Football: Pojoaque 55, Santa Fe Indian 0
The Elks (2-1) started fast and ended fast in a mercy-rule victory, winning 55-0 over Santa Fe Indian (1-3) at home on Sept. 7.
Jonah Villegas led the team with 115 yards on just three attempts, including a touchdown, and added another score on an 81-yard kick return. Six different players scored rushing touchdowns for Pojoaque. And the defense let up almost nothing.
“I wish we would’ve not had a bye week early and got straight to this game,” said Pojoaque Coach Zeke Villegas. “They truly put it behind them.”
Villegas said that over a bye week, after a big loss to Bloomfield, the Elks ran 1,100 yards a day for two weeks to work on conditioning.
“We are expecting to compete and give everything we have for that game,” he said.
The Elks next play a tough challenge on the road on Friday at Los Alamos (4-0).
Estancia 40, Escalante 37
At home facing Estancia, the Escalante Lobos (1-3) gave a much closer fight than in recent years, but came up just short. They lost to the Bears (1-3) 40-37 on Friday.
“We fell short again,” said Escalante Coach Rico DeYapp. “But the boys, they played hard.”
Trey Archuleta ran the ball 34 times for 239 yards and three touchdowns, as he moved into the top five in the state (per MaxPreps) in rushing yards.
DeYapp said adjustments to offensive personnel worked well. Damian Baeza moved to center. Marcelo Baeza moved to wide receiver and caught a touchdown pass from Archuleta. And Jeremiah Martinez, an offensive lineman, instead took Marcelo’s spot at running back and ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Escalante trailed by one point at halftime, and kept the game close the whole way. DeYapp said the defense played well in the first half, and the offense in the second half, but they fell short of a complete game.
Escalante on Friday plays at Raton (2-2), who is a bit weaker than last year when they beat the Lobos 37-6, but will still be a tough matchup.
West Las Vegas 48, Española Valley 11
The Sundevils turned to a new quarterback, calling up sophomore Irvin Primero to take the helm under center. And he will remain the starter for the coming weeks.
But Española Valley’s (1-3) struggles continued on both sides of the ball in a 48-11 road loss at West Las Vegas (2-2) on Sept. 8.
Española Coach Tylon Wilder said the game went about how they expected in the first half, when the Sundevils trailed 20-11, but the defense folded in the second half.
“They’re a lot better than they were last year,” Wilder said. “We kind of expected them to be like they were last year. And they weren’t.”
Primero finished 8-for-15 for 74 yards and an interception.
“For his first stat he didn’t do a bad job,” Wilder said.
Adrick DeLeon, who moved from (backup) quarterback to running back, had a strong day with 145 yards on 18 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown. But Española gave up over 250 yards on the ground and another 200 through the air.
The Sundevils host their homecoming on Friday and face Gallup (0-4); Wilder expects a bigger fight from the Bengals after Española won 38-6 on the road last year.