It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Rio Americano can now relate to. They took a 41-35 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Merced Bears. The Raiders gained 69 more yards on the day, but it was the Bears that made the best use of them.
Despite the loss, Rio Americano still got an impressive performance from Raymar Griffith, who rushed for 192 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.7 yards per carry. Griffith showed off some serious burst, cutting through the defense on one rush that went for 60 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Keegan Leary, who rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Even though they lost, Rio Americano was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 325 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Quintell Dupree was his usual excellent self, rushing for 77 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 161 yards and two touchdowns for Merced. Another player making a difference was Adarias Morales-Saetern, who gained 113 total yards and a touchdown.
Rio Americano now has a losing record at 5-6. As for Merced, the win (which was their seventh in a row) raised their record to 8-3.
Rio Americano does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Merced, they will square off against West Park at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. West Park is coming into the match with five straight victories on the road, so Merced will have to stop a team with plenty of momentum.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
