Flag Football Game Preview: Merced Bears vs. El Capitan Gauchos + How To Watch

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Previous 6 Games

10/02/25 - Away	26-20 W
10/22/24 - Home	27-31 L
10/03/24 - Away	19-34 L
10/19/23 - Away	6-7 L
09/26/23 - Home	21-13 W
08/19/23 - Neutral	21-12 W

Merced and El Capitan are an even 3-3 against one another since August of 2023, but not for long. The Bears will welcome the Gauchos at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few points on average (Merced 10.8, El Capitan 8.5) so any points scored will be well earned.

El Capitan will challenge a team with plenty of momentum: Merced extended their winning streak to four on Thursday. The Bears came out on top against Buhach Colony by a score of 20-13. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' California flag football rankings (they are ranked 43rd, while the Thunder are ranked 197th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Merced's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB four times. The heavy lifting was done by Kyah Good and Aniayah Barron, who racked up all four sacks between them.

Meanwhile, El Capitan got the win against Los Banos on Thursday by a conclusive 32-8. Considering the Gauchos have won 11 contests by more than 23 points this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

El Capitan's victory bumped their record up to 17-4. As for Merced, their win bumped their record up to 21-3.

Merced didn't have too much breathing room in their game against El Capitan in their previous matchup on October 2nd, but they still walked away with a 26-20 victory. Will the Bears repeat their success, or do the Gauchos have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.