Merced-MPC football

Saturday's game
Merced (4-0) at Monterey Peninsula (2-2), 6 p.m.
 Ranked 18th in the state and No. 1 in Northern California in the American Division, the Blue Devils have won 10 straight games dating back to last year, with their last loss coming from MPC.
 Merced is averaging 35 points a game, with quarterback Frank Cocio having thrown for 949 yards and 11 touchdowns -- just two picks in 105 attempts.
 Hanisi Lotulelei has rushed for nearly 500 yards for the Blue Devils, averaging 6.9 yards each time he touches the football.
 Hunter Nye is coming off back-to-back 100 plus yard rushing efforts for the Lobos, something that hasn't happened in the last five years. He leads the team with six touchdowns.
 Former San Benito High teammate Hunter Raquet has thrown for 735 yards and five touchdowns for MPC, with Michael Armstead having caught 15 passes for 310 yards and three scores.
 Defensively Merced has forced 16 turnovers this fall and is plus 10 in turnover ratio. David Perales has been a demon on defense with 8 1/2 sacks in four games.
 What was big in last week's 51-point uprising is that the Lobos defense forced four turnovers, using a Jonathan Giles pick six.
 In addition, MPC got points off its special team units, namely Troy Loper, who returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns last week
 During its two-game winning streak, the Lobos have outscored their last two opponents 61-12. But in their two losses, they've been outscored 29-14 in the first 30 minutes.