Merkel couldn't capitalize on their home-field advantage in their season opener. They lost to the Ballinger Bearcats at home by a 28-10 margin on Friday. The Badgers were down 28-3 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Bronson Lloyd threw for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Eli Delgado was his top target, picking up 46 receiving yards.
Ballinger's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Kyson Burleson, who rushed for 53 yards and a touchdown on only five carries, and also threw for 27 yards and a touchdown. Burleson got the majority of those yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible56 yards. Another rusher making a difference was Aiden Pena, who rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Merkel will head out to face off against Bangs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both have been evenly matched recently as the teams are 3-3 against one another since October of 2014. As for Ballinger, they will host Christoval at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
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