Speed rules in football and that’s what the Pojoaque Elks used to slay the McCurdy Bobcats 50-14 to spoil the Bobcats’ homecoming.
The Elks improved to 5-0, the best start in school history.
”We got our butts kicked,” McCurdy coach Eric Vigil said. “They have a lot of team speed and that’s what hurt us.”
That speed is exemplified by the Elks’ wide receivers. Rob Vigil, Carlos Vigil and Luke Salazar ran through and past the McCurdy secondary, snaring pass after pass from quarterback Michael Garcia.
Salazar, who attended McCurdy School in the eighth grade, started the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Garcia on Pojoaque’s opening drive of the game.
“It was fun playing against friends who are still here (at McCurdy),” Salazar said. “We still have some things to work on.”
One of those areas of improvement are penalties. Salazar returned a McCurdy punt 70 yards for an apparent touchdown moments after his first touchdown, but a penalty erased the score. A holding penalty put the Elks further in a hole, but Carlos Vigil raced passed the McCurdy secondary and hauled in a long pass from Garcia for a 70-yard touchdown to give Pojoaque a 14-0 lead,
Garcia added Pojoaque’s third touchdown in the first quarter on a three-yard run.
Down 24-0, McCurdy finally got on the board on a 29-yard pass from quarterback Louie Martinez to Carlos Herrera. The ball was tipped by Carlos Vigil, and fell into Herrera’s hands at the 10-yard line.
The final score of the first half was on an 82-yard screen pass to Rob Vigil on an audible called by Garcia.
“The corners were playing back and the safety was way back,” Garcia said. “Coach helps me understand what I see out there, and we’re calling more audibles.”
Garcia threw just one pass in the second half but finished with 270 yards passing to go with 87 yards on the ground.
Pojoaque faces its first long road trip of the season Friday, traveling 160 miles to Grants. The teams have one shared opponent: Española Valley. The Pirates defeated Española 32-14 Sept. 18, while Pojoaque beat Española 44-5 Sept. 11.
“Grants is a physical Class AAAA team,” Pojoaque coach Quevin Redding said. “That physicality will help get us ready for districts.”
Redding chose to savor the moment of Pojoaque’s history-making win at McCurdy.
“I’m real pleased with our performance,” he said.