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

Merced has gone a perfect 8-0 against El Capitan recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Bears will venture away from home to square off against the Gauchos at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Merced has seven straight victories, El Capitan has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

On Friday, Merced didn't have too much trouble with Los Banos as they won 37-21. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 154th, while the Tigers are ranked 392nd) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Vicente Cortez

Passer Rating (Career)

10/10/25 @ Los Banos	148.2
09/19/25 vs Madera	147.5
10/03/25 vs Golden Valley	145.8
09/26/25 @ Enochs	137.5
08/22/25 vs Patterson	131

Merced's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Vicente Cortez led the charge by throwing for 138 yards and a pair of TDs while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushing for 47 yards. The dominant performance also gave Cortez a new career-high in passer rating (148.2). Cammarri Jackson also helped with two touchdowns in total.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Merced was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 239 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 220 rushing yards in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, El Capitan scored the most points they've had this season on Friday, but it wasn't enough. They were just a hair shy of victory and fell 42-41 to Atwater. While the Gauchos had to settle for second, they closed the game well in the third quarter, where they outscored the Falcons 21-0.

El Capitan now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Merced, their record now sits at 7-0.

Friday's contest might be decided in the trenches. Merced has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 201.9 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for El Capitan, though, as they've been averaging only 88.1 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?

Merced took their win against El Capitan when the teams last played back in October of 2024 by a conclusive 54-32 score. In that matchup, the Bears amassed a halftime lead of 42-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.