Isaiah Arceo-Smith blocked a field goal in overtime to set off a wild celebration as the Merced High football team erased a 14-point deficit in the second half to win a thrilling 24-21season opener over Patterson on Friday night at Patterson Community Stadium. 

 

It’s the second straight season Merced opened the season with an overtime victory over the Tigers. Last year the Bears made a goal-line stand on the final play for a 30-23 win. “It's kind of been that way with us andPatterson, so we didn't expect anything different,” said Merced head coach Rob Scheidt.

 

Patterson closed out the first half with 21 consecutive points to take a 21-7 lead at the half. Senior running back Alex Verdugo did the heavy lifting, carrying the ball 21 times in the first half for 117 yards and two touchdowns to help the Tigers build the lead. Verdugo finished the game with 35 carries for 170 yards.

 

After scoring on their first drive of the game, Merced’s offense struggled the rest of the first half. After starting the second half with a three-and-out, Scheidt turned to back-up quarterback Raul Diaz Moreno to see if the offense could get in the rhythm.

 

The move worked as Diaz Moreno helped orchestrate a 90-yard drive in the third quarter. He connected on a 21-yard pass to Israel Rodas on third down to jumpstart the drive. He added a 17-yard pass to Christian Jackson and then found Charles Polk for a 23-yard scoring strike to pull the Bears within 21-14 late in the third quarter.

 

“Raul was a spark,” Scheidt said. “Our receivers are a really good group, and when we put the ball in their area, they're going to make plays. So that's really the important thing, just making sure, not trying to do too much, just get the ball in their zone, and they're going to go after the football.”

 

Diaz Moreno came up with another big play on third-and-goal from the Tigers’ 30-yard line. The senior found Rodas, who caught three passes for 105 yards, in the middle for a 29-yard pass to set up fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line and Dougie Andrews found the end zone to tie the game at 21-21 with 5:22 left in the game.

 

“I trusted my guys,” said Diaz Moreno who completed 8 of 12 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in the second half. “He told me he was going to be open. I made the read and I just threw it.”

 

The Bears defense came up huge in the second half, shutting out the Tigers in the final two quarters and overtime. Arceo-Smith had a big interception in the first half and Jackson came up with another timely interception in the second half. The Bears defense made a big fourth down stop late in the fourth quarter.

 

A 50-yard pass from Diaz Moreno to Rodas quickly moved the ball into the red zone in the final minutes, but Patterson blocked the Bears potential 25-yard game-winning field goal with 2 seconds left in regulation.

 

Merced got the ball first in overtime and eventually settled for a 28-yard field goal by Jomei Montes to take a 24-21 lead. The Bears defense then forced Patterson to attempt a 38-yard field goal to try to tie the game and send it to a second overtime on the Tigers’ offensive possession.

 

However, Arceo Smith flew around the left side and blocked the field goal. Polk scooped it up and the referees blew the play dead as the Bears celebrated an emotional comeback victory to start the season.

 

“It’s amazing,” Diaz Moreno said. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better win.”

 

Golden Valley 23, Lathrop 6 – Cougars quarterback Gabe Richards connected on two touchdown passes with Julian Solorio to help Golden Valley start the season 1-0 for the first time since 2022. 

 

Isaiah Welch added a rushing touchdown and Brayden Xiong booted a 48-yard field goal for the Cougars.

 

Golden Valley head coach Rick Martinez says his players have bought in.”It's a culmination of everything we put together from spring ball to summer to now, and it just continues to get better,” Martinez said. “You can see our kids are saying, "Coach, we got you. We're rolling, we're buying it. Let's go.’ They're starting to believe in themselves, believing in the coaches and what we're doing and we're saying on how to prepare, how to watch film, how to practice, those types of things.”

 

Gregori 8, Buhach Colony 0 – Mason Caetano came up with a strong defensive performance with a sack to go along with multiple tackles for loss, but the Thunder offense couldn’t get on track.  

 

Vacaville 35, Atwater 14 – Tyler Curtis and Brayden Bettis scored rushed touchdowns for the Falcons, but it wasn’t enough against the Bulldogs. 

 

Grace Davis 43, El Capitan 28 – Gauchos quarterback Jesse Morgan threw four touchdowns, including two scoring strikes to Austin Gooding. Josh Reid and Tyler Parker also hauled in touchdown passes for El Capitan.

 

“Tough game tonight,” said El Capitan head coach Xavier Ramirez. “We just missed on a few opportunities that could have changed things. Credit to Grace Davis – they played well and were a well-coached football team.”

 

McNair 34, Livingston 14  – The Wolves were tied 14-14 at the half, but turned the ball over four times in the second half to let the game get away from them. Roman Gonzalez and Jeff Meneses both scored rushing touchdowns in the first half for Livingston.

 

“Sloppy game overall by us,” said Wolves head coach Brian Alvarez. “Turnovers, penalties and missed tackles is the perfect recipe to lose a game.”

 

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