Española Valley linebacker Sean Salazar intercepted a Santa Fe Indian School pass in the fourth quarter to thwart a Braves’ scoring drive and help his team snap a three-game losing streak.
After the turnover senior Ryan Fresquez scored his third touchdown of the game on a 60-yard run to lead the Sundevils to a 34-24 victory Sept. 25 in Santa Fe.
The Sundevils were clinging to a 26-24 lead, but the Braves had driven down to Española’s six-yard line. Indian School quarterback Aaron Martinez lofted a pass toward receiver Stevan Rodriguez in the corner, but Salazar cut underneath, caught the ball and tiptoed on the sidelines to stay inbounds.
“I noticed they had a little hand sign for the fade route,” Salazar said. “Our corner had dropped deeper, and I was able to go under and pick it off.”
The Sundevils had trailed 24-20 at halftime, but scored on their first possession of the second half. Tailback Estevan Borrego finished off a 65-yard drive that chewed up nearly six minutes with a one-yard run that gave Española a 26-24 lead.
“I told them we needed to come out of the locker room hard,” Moon said. “We quit making mistakes and started jamming their receivers.”
Indian School receivers had torn up the Española secondary in the second quarter. Quarterback Aaron Martinez found Antoine Salazar, of Dulce, with a 4-yard touchdown pass and then passed to Robert Honewa for the two-point conversion to give the Braves an 8-6 lead.
Fresquez answered with a 59-yard run on a counter play that caught Indian School by surprise. With the flow of the play heading left, Serrano handed off to Fresquez cutting right. The defense was completely fooled and Fresquez sprinted untouched to the end zone to give the Sundevils a 12-8 lead.
Serrano had to be carted off the field in the second quarter with an injury and replaced by Mike Aragon. Serrano may be out for at least two weeks with a sprained knee, according to assistant coach Kevin Hauck. Serrano had hyperextended his knee in the season-opener against Dulce.
The Braves’ receivers continued to get open in the Sundevils’ secondary in the first half. Rodriguez hauled in two touchdown passes from Martinez, the second with just 19.3 seconds left in the first half. Salazar caught the two-point conversion pass that gave the Braves a 24-12 lead.
Fresquez gave the momentum back to the Sundevils just before halftime by returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and then hauling in a pass from Aragon for the two-point conversion.
“That was a big score before halftime,” Moon said. “That changed the game.”
The Sundevils face Hot Springs Saturday in their homecoming game. The Tigers are 1-4 on the season.