Roundup: Merced, Atwater earn wins to set up CCC showdown next week in Santa Fe Bowl

The stage is set for a Central California Conference showdown next week in Santa Fe Bowl 54 after the Merced and Atwater high football teams picked up victories Friday night.

Merced improved to 5-3 and 3-0 in the CCC with a 54-32 victory over El Capitan at Cathie Hostetler Stadium.

Meanwhile, Atwater (7-1, 3-0 CCC) defeated Golden Valley 28-14 at Veterans Stadium.

The Falcons will host Merced next week as Atwater tries to lock up its first CCC championship since 1998. The Bears own a decisive 38-15 edge in the rivalry and have won nine CCC championships since the Falcons last won the crown.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt. “This is what everyone has been focused on. We know (Atwater) has tremendous athletes and they are playing really well. A 7-1 record heading into week nine is a good place to be.”

Merced 54, El Capitan 32 — The Bears erupted for 54 points despite losing starting quarterback Quintell Dupree to a knee injury on the first play of the game.

Vicente Cortez came in on the first drive and led the Bears down the field, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run. It was the first of two touchdown runs for Cortez, who also threw a TDpass to Jordan Dupree in the first half.

Adarius Morales-Saetern added two touchdown runs and Julian Higareda returned a punt 86 yards for a score for the Bears.

El Capitan junior Lorenzo Peters returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

Scheidt says Dupree’s availability for next week is in question. He said the quarterback is day-to-day.

Atwater 28, Golden Valley 14 — The Falcons overcame four turnovers to defeat the Cougars.

The Atwater quarterback duo of AJ Banks and James Bell both threw touchdowns. Banks connected with Jordan Mora for a score and Bell found Sylas Austin for a touchdown.

Jeremiah De La Rosa also found the end zone on the ground for the Falcons and linebacker Santos Vargas returned an interception for a touchdown.

Isaiah Welch scored on a run to get Golden Valley (2-6, 1-2 CCC) on the board in the fourth quarter and quarterback Mario Perez threw a scoring strike to Dom Perez late for the final score.

Los Banos 42, Buhach Colony 37 — Kolton Kanemoto hauled in a 10-yard touchdown from Donovan Verducci-Greer to give the Tigers the lead with 43 seconds left in the game.

Raul Diaz scored three rushing touchdowns to help lead the Los Banos comeback as the Tigers improved to 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the CCC.

Buhach Colony kicker Addison Sanchez kept the Thunder with two pooch kickoffs that were recovered by Aiden Bigham and set up touchdowns.

Edgar Hernandez scored two rushing touchdowns for Buhach Colony. Hernandez, Isaiah Alvarez, Black O’Brien and Gabriel Machado combined to rack up 353 rushing yards for the Thunder, who dropped to 0-8 overall and 0-3 in the CCC.

Summerville 28, Hilmar 19 — Colton Cash and Bryce Leveroos both had two rushing touchdowns to lead the Bears to a victory over the Yellowjackets.

Lathrop 28, Livingston 10 —The Spartans pulled away in the second half to improve to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Lathrop led just 7-3 at the half.

The Livingston defense was led by the trio of Zack Duran, Julian Chavez and Isaac Baez, who all finished with 10 tackles.

The Wolves drop to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the WAC.

Pacheco 40, Beyer 0 — Aidan Pikas and Brennon Watkins both scored rushing touchdowns and the Panthers defense posted a shutout against the Patriots.

Joseph Franco scored on a pick-six on defense as Pacheco improved to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the WAC.

Stone Ridge Christian 35, Mariposa 0 — Carson Lund scored two touchdowns and accounted for 162 total yards to help the Knights improve to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Southern League with their seventh consecutive win.

Lund finished with 104 receiving yards and 58 rushing yards.

Kayden Downey finished with 100 receiving yards and a touchdown for SRC. Quarterback Marcus Gray completed 15 of 26 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

Daijon O’Neil added 81 yards receiving and a touchdown and also intercepted a pass on defense for the Knights.

Le Grand 28, Gustine 14 — Bulldogs quarterback Diego Martinez threw two touchdowns to help Le Grand pick up its first win of the season.

Martinez connected with Miguel Moreno and Blake Lua for touchdown passes. Moreno added a key interception late on defense.

Johnathan Benavidez had 115 rushing yards and a touchdown for Le Grand (1-5 overall, 1-4 SL).

Other Merced-area scores:

Dos Palos 35, Tranquillity 7

Delhi 37, Waterford 7