Turlock and Livingston will travel to Sierra. All the bowl games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.