Football Recap: Atwater Comes Up Short

Atwater had lost three straight on the road, but on Friday they dropped down to 4-5 to make it four. They were dealt a 49-14 defeat at the hands of the Merced Bears. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 373rd, while the Bears are ranked 110th).

Although Atwater took the loss, they still got scores from Vinny Valladao and Durrell Morrison.

As for Merced, the win keeps them at an undefeated 9-0. The victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they've averaged 46.1 points this season.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Merced to victory, but perhaps none more so than Vicente Cortez, who threw for 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 13 passes, and also punched in one TD on the ground. Dougie Andrews helped Cortez out on the ground, rushing for 82 yards and two scores on only six carries.

We've got plenty of inter-league action coming up soon. Atwater will square off against rival Los Banos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Merced is set to challenge their familiar foe Buhach Colony at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.