Merced High football team opens season with thrilling win after defense delivered goal-line stand in
As soon as Patterson High running back Ronin Cantu was wrestled to the ground, the Merced High players exploded onto the field. The Bears defense delivered a goal-line stand in overtime, tackling Cantu at the one-yard line to earn a hard-fought 30-23 victory on Friday night at Cathie Hostetler Stadium over a Tigers team that entered the season ranked No. 15 in the Sac-Joaquin Section by Max Preps.
Merced head coach Rob Scheidt called it a battle of attrition as both teams had players going to the sideline with heat-related issues, cramping and general fatigue. The Bears somehow managed to dig deep and make the defensive stop in overtime.
The game went to overtime after Patterson kicker Jared Carrete’s potential 36-yard game-winning field goal at the end of regulation hit off the right up-right with the score tied 23-23. The missed kick gave Merced an extra life.
The Bears turned to senior receiver Hayden Czirban for two big plays in overtime. Facing a fourth-and-seven, Merced quarterback Vicente Cortez found Czirban for an eight-yard catch to convert the first down. On the next play, Cortez threw a screen pass out to the right to Czirban, who pulled in the pass with one hand and then raced through the Patterson defense for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 30-23 lead.
“I knew we needed a TD to give my team a chance to win,” Czirban said. “I under ran the route a little bit, but I recovered and got right back to it and ran through the defense. The touchdown gave us the extra energy we needed to win.”
Patterson marched to the Merced one-yard line and faced a second-and-goal on its overtime possession, but Bears sophomore free safety Christian Jackson made one of the biggest plays of the night. Jackson darted through the line of scrimmage and crashed into Patterson running back Dasen Pettis as he received the handoff to cause a five-yard loss. “I saw the hole, read it and I did my job,” Jackson said. Scheidt was impressed with his sophomore all night. “He breaks on the ball really well, and then he has a kind of knack for when to make a big play,” Scheidt said. “And that was a huge play.”
On third down, Patterson ran the ball to the Merced three-yard line. The Tigers kept the ball on the ground on fourth down, but Cantu was stopped short of the goal line. “It was great plays, big plays,” said Jackson. “We got the stop and the victory.”
It was a close game throughout as Cortez threw three touchdown passes and Anthony Tachiera added a 36-yard touchdown run. Defensively Isayah Smith came up with two big interceptions in the first half. Scheidt applauded his guys like Czirban for finding a way to stay on the field and fighting through fatigue. “You don't know how guys are going to respond,” Scheidt said. The guy didn't come off the field. We gave him a few breaks on offense, early on. Then in the third quarter, and then the fourth quarter he refused to come off the field. So you see all the guys cramping on both sides, coming off so when your best guys find a way to finish, that was big for us.”
The big win over a ranked team could help Merced tremendously later on this season when it comes to playoff seeding. More importantly it give the Bears some early season momentum. “It’s phenomenal,” Czirban said. “Now we need to get after it the rest of the season. This can set the tone.”
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.