Football roundup: Merced keeps rolling, Golden Valley breaks through
Conference races tightened across Merced County as Atwater celebrated homecoming with a win, Merced stayed unbeaten and Golden Valley earned its first victory of the season. Southern League teams continued to jockey for playoff positioning, while Thursday night’s Lathrop-Johansen thriller kicked off the week’s action
Merced 37, Los Banos 21 – Merced stayed perfect, improving to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in CCC play. Cammarri Jackson scored twice on short runs, Chris Jackson caught a 36-yard flea-flicker from Vicente Cortez, and Anthony Tachiera added a 4-yard TD. Cortez also ran for a 23-yard score in the fourth, while Reyes hit all five PATs.
Atwater 49, El Capitan 41 – Homecoming night belonged to Ali “AJ” Banks Jr. The senior quarterback threw three touchdowns, ran for another and was crowned homecoming king at halftime as the Falcons outlasted the Gauchos at Falcon Field. Durrell Morrison racked up 163 total yards and two TDs, Alejandro Naranjo broke loose for a 69-yard counter-play score and Isaiah Alameda’s pick-six helped seal the victory. El Capitan’s Sergio Mendoza accounted for four TDs and Lorenzo Peters rushed for 159 yards and three scores in defeat.
Golden Valley 20, Buhach Colony 19 – Golden Valley earned its first win of the season in dramatic fashion, surviving a last-minute 30-yard field-goal try that fell short. QB Gab Jordan Richards threw two TD passes to Jaren Bell, including a 56-yard strike that gave the Cougars the lead. Isaiah Welch added a 40-yard touchdown run. Buhach Colony’s Dayton Fitzgerald finished with three TD passes — two to Charles Peterson and one to Aedyn Bighom — but the Thunder came up just shy.
Stone Ridge Christian 22, Le Grand 21 – Le Grand matched every Stone Ridge Christian score until they took the lead in the fourth quarter. With about a minute left in the game, Knights quarterback Marcus Gray threw a touchdown pass to Daijon O’Neil to go down one point. Instead of going for the PAT to tie, the Knights went for the 2-point conversion. O’Neil completed the octopus by rushing in for the game-winning 2-point conversion. Gray threw four touchdown passes and O’Neil scored four times — three rushing, one receiving — as the Knights (6-1) stay near the top of the league.
Grace Davis 43, Beyer 13 – Davis exploded for 29 points in the second quarter and never looked back. Caleb Zaragoza threw for 211 yards and a TD and rushed for another. John Castro ran for 100 yards and two TDs, while Aron Olvera De Anda’s pick-six and a safety highlighted the Spartans’ defense. Armando Villegas added a 42-yard touchdown catch. Beyer’s Jacob Towe connected with Tanner Kulina for two late scores.
Hilmar 41, Orestimba 0 – Hilmar erupted for 41 first-half points in a dominant shutout. QBs Jorden Jacobo, Jacob Sward, and Cohen Felber combined for three TD passes, while Adam Branco rushed for 87 yards and two scores. Nathan Ayala and Leo Nunes caught touchdowns, and the defense forced four turnovers.
Mariposa County 24, Denair 23 (OT) – Mariposa edged Denair in overtime after the Coyotes’ two-point conversion failed. Rusty Bull carried 22 times for 127 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Grizzlies. Mariposa remains atop the Southern League at 7-0, 3-0, while Denair trails just behind 6-2, 3-1.
Lathrop 28, Johansen 21 – Johansen nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages Friday night. After falling behind 21-0 early, the Vikings rallied to even the score by the end of the third quarter. Quarterback Anthony Torres sparked the surge with a touchdown pass to Jeydan Saing in the second quarter, then Saing punched in a rushing score after halftime. Torres later found Gabriel Ibanez for a game-tying touchdown to make it 21-21.
But Lathrop answered in the fourth, as Pablo Pena powered in from a yard out with five minutes left for the deciding points. Johansen’s defense gave the Vikings one last chance with a fourth-down stop inside the final minute, but their final drive stalled at the 4-yard line as time expired.
Other scores:
Livingston 34, Central Valley 20
Pacheco 21, Ceres 15
Waterford 35, Gustine 6
