El Capitan lost against Merced back in October of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The El Capitan Gauchos came up short against the Merced Bears, falling 54-32. The Gauchos haven't had much luck with the Bears recently, as the team's come up short the last eight times they've met.
Although El Capitan took the loss, they still got scores from Lorenzo Peters, Braddik Williams, Anthony Jones, and Dejuan Franklin.
Merced got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Vicente Cortez out in front who rushed for 37 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns while completing 73.7% of his passes. Cortez's passing game has become a key predictor of Merced's success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 110 or higher, but only 1-3 otherwise. Another rusher making a difference was Adarias Morales-Saetern, who rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
El Capitan's defeat dropped their record down to 4-4. As for Merced, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 5-3.
El Capitan didn't take long to hit the field again: they've already played their next matchup, a 42-2 win against Buhach Colony on the 25th. Merced has also already played their next game, a 27-24 victory against Atwater on the 25th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
