Hartnell-Merced football

Stadium 76 Bowl
Friday's game
Hartnell (6-4) at Merced (7-3), 6 p.m.
 These teams are no strangers to each other, having battled in Week 6.
 For Hartnell, it's a shot at redemption after being handed its worse loss of the season in falling 41-10.
 That triggered Merced on a five-game winning streak to close the season, finishing 7-3 and in a tie for third in the conference with the Panthers.
 Merced is 5-0 with quarterback Frank Cocio in the starting lineup, averaging 43 points a game. The freshmen threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns in his first start, ironically against Hartnell.
 As a team, Merced has thrown for 24 touchdowns and rushed for 20 touchdowns, with running back Jaques Buchannon having rushed for nearly 800 yards.
 NihJer Jackson is a playmaker for Merced, averaging 23 yards a catch, with 11 of his 35 catches this year having gone for touchdowns.
 While Merced is averaging 33 plus points a game, the Panthers have struggled, averaging just under 23 points a game.
 Dorion Isaak and Randy Ivey have shared the quarterback duties the last two games. Hartnell has relied on the legs of Sherrod Hawkes, who is second in the state in rushing at 108 yards a game.
 Hawkes went over the 1,000 yard mark in rushing and has scored a team high eight touchdowns this fall for the Panthers.
 Six different players have caught touchdown passes for Hartnell, including Elisha Peat, who has a team high six.
 Merced's defense has forced 28 turnovers. As a team, it is plus eight in turnover ratio. Hartnell has 19 turnovers, but is minus seven in turnover ratio.
 The status of linebacker Donyae Moody is uncertain. The sophomore leads the team in tackles with 90 and sacks with seven in just eight games.
Angel Maldonado has given the Panthers defense a pass rush with 6 1/2 sacks while Lanier King has 5 1/2 sacks. Wilbur Young has three picks while King and Lorenzo Novoa each have two.
 The Panthers are just 2-3 on the road this year, having dropped two straight for the first time in six years.