First, it was lineman Ace Gabrentina who hobbled off the field with a knee injury. Then, it was running back and safety Joby Atencio. Then, quarterback Ernesto Martinez. Then, fullback Brandon Lovato.
By the end of McCurdy Charter School’s match-up, Aug. 26, against Raton High School, four of the Bobcats’ most experienced players were nursing injuries on the sidelines, with their pads off.
As Martinez pulled off his helmet and shoulder pads, he winced with a hurt shoulder.
His replacement was Santiago Samora, a 5-foot-5, 120-pound freshman. Samora looked doomed to fail. The Bobcats were already losing 44-0, and the answer did not seem to lie in the hands of a slight freshman quarterback.
He passed the ball with ease, connecting well with tight end Jacob Martinez for some serious gains.
Running back, kicker and linebacker Raul Arroyo took some of the weight off Samora’s shoulders, as well, as one of the only experienced, uninjured running backs remaining on the field.
“Well, I was pretty nervous during it,” Samora said. “But once that adrenaline started going, I was fine. I just went with the momentum.”
Samora gave a well-placed pitch to Arroyo on the left side of the field for the Bobcats’ first touchdown of the game. Arroyo only had to make a short gain, after Samora threw long to Jacob Martinez, to land McCurdy in the red zone.
Arroyo kicked the extra point to put the score at 7-44.
Just after that play, McCurdy recovered a fumble and made it within the red zone once more. The offense could not get the yards needed to put the ball into the end zone, so Arroyo kicked a field goal for three points.
Not long after that, Samora made one more deep pass to Jacob Martinez down the left side of the field, for McCurdy’s second touchdown and third score of the game.
Once more, Arroyo launched the ball through the posts for the extra point and the Bobcats were able to perform damage control to make the final score, 44-17.
To be fair, Raton only played with their second-string in the final quarter of the game, as they were winning by such a big margin.
While McCurdy stood no match for Raton’s starters, they were able to size up against the Tigers’ back-up players.
With Ernesto Martinez and Lovato injured, the only experienced player to finish the game in the back field was Arroyo.
He became the de facto leader of the offensive, surrounded by a young offensive line and a young quarterback.
“It sucked,” he said. “Eventually, I was getting tired and I started giving up, but then I would remind myself just to keep doing my best.”
He did not get a lot of help from the line — a young front that was unable to keep the more experienced Raton defense from getting through to the back field.
They also failed to make holes for the running backs.
They and the quarterbacks ended up taking more hits than they would usually take, and that was a big reason as to why the Bobcats suffered so many injuries.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board — basic fundamentals — just how to block using shoulders and everything else besides just sticking your hands out,” McCurdy head coach Ronald Gallegos said.
McCurdy continues to suffer from a small group of players that tried out for the varsity football team.
They do not have the sheer numbers that a football team in their division should have. If any of the four injuries turn out to be season-ending injuries, they will have a tough time beating any team they face.
Essentially all of the players have to play offense and defense, and on a hot Saturday afternoon, that means that they have to be in optimal shape.
“We just don’t have the depth,” Gallegos said. “For some reason, these kids just do not want to come out. We have a 3A school, we should have at least 30 to 40 kids. We have 20.”