COALINGA – Darrell Tripline and Maleik Bradford both had long interception returns for touchdowns while kicker Sam Michotte nailed a pair of big field goals to help lead West Hills College Coalinga to a 26-17 win over visiting Merced College on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

West Hills was able to close out its home schedule while honoring its sophomores with a win to snap a four-game losing streak. The victory keeps the Falcons' hopes at a postseason bowl game alive. Next Saturday's (Nov. 18) regular-season finale at Gavilan College is a must win. And the Falcons would need some help as well to move up to a spot for a bowl game.

"It was a big Sophomore Day win," said West Hills Coalinga head coach Justin Berna. "We become bowl eligible with a win next week and need a little help."

On Saturday, West Hills got out to a 10-0 lead after Michotte booted a 37-yard field goal in the first while Tripline came up with a huge pick-6, going 87 yards for a touchdown after an interception in the second quarter.

Merced responded to tie up the game at 10-10 and it remained that way into halftime.

But in the third, the Falcons went out in front for good. Quarterback Jett Garcia led West Hills on a 9-play, 86-yard drive that was capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Tryon at the 7:55 mark to give WHCC a 17-10 lead.

Bradford made it 23-10 with 10:38 to play in the fourth quarter after his pick-6 went 67 yards back for a TD after his interception of Merced QB Travis Byrd.

Merced came right back on its next drive to make it a one-possession game, getting a 1-yard TD run from Jabari Phillips to close out an 89-yard drive.

But the Falcons were able to grind down the clock and ice the victory. West Hills went 66 yards over a 12-play drive that took over six minutes off the clock. Michotte nailed a 26-yard field goal with 1:33 left to secure the Falcon win.

Garcia was solid in his first full game back from injury. He completed 25 of 31 passes for 232 yards with a TD and an interception on a "Hail Mary" attempt just before halftime. Tryon had 4 receptions for 50 yards and the lone touchdown.

On defense, Darris Bridgett (1 sack), Darius Doze, and Kirsten Williams all had a team-high 6 tackles. Tripline added 5 tackles to his interception and Bradford totaled 3 along with his INT.

"It was awesome to honor the sophomores and play well," said Berna. "We now have a shot to reach our goal of a bowl game."

Kickoff for next Saturday's regular-season finale against Gavilan College in Gilroy is set for 1 p.m.