Pirate's football get big win over Merced

     On one of the coldest nights of the year, one of MJC’s biggest rivals, the Merced Blue Devils made the journey to host a Pirate football team one win away from the Graffiti Bowl. Even though the Blue Devils have had a struggling year with a record of 3-6, MJC did not take them lightly opening up and closing down the Merced 34-24. 
     Quarterback Greg Panelli went going 20-28 for 261 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, in a bounce back performance from his game last week at Laney College. Wide receivers Vince Andrews and Carlos Acosta blew up the weak Merced secondary, combining for 13 catches, 204 yards and two touchdowns, both touchdowns coming from Acosta. One of the bigger plays came from someone who doesn’t get to handle the ball very often, in the form of the 6’ 2, 270 pound defensive lineman Sean Mcleod, who had an interception that he returned 19 yards for a touchdown. The play of the offensive line was stellar, now allowing one sack on Panelli the entire night. The dagger play came on a seven play, 72 yard drive that ended with a 35 yard touchdown pass from Panelli to Acosta, making it a three possession game with just over 13 minutes left, one of the plays where Acosta said he needed a little help from his friends.
     “I had a lot of helps, on both my touchdowns,” said a humble Acosta. “One was a screen, that’s the linemen’s help. The other was an out route, and I got help from the outside receiver.” Acosta also said he saw his quarterback had something different in his eyes on this night. “Throughout practice, you can tell when a guy is gonna do good. You could see the hype in him this week.”
     “You know I think the big thing was the difference between having a winning record to the losing record,” said Panelli on his bounce back performance. “I just wanted to pick up the team a little bit. Everyone together came out and we did a good job of moving the ball down the field. It was tough last week with a couple of interceptions, not being able to move the ball  as we would have liked to but this week I think we came out hungry. We just wanted to be able to have a chance to go on to the post season.”
     But we digress to the big man, Sean Mcleod, who admits his interception was a group effort. “It’s for the defensive line; we all did it,” said Mcleod. “They got pressure on the quarterback, he just lobbed it up and I was right there.” Mcleod also admitted that missing the post-season would not taint the season. “If we don’t make it to the Graffiti Bowl, I still think we had a successful season. We lost a lot of starters this year, so I think the season went really well.”
     A big staple in the game was the strong offensive onslaught brought on by MJC, outgaining Merced 366 yards to 236 yards, numbers that could be attributed to the strong mind of Head Coach Sam Young. “We felt we had to establish the running game more [in the second half],” said Young, divulging his half time adjustments. “They were really crowding the line of scrimmage, so we just had to soften them up for the passing game.” This win makes the Pirates bowl eligible, something Coach Young says is a big accomplishment. “It feels really good to finish the year on a high note. So for us to have a victory over Merced, which is basically our natural rival, is very satisfying.”
     With the crucial sixth win of the season, the Pirates will play San Jose City College in the 2009 Graffiti Bowl this Saturday at MJC. Kick-off will be at 1:00pm. 

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