The McCurdy Bobcats dominated on both sides of the field in their District 1A opener against the Questa Wildcats Oct. 4 in Española.
McCurdy scored 42 unanswered points to beat Questa by a score of 48-6 in front of its red-and-blue clad home crowd. The game left McCurdy with a 4-2 record and dropped Questa to 3-4.
The McCurdy offense was led by freshman quarterback Louie Martinez and senior running back Devin Duran. Duran sealed the game in the second half with touchdown runs of 15 and four yards.
Martinez looked mature beyond his years as he mixed accurate passing with some gutsy runs.
“He is developing game by game,” McCurdy coach Eric Vigil said.
Vigil said he is excited about the Bobcats’ future. They feature three freshmen on the offensive line and four on defense.
The game was only competitive for part of the first half — Questa tied the score 6-6 at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter.
Following that touchdown, the Bobcats rumbled down the field using a balanced attack. Martinez threw passes of four and seven yards to wide receivers Shane Archuleta and Lucas Akes, respectively, and Duran broke free for a 30-yard run to get McCurdy near the goal line. Martinez finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
McCurdy appeared well-prepared for Questa’s offense, which featured a number of players taking snaps as quarterback. The Wildcats’ series of fakes and unusual backfield formations did not fool the Bobcats, who forced a punt on Questa’s next possession.
Duran returned the punt to Questa’s 35-yard line. Then he took a carry on first down for a 35-touchdown to make the score 20-6.
McCurdy tagged on two more touchdowns in the first half — the first on a run by Redman — to take a 34-6 lead at halftime.
McCurdy called off the dogs in the second half when Vigil inserted some of his younger bench players.
“We put some youngsters in at the end to give them some experience,” Vigil said.
McCurdy travels to Navajo Prep Saturday at 1 p.m. Navajo is coming off a 48-12 loss to Ramah.