Merrill Responds Under Pressure in Moorpark Victory : Quarterback Throws Late Touchdown Pass as Unbeaten Raiders Top Glendale, 20-13

Jayson Merrill has a knack for coming up with big plays when his team is on the ropes. The Moorpark College quarterback, however, doesn’t necessarily live for those gut-wrenching moments when everyone is looking for a miracle.

“I seem to do better under pressure,” Merrill said. “But I don’t particularly like it.”

Merrill was loving life Saturday after he capped a game-winning drive with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Darren Romano that gave the unbeaten Raiders a 20-13 victory over previously unbeaten Glendale in a game that probably decided the Northern Division championship of the Western State Conference.

Moorpark (8-0 overall, 7-0 in conference play), ranked fifth in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, has games left against a couple of teams with losing records--Ventura and L. A. Southwest.

Glendale (7-1, 6-1), ranked fourth in the state, has WSC games remaining with Santa Barbara and Ventura and a nonconference game with Taft.

The score was tied, 13-13, when Merrill, a 6-foot, 170-pound freshman from Newbury Park, hit Romano along the left sideline with 6:01 to play. The scoring pass, which was designed at halftime, capped a 67-yard, 7-play drive that also included completions of 11 and 28 yards.

“When we broke the huddle, I didn’t think the play would really be open,” said Merrill, who completed 7 of 17 passes for 189 yards but threw 2 interceptions. “I wasn’t even sure if Darren knew what to do. I’m sitting there yelling, ‘Out and up. You’re going out and up.’ He did the right thing.”

For all of the offensive heroics, the game was marked by the play of the best defenses in the state.

Glendale linebacker Steve Hieber had 3 sacks and led a Glendale unit that held the Raiders to 235 yards. Lineman John Goslin spearheaded the state-leading Moorpark defense that limited Glendale to 240.

“We played them pretty even,” said Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris, whose team lost for the first time in 14 games. “Unfortunately, we put ourselves in a position where a big play could hurt us and then we couldn’t make the big play to come back.”

Glendale had its chances, however.

After Romano’s touchdown, the Vaqueros drove from their 8 to the Moorpark 20. But on third and 16 from the 27, Darren Fitzgerald’s pass to a wide-open Brian Kaloustian in the end zone fell about 2 yards short.

Fitzgerald was sacked by nose guard Johnny Ruiz on fourth down to end a Glendale bid that had made Moorpark edgy.

“They had me on the bench practically crying during parts of the game,” Goslin said of Glendale. “I thought they were going to take it away.”

It looked that way for a while because Moorpark was giving the ball away with alarming regularity. The Raiders began the second half with a 10-3 lead built on Sean Cheevers’ 42-yard field goal and Larry Roberts’ 3-yard touchdown run--the first rushing touchdown Glendale has surrendered this season.

Glendale did nothing with the ball after Brian Miller intercepted a Merrill pass that gave Glendale the ball at its 48.

But the Vaqueros seemed to find their stride after lineman Chad Keiser recovered a Moorpark fumble on the Moorpark 18 with 9:58 left in the third quarter.

Sean Hampton, who gained a game-high 109 yards in 24 carries, scored on a 3-yard run with 8:23 left in the third quarter to tie the score, 10-10.

David Bowen gave the Vaqueros the lead 2 minutes into the fourth quarter with his second field goal of the game--a 20-yarder that capped a 17-yard drive set up by another Moorpark fumble.

Cheevers tied the score with his second 42-yard field goal with 11:25 to play, setting the stage for Merrill’s heroics.

“Gosh,” said Merrill, who engineered a similarly spectacular game-winning drive in the Raiders’ opener against Valley. “You couldn’t ask for a better time to come through.”