Pojoaque beat West Las Vegas 28-18 Oct. 9 in Las Vegas to capture its school-record sixth victory of the season.
The victory also guaranteed Pojoaque its first winning season since the football program’s inception in 1995. The Elks’s only non-losing season came in 2006 when they finished 5-5.
“It feels good to make history,” Pojoaque quarterback Michael Garcia said.
Garcia scored the touchdown that nailed down the victory over the Dons on a seven-yard quarterback keeper after West Las Vegas had closed to within three points, 21-18, in the fourth quarter.
“It was a play coach (Quevin Redding) called,” Garcia said. “I had to run over a guy in the end zone.”
Pojoaque scored its first touchdown in the first quarter on a 35-yard interception return by Josh Ortiz, one of four Pojoaque interceptions.
“Our defense came up with critical stops,” Redding said.
West Las Vegas tied the score at 6-6 with a touchdown pass.
The Elks grabbed a 14-6 halftime lead after Garcia threw a touchdown pass to Carlos Vigil and converted the two-point conversion on a pass to Rob Vigil.
The Dons cut the Elks’ lead to 14-12 in the third quarter but failed on a two-point conversion attempt. Pojoaque answered with a touchdown pass to Rob Vigil, and Tim Cowan’s extra point gave Pojoaque a 21-12 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Dons scored with 10 minutes left in the game to make the score 21-18 but failed for the third time to score a two-point conversion.
Garcia finished with 108 yards rushing and 102 yards passing.
The Elks improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in District 2AAA. Pojoaque hosts Raton Saturday. The Elks have never beaten the Tigers in District 2AAA competition.
“They have to go out and want to do it,” Redding said. “If they go out, miss assignments and make excuses, they won’t.”