Football Recap: Merced Skates Past Gregori with Ease

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Previous Games

08/29/25 - Home	45-13 W
08/29/24 - Away	42-12 W
08/25/23 - Home	39-27 W
08/26/22 - Away	33-14 W
08/30/21 - Neutral	33-13 W
+ 4 more games

Merced's contest on Friday was close up to the half, but then they kicked things up a notch. They blew past the Gregori Jaguars 45-13. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Bears' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 180th, while the Jaguars are ranked 482nd).

Vicente Cortez was a one-man wrecking crew as he rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, and also threw for 131 yards and a pair of TDs. Those 60 rushing yards gave him a new career-high.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Merced proved: they limited Gregori to a paltry 1.6 yards per carry. The team can thank Vincent Almanza for the heroic effort on defense: he. Merced didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 8.2.

Merced didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Almanza and Christian Jackson.

Although Gregori took the loss, they still got scores from Noah Wegner and Chris Knight.

Merced's victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0. Those home wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 46.6 points over those games. As for Gregori, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-1.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Merced will venture away from home to square off against Downey at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Gregori, they will head out to challenge Atwater at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.