Merced holds off late charge from Buhach Colony as high school football returns
Merced High football coach Rob Scheidt caught himself worrying about whether his team could hold on to a narrow lead late in the game on Friday night against Buhach Colony.
The Bears had seen their 17-point lead trimmed to just four points after two fourth-quarter touchdown runs by Buhach Colony running back Nate Ruiz.
“I was thinking about, ‘Man, what if we end up losing this game?’ Then I was like, ‘You know what, we’re playing football,”’ Scheidt said. “That’s the bottom line right now.”
The Bears ran out the final 3 minutes and 5 seconds of the game with some clutch plays on third and fourth downs to preserve a 17-13 win over Buhach Colony at Dave Honey Stadium.
High school football returned to Merced County on Friday night as stadium lights lit up around the county as teams began a shortened five-game, spring season.
It wasn’t your normal Friday night setting in the Central Valley with limited crowds who sat socially distanced in the stands made up of mostly family members wearing face masks.
Welcome to high school football during a pandemic.
However, players were back in pads and uniforms, and for just a couple hours they were able to concentrate on football.
“It’s been extremely hard, all the road blocks,” said Ruiz, who led the Thunder charge late with touchdown runs of 44 and 6 yards. “It’s tough, fighting COVID, fighting all these restrictions and everything, but at the end of the day, we try to block it all out and do what we love. That’s playing football, playing with our brothers who we grew up together. The bottom line is we just want to play.”
COVID-19 keeps some players sidelined
Players and coaches had to undergo COVID-19 testing earlier this week. Both teams had positive tests that resulted in contact tracing by the Merced Union High School District that led to players on each side being held out.
Buhach Colony athletic director Kevin Navarra said it was tough telling a player they would likely miss at least two games when the season is only five games.
There were definitely things missing on Friday night. There was no student section in the stands. There was no snack bar. There wasn’t even any Gatorade bucket as players had to drink from their own water bottles.
However, the theme of the night was they were out there playing.
“If you think about all the things they’ve been thinking about on Friday night for the past 16 months — 12 months with the pandemic — but I think 16 months for us, because the end of the (2019) season, and then you have all these dreams about what you’re doing Friday night and then you’re at home because all those dreams are shattered,” Scheidt said. “You could just see there was a release by the guys. They were pumped up.”
The lack of preparation time showed early as the first half was plagued with penalties.
A bad snap on a punt play in the final seconds of the first half led to the only points in the first two quarters. Merced’s Dominic Mallari made a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to give the Bears a 3-0 lead at intermission.
Merced’s offense got on track in the third quarter as Sam Scheidt scored on a 15-yard touchdown run and Cody Chapman followed that up with a 10-yard scoring run on Merced’s next drive to extend the lead to 17-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Chapman appeared to be having the time of his life, smiling and chatting with Buhach Colony players throughout the game as he played running back and linebacker.
“It felt great to be back on the field after a long time,” he said..
After Ruiz’s second touchdown run pulled Buhach Colony within 17-13, it was big runs by Chapman and Reggie Choyce that helped the Bears run out the clock on the final drive.
Merced will face Central Catholic on Thursday at Veterans Stadium next week. Buhach Colony will travel to Hilmar on Friday.
“I’m so excited for them, both teams, to actually play a game, hit people,” Rob Scheidt said. “It’s a different atmosphere for sure, not as many people, but it just felt like a football game once you got going.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 12:40 AM with the headline "Merced holds off late charge from Buhach Colony as high school football returns."
