Before the 2026 season began, the Merced Bears were considered the favorites to win the CCC after winning the Sac-Joaquin Division 2 championship in 2025. Last Thursday night, October 1st, the Bears validated those considerations by defeating Buhach Colony High, 36-13, in the first of two league matchups these two will play. By defeating second place Buhach Colony, the Bears took sole possession of first place and extended their record to 5-0 in the CCC.
Merced began the game by scoring quickly. On the opening drive, quarterback Antonia Lejarde found Amachi Turner on a pass across the field to get the first touchdown of the game, but the Bears were unable to convert the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. Buhach Colony answered when junior Emily Gallegos took the ball across the field, avoiding multiple defenders on her way to a touchdown. The Thunder converted the extra point on a pass from Lesli Gutierrez to Halle Dutra, briefly giving Buhach Colony a 7-6 lead over the defending champions. However, by the end of the first quarter, Merced was able to retake the lead when Lejarde connected with Bears senior Averie Steverson for a touchdown pass, which put the Bears back in front 12-7.
By the second quarter, the Bears’ defense buckled down and got the ball back to Lejarde who continued to make an impact at quarterback as she ran the ball into the end zone for another touchdown, extending Merced’s lead to 18-7. However, neither the Bears, nor Lejarde, were done yet. Merced added another score when Lejarde connected with Amachi Turner, once again, giving Turner her second touchdown of the game. Lejarde would finish the game completing 24 of 36 passes, throwing for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns while also rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown run.
Buhach Colony eventually found their form on offense. Midway through the third quarter, junior quarterback Lesli Gutierrez answered with a 66-yard touchdown run, cutting into the Bears’ lead, but Merced entered the fourth quarter with a 30-13 advantage.
The Thunder struggled to keep up offensively in the fourth quarter, committing several dropped passes. The quarterback for the Thunder, finished the game with only two completions and two interceptions. The final Bears touchdown, an interception by Averie Steverson, sealed the game, 36-13, for Merced and launched them into sole possession of first place in the CCC with a 5-0 record. The loss for Buhach pushes them back into second place with a 4-1 CCC record.
“I think this is a really big win for us so far,” Steverson said. “This was probably the toughest game on our schedule, so I’m glad that we were able to come out and compete and then shut down the game in the first half.”
Steverson said Merced’s success came from its ability to contribute on both sides of the ball, particularly against Buhach Colony’s rushing attack. “I think we did both really good on offense and defense,” Steverson said. “We came out really strong on offense, scored on our first drive, and then we had a lot of good flag pulls on defense. Their bread and butter is running the ball, and I feel like we shut that down really well.”
With the win, Merced improves to 16-2 overall and maintains their undefeated streak in league play. They will travel to El Capitan on Tuesday, October 6, for their next Central California Conference matchup. Buhach Colony falls to 13-3 overall and holds a firm grip on second place. However, both teams still have one more trip through the rest of the league, including a matchup against each other on October 20, before a CCC winner is declared. A lot can happen between now and then, but for now, it’s the Bears on top until they’re beaten.
- Photos by Grace Gallegos. ↩︎
