With the Sac-Joaquin Section shrinking the football playoff field to just eight teams per division this season, there is no easing into the playoffs. No warm-up first-round game to shake off the postseason jitters. Instead, teams like Merced High – which was awarded the No. 3 seed in Division III after an undefeated 10-0 run through the regular season –  have to hit the ground running against a tough opponent in No. 6 seed Vanden (8-2), which is the defending section champion, in the first round.

 

The Bears will host the Vikings, who have won three section titles in the past four years, on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Cathie Hostetler Stadium. One of those section championships was a 49-21 win over Merced in 2021. “I think what's kind of phenomenal about their team, their program, is they've been either in the section finals or the state playoffs since 2021,” said Merced head coach Rob Scheidt, whose team qualified for the playoffs seven consecutive years. “Not too many teams have been able to do that. Their ability to sustain success for the last four years is pretty amazing.”

 

Both teams have had two weeks to prepare for the matchup with every team receiving a bye week while the new section bowl games were played last week. Merced has to prepare for a Vanden defense that is surrendering just over 11 points per game.The Vanden defense turned three turnovers into touchdowns in its last game against Pioneer. 

 

“It's not just a matter of them holding their opponent down, they score points,” Scheidt said. “So they're super athletic in the secondary, probably the best secondary we've seen this year. They're big up front. They caused some problems with that, and then their linebacking core, especially their outside linebackers, who play like safeties in the box. So those are the guys who are making those big plays off of interceptions and scoops and scores and all kinds of stuff.”

 

Merced will counter with its big offensive line, led by two three-year starters at tackle in Koy Wicker and Kaleb Caudillo. The Bears will try to move the ball with their trio of running backs in Cammarri Jackson, Dougie Andrews and Anthony Tachiera in the running game and be opportunistic in the passing game with quarterback Vicente Cortez and receivers like Israel Rodas and Hayden Czirban.

 

“I think we believe in our guys and what they can do,” Scheidt said. “We're pretty good up front. We've been doing a great job of protecting the football. We’ve got to do that on Friday night, and then don't get over complicated with what you're doing. We need to run the football and get three and a half yards, and keep doing that until you move the chains. So we're going to stick with that formula, and then we'll have some explosive plays with our quarterback and his ability to throw the ball and run the ball. Our running backs don't sit idle very often. Dougie is averaging close to 10 yards per carry, and Cammarri and Anthony are right there. We haven't been a three yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust team in a while, but we've proven that we can do that earlier in the year.”

 

Merced is the lone MUHSD team left in the field and Scheidt says it’s special to have the opportunity to host a playoff game on campus. “This is where you want to be, right? I can't say enough about our guys and how much they've worked to get to this point and they believed in the process,” Scheidt said. “It hasn't been perfect, but it's been a really good team. We just hope that's enough (tonight). We're playing a team that's 8-2, but they're five points away from being undefeated, so there's not a lot of room for error. I believe every team in the top eight in Division III is a really good football team, and Vanden is no exception to that.”

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.