When you get to the playoffs the margin for error between wins and losses shrinks dramatically for teams. The errors, which came in the form of three turnovers and costly first-half penalties, was too much to overcome for the Merced High football team as the No. 6 seed Vanden edged the No. 3 Bears 26-25 in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs on Friday night at Cathie Hostetler Stadium. 

 

After a 10-0 perfect regular season, the Bears saw their season come to a sudden close with a frustrating one-point loss. “A one-point game like this comes down to every single play on every single drive,” said Merced quarterback Vicente Cortez. “That feeling of not winning a game we should have won hurts a lot. This will leave a scar on me forever.”

 

It was a nightmare start for Merced (10-1). The plan was to change the snap count to try to draw Vanden offsides, but it was the Bears who were flagged four times for false starts on offense in the first half which killed drives. After watching the Vikings score three defensive touchdowns in their last game against Pioneer it was an emphasis to take care of the ball for Merced. However, Vanden’s Caleb Jones intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Xavier Zambrano two players later to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

 

The Vikings defense struck again on the Bears next possession as defensive back Eamon Lacy apparently caught the ball before it hit the ground after Merced receiver Hayden Czirban bobbled a pass and Lacy raced 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Vikings (9-2) a 13-0 lead with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

 

“There were a lot of things that weren’t their best tonight, including me,” said Merced head coach Rob Scheidt. “That’s what happens when you get in these games. The environment, the conditions, other things that just weren’t perfect. Not that we had to play perfect tonight, but we just made mistakes tonight that we normally don’t make against a good football team.”

 

The Bears showed why they won 10 games and a Central California Conference championship by the way they battled back. Merced got the ground game going with running backs Cammarri Jackson and Dougie Andrews. That opened up the passing game and Cortez found big plays to Czirban all night.

 

The first big connection was a 12-yard touchdown pass to pull the Bears with 13-6 with 4:44 left in the first half. The Vikings answered with one of their best drives of the night as they marched 80 yards on five plays with Josiah Chavez breaking free for a 44-yard touchdown run to extend the Vanden lead to 20-6 with 3:09 left in the first half.

 

The Bears then seized momentum before the half as Cortez threw a 46-yard scoring strike to Czirban to cut the lead to 20-12 with 1:27 left in the second quarter. Zambrano then attempted to throw a screen pass on Vanden’s next play and threw the ball right to Merced defensive lineman Damari Washington, who scored on a 20-yard interception return to pull the Bears within 20-18 at the half.

The momentum carried over to the third quarter as the Bears defense forced a quick punt and then Cortez and Czirban hooked up for a third touchdown pass on the night. This time on fourth down, Cortez faked a handoff and found Czirban open in the end zone for a 20-yard pass to give the Bears a 25-20 lead with 6:40 left in the third quarter. “Once we get our offense in tune we just keep going and keep pounding,” Czirban said. “The turnovers, we just couldn’t do that tonight.”

 

Vanden retook the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter as receiver Kimani Dokes made a one-handed grab in the end zone to haul in a 13-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 26-25 lead with 11:52 left in the game. Merced appeared to be marching down the field to answer as Andrews carried the ball on four consecutive play for 32 yards to advance the ball into Vikings territory. However, the Bears ran a fake screen pass and Cortez tried to connect with a receiver down field, but Jones came up with his second interception of the game.

 

The Bears defense made a key play as Isayah Smith intercepted a pass at the goal line to give the Merced offense another opportunity midway through the fourth quarter. Merced moved the ball to its 40 yard line with about 5 minutes left, but the drive stalled and the Bears punted. 

 

Chavez then ran the ball nine out of the next 10 plays as the Vikings were able to run the clock down to seven seconds before Merced was finally able to force a turnover on downs at the Bears’ 21-yard line. Chavez finished with 116 rushing yards on 15 carries. 

 

Merced was unable to come up with a miracle in the final seconds and the Bears saw their season come to an end. “It was an amazing year,” Cortez said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to go with another team. We went 10-0, CCC champs, we built a lot of chemistry with this team every single week.” 

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