Merrill Moves to Head of Quarterback Class in 28-6 Moorpark Win

Freshman Jayson Merrill, anxious to secure the starting quarterback job at Moorpark College, needed just five minutes against Santa Monica City College on Saturday to showcase his credentials.

Early in the first quarter, Merrill connected with tight end Darren Romano on a 50-yard pass play to advance the Raiders to Santa Monica’s 4-yard line and set up their first touchdown en route to a 28-6 nonconference victory at Moorpark.

Merrill, who completed 7 of 10 passes for 160 yards, threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to another tight end, William Johnson, later in the quarter. Merrill came off the bench last week to spearhead Moorpark’s winning drive in a season-opening victory over Valley College. “After the practices this week and the last game, I felt I deserved to start today,” Merrill said.

Yet despite his strong outing against Valley, Coach Jim Bittner was uncertain whether to start sophomore David Sommer or Merrill against Santa Monica.

Bittner settled on Merrill just minutes before the game. Merrill, who also rushed 8 times for 31 yards, engineered three touchdown drives in the first half. Sommer, whose only pass was intercepted, and freshman Mike Henry each played for a few minutes.

“We will continue to keep all three quarterbacks, but Jayson’s performance certainly didn’t hurt him any,” Bittner said.

Santa Monica (0-2) scored its only touchdown in the third quarter to trim Moorpark’s lead to 21-7. The Corsairs drove 76 yards in 5 plays, scoring on an 11-yard run by Deon Thomas with 8:03 left in the period.

Defensive back Larnell Bush returned an interception 45 yards for Moorpark’s final touchdown with 9:03 to play. The Raiders intercepted Santa Monica quarterback Daryl Hobbs 3 times and converted 2 into touchdowns.

Roberts scored twice in the first half on runs of 1 and 14 yards. His first touchdown capped an 80-yard scoring drive to put Moorpark ahead, 7-0, with 10:54 left in the first quarter. An interception by defensive back Dennis Noone set up the 28-yard scoring pass to Johnson. Roberts scored from the 14 with 10:06 to play in the first half to cap an 80-yard, 12-play drive.

The Raiders compiled 381 total yards, including 221 on the ground. Santa Monica finished with 287 total yards.