Atwater had lost three straight on the road, but  on Friday they dropped down to 4-5 to make it four. They were dealt  a  49-14 defeat at the hands of the Merced Bears. While losing is never fun, the Falcons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage  in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 373rd, while the Bears are ranked 110th).
 Although Atwater took the loss, they still got scores from  Vinny Valladao and  Durrell Morrison.
As for Merced, the  win keeps them at an undefeated 9-0. The  victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they've averaged 46.1 points this season.
 Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Merced to victory, but perhaps none more so than   Vicente Cortez, who threw for 160 yards and a pair of  touchdowns on only 13 passes, and also punched in one  TD on the ground.  Dougie Andrews helped  Cortez out on the ground, rushing for 82 yards and two  scores on only six carries.
 We've got plenty of inter-league action coming up soon. Atwater will  square off against  rival Los Banos  at 7:00  p.m.  on Friday. Meanwhile, Merced is set to  challenge  their familiar foe Buhach Colony  at 7:00  p.m.  on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps