While many high school football teams across New Mexico have players who play both offense and defense, and frankly, may never leave the field, the Dulce Hawks gave new meaning to the term “iron man” football Friday night in their season-opener against visiting Hagerman/Lake Arthur.
Dulce dressed and played 10 players in their 8-man 2024 debut as the Hawks dropped a 20-12 decision to the Bobcats.
A late failed Hawks’ fourth-down pass with 90 seconds to play sealed the victory for Hagerman/Lake Arthur, but didn’t dampen Dulce head coach Lawry Johnson’s pride in the iron man effort.
“I told the team straight-up, the situation the day before,” Johnson said speaking of Dulce’s big 10. “And the team didn’t say anything. They still wanted to play and we competed. Maybe we got a little tired in the fourth quarter. I did have to utilize all of my timeouts to get a little rest.”
Seniors Michael TeCube, Antonio Herrera, Jaren Johnson, Phil Gomez and Davien Veneno were joined by juniors Maliek Greene, Matias Lucero and Derek Talamante, while freshmen Daymian Hammond, Kash Trosper dressed for Dulce.
The Hawks took the lead early on Johnson’s forced fumble and return for a touchdown in the first quarter, then the Hawks took a 12-6 lead into halftime on a touchdown pass from TeCube to Herrera with less than a remaining in the second quarter.
Hagerman/Lake Arthur, who dressed 20 players, pushed the lead to 20-12 with less than three minutes remaining.
“We were in a position to tie the game late,” Johnson said. “There was no lack of effort and we felt like we could win. The kids gave an amazing effort and even with 10 players we were still ready to play. It was true iron man football. There are some things we need to tighten up, especially on offense, but we played pretty well.”
Johnson did single out Hammond’s effort.
“We had to move some players around,” Johnson said. “And Daymian Hammond had never played guard before, but he filled in real well.”
While entering season practices with as many as 19 players, some Hawks had not completed the requisite number of New Mexico Athletic Association practices to become eligible for Dulce’s first game.
“We only have three days to prep (for Questa),” Johnson said. “We’ll find out early in the week if we add any more players, but we may have to play (Questa) with 10, again.”
While 8-man football teams can choose to play 80-yard or 100-yard length fields, Dulce chooses to play on a 40-yard wide and 100-yard field.
“We practice a little different that most teams,” Johnson said. “We practice up-tempo, there’s not too much down time, so we are used to running.”
Dulce (0-1) travels to Questa (1-0) to take on the Wildcats at 2 p.m. Saturday. Questa barely played more than one-half of football, taking a 48-0 halftime lead and scoring in the first minute of the third quarter in beating host Navajo Pine, 54-0.
Even with a dozen or fewer players, the Dulce-Questa matchup could be close to last season’s high-scoring affair, which the Hawks won, 56-52.