Merced had won five straight on the road dating back to last season, but on Friday they bumped up to 7-0 to make it six. They strolled past the Los Banos Tigers with points to spare, taking the game 37-21. That's more bragging rights for the Bears, who also won the pair's last head-to-head.
Vicente Cortez
| 10/10/25 @ Los Banos | 148.2 |
| 09/19/25 vs Madera | 147.5 |
| 10/03/25 vs Golden Valley | 145.8 |
| 09/26/25 @ Enochs | 137.5 |
| 08/22/25 vs Patterson | 131 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Merced to victory, but perhaps none more so than Vicente Cortez, who threw for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes, and also rushed for 47 yards. The dominant performance also gave Cortez a new career-high in passer rating (148.2). Cammarri Jackson was another key rusher, rushing for 70 yards and two TDs.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Merced was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 239 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 220 rushing yards in six consecutive matchups.
As for Los Banos, they now have a losing record of 3-4. 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 351st, while Merced is ranked 123rd).
Despite the loss, Los Banos still got an impressive performance from Joshua Gargano, who rushed for 48 yards and one score, and also threw for 75 yards and one touchdown.
Looking ahead, Merced will head out to take on El Capitan at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Bears are facing the Gauchos at the right time seeing as the Gauchos are stuck on a three-game losing streak. As for Los Banos, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Buhach Colony at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
