Looking to quickly erase a 71-14 loss to De Anza to open he
regular season last week, the Gavilan Rams take on another Golden
Gate Conference opponent when the Merced College Blue Devils host a
non-conference football game Saturday at 6 p.m.
Looking to quickly erase a 71-14 loss to De Anza to open he regular season last week, the Gavilan Rams take on another Golden Gate Conference opponent when the Merced College Blue Devils host a non-conference football game Saturday at 6 p.m.
Gavilan coach Spencer Gilford has experience in games with the Blue Devils in recent seasons. While the Blue Devils have improved over last year’s 2-8 campaign, the new head coach has cautioned his charges that Merced is not as complete a team as De Anza.
“Merced’s traditionally been a running team,” Gilford said following Tuesday night’s practice. “They got behind against San Joaquin Delta and had to throw a lot.”
Merced fell 41-28 to the Mustangs in Week 1.
Gilford pointed out tight end Alex Young (6-foot-5, 230 pounds out of Hilmar High) as one of the top weapons in the Blue Devils’ offense. Held without a touchdown catch, Young led the Blue Devils with six catches for 58 yards.
Freshman quarterback Trevor Mew (6-2, 215 from Ceres) threw for 327 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions last weekend. Trunell McMillon and Jarrell Davis each caught touchdowns.
Merced was limited to 35 net rushing yards in 33 plays against San Joaquin Delta, with Darnodo Smith the leading rusher with 15 yards.
“We’re very balanced,” Coach Bob Casey said of his Blue Devils. “We’ve run successfully in the past. The Delta game gave us some opportunities to pass.”
Coming off the De Anza game, Gilford expects an improvement on both sides of the ball by the young Rams.
“Merced has fewer formations,” Gilford said. “They do what they do well. This is preseason for us. We play five games before we get to conference play. Our players have shown a good attitude in practice. We know we made mistakes last game, but these are things we can clean up.”
Note: Gavilan had a 10-point lead over Merced last year, only to fall 30-28 early in a 1-9 season.
