vs
| 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 had won seven straight at home dating back to last season, but on Friday they bumped up to 2-0 to make it eight. They took their game with ease, bagging a 45-13 victory over the Gregori Jaguars. The Bears pushed the score to 38-13 by the end of the third, a deficit the Jaguars had little chance of recovering from.
Vicente Cortez was a one-man wrecking crew as he rushed for 60 yards and two scores on only seven carries, and also threw for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Those 60 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Merced's leading receiver Hayden Czirban was Cortez's top target yet again, picking up 110 receiving yards and one TD.
Merced's run defense was locked in: Gregori could only muster 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's defense also made the game a nightmare for the opposing QB, racking up seven sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Kaleb Caudillo and Brett Parker, who racked up four sacks between them.
As for Gregori, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-1. While losing is never fun, they can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 482nd, while Merced is ranked 180th).
Although Gregori took the loss, they still got scores from Noah Wegner and Chris Knight.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Merced is headed away from home for the first time to face off against Downey at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 950 yards in their previous games. As for Gregori, they will face off against Atwater at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
