Six Merced County football teams still alive in playoffs. But will having a bye week hurt?
Hilimar High football coach Frank Marques has never been a fan of a bye during the playoffs.
The longtime Yellowjackets coach feels the risk of stopping any late-season momentum outweighs the benefit of extra rest.
“It doesn’t hep us much,” Marques said. “It’s all down in my opinion. The bye week wrecks any momentum you might have. I’ve never been a fan of it right before the playoffs, unless you have injuries. All my years of coaching the byes have hurt us more than help us.”
Hilmar is one of six Merced County teams alive in the playoffs.
Hilmar, Los Banos, Stone Ridge Christian and Dos Palos all had first-round byes last week in their respective section playoffs.
Those four teams were able to rest some bumps and bruises and scout their potential opponents.
“You work your butt off all year trying to make the playoffs, to get a bye, it’s sort of a reward for all that work you put in,” said Los Banos coach Dustin Caropreso.
Caropreso says there is a concern how his guys will start off Friday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoff game against No. 5 Center (7-4). Caropreso said his team didn’t play well in the first half following their bye earlier this season.
“There is that concern but with our group of kids that we’ve got, I don’t think it will effect them,” Caropreso said. “I think it’s more of a concern for coaches.”
Merced and Le Grand are two of the local teams who had to play playoff games last week and win to extend their season.
“For us it could have been horrible,” Scheidt said. “We had an injury on Tuesday so we didn’t stay healthy. It didn’t effect us in last week’s game but it could this week. The key is to stay healthy and stay in rhythm. I think it just all depends on the type of team you have, every team is different.”
With Veterans Day falling on Friday, there are two Thursday games this week. Here’s a look at this week’s matchups.
Thursday
Sac-Joaquin Section Division V
No. 6 Pioneer (8-3) at No. 3 Hilmar (7-3) — Marques says the Patriots are going to be a challenge after watching them play Ceres last week.
Pioneer is led by running back Landon Dahler, who has rushed for 722 yards and nine touchdowns.
“They are big and physical and they’re going to try to run the ball with their big running back,” Marques said. “They have the biggest O-line that we’ve seen all year.”
The Yellowjackets counter with their dynamic rushing duo of Caden Bailey, who has rushed for 1,481 yards and 16 touchdowns and Logan Cardoso, who enters Thursday with 976 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Central Section Division IV
No. 10 Santa Maria (6-5) at No. 2 Dos Palos (9-1) — The Broncos pulled out a dramatic 21-20 victory over Caruthers two weeks ago to win the West Sierra League championship.
Dos Palos relied on its defense, which racked up five sacks and five interceptions.
The Broncos hope the bye week helped their offense get healthy. Running back Andre Flores has rushed for 1,203 yards and 18 touchdowns this season.
Friday
Sac-Joaquin Section
Division III
No. 5 Merced (8-3) at No. 4 Oakdale (7-3) — This is one of the top matchups in the southern half of the Sac-Joaquin Section this week with two storied programs matching up in the Corral.
The Mustangs have knocked Merced out of the playoffs the last two times the two schools have played, winning 51-27 in a D4 semifinal in 2019 and 35-21 in a D3 semifinal in 2016.
Oakdale had the bye last week so the Mustangs have been waiting two weeks to get back on the field after a tough 28-27 loss to Manteca.
Merced cruised to a 47-0 win over Bella Vista last week.
Division V
No. 5 Center (7-4) at Los Banos (9-1) — The Cougars mauled Mesa Verde 55-0 last week and now make the long drive to Loftin Stadium to face the Tigers.
Los Banos is led by quarterback David Herrera, who has thrown for 15 touchdowns and rushed for 15 touchdowns.
The bye last week gave Caropreso the opportunity to dive to Antelope last week and scout Center in person.
“I think it gives you more perspective on how big a team is versus watching them on video,” Caropreso said. “You can see how big and how fast players are better than watching on video. You can see the speed of the game.”
Division VII
No. 3A Le Grand (9-2) at No. 2A Orestimba (8-3) — These two Southern League rivals square off in a rematch of a Sept. 15 game won by the Warriors 49-36.
Le Grand sophomore Diego Martinez threw five touchdowns in last week’s win over Waterford and now has 29 touchdown passes this season.
The Bulldogs defense will have to try to contain Orestimba running back Juan Esquivez, who has rushed for 1,651 yards and 28 touchdowns.
3B Valley Christian (6-4) at 2B Stone Ridge Christian (8-1) — A late-season forfeit and a first-round bye has left the Knights idle since Oct. 27.
Stone Ridge Christian finally returns to the field after three weeks of rest. The Knights are led by sophomore running back Daijon O’neil, who has rushed for 1,233 yards and 12 touchdowns.
