Football Game Preview: Compass Academy Cougars vs. Merkel Badgers

The Compass Academy Cougars will challenge the Merkel Badgers at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Compass Academy will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.

Compass Academy will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Alpine, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Cougars blew past the Bucks 41-14 on Friday. Considering the Cougars have won seven games by more than 26 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Mason Hicks

Passing Yards

11/07/25 @ Alpine	182
11/01/25 vs Anthony	54
10/23/25 vs Crane	98
10/09/25 vs Alpine	106
10/02/25 vs Anthony	176
+ 5 more games

Compass Academy can attribute much of their success to Valois Terecero, who rushed for 130 yards and two scores on only 11 carries, and Mason Hicks, who threw for 182 yards and three TDs while completing 82.4% of his passes. That's the most passing yards Hicks has posted since back in August. Ryian Farris also helped with two touchdowns in total.

Meanwhile, Merkel came up short against Coahoma on Friday and fell 27-19. Despite 129 more yards than the Bulldogs, the Badgers couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.

Despite the loss, Merkel saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Easton Malone threw for 179 yards and a pair of TDs, and also rushed for 47 yards.

Even if they lost, Merkel's defense still kept up the pressure with three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Rayson Houston, John Smith, and Khyler Rodriguez, who each picked up one sack apiece.

Compass Academy's victory bumped their record up to 9-1. As for Merkel, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-4.