Published 10/30/08
McCurdy School ran into a buzz saw when they faced the Clayton Yellowjackets Oct. 25 in a key District 1A matchup.
The Bobcats had been bashing opponents in their previous four games, outscoring them by a margin of 142-6. But the Yellowjackets stung McCurdy 54-8 and all but sewed up the District 1A title. Now 3-0 in District 1A, Clayton wraps up its season Friday against Questa.
McCurdy quashed Questa 48-6 Oct. 4 at home.
Those recent easy victories didn’t prepare the Bobcats for the team Clayton brought. The bigger and faster Yellowjackets executed with a speed and precision that caught McCurdy completely off guard.
“When you’re used to normal speed, it’s hard to adjust when everything moves to fast-forward,” McCurdy coach Eric Vigil said.
Clayton’s Aric Trujillo gave a hint of the damage to come when he returned the opening kickoff for an apparent touchdown. The play was called back because of a holding penalty, and Clayton began again from McCurdy’s 45-yard line. The Yellowjackets were soon back in the end zone. Samuel Overmeyer raced 50 yards to score Clayton’s first touchdown with less than a minute gone in the first quarter.
Clayton led 7-0 after Ben Kirksey kicked the extra point.
The Yellowjackets scored again when Overmeyer tossed a halfback pass to Zakota Miera.
Freshman Louie Martinez finally gave Bobcat fans something to cheer about when he connected with wide receiver Kevin Redman for 50 yards. The Bobcats picked up another 15 yards for a late-hit penalty on Clayton, and it was first down at Clayton’s 15-yard line.
The drive stalled and Martinez’s fourth-down pass was intercepted. Clayton scored on the next play — quarterback Colby Trujillo tossed an 80-yard touchdown pass to Trujillo, and the rout was on. Clayton led 42-0 at halftime.
The Bobcats finally scored with about five minutes left in the third quarter, on a 10-yard pass from Martinez to Redman. Martinez ran for the two-point conversion to make the score 42-8. But Clayton added two more touchdowns and coasted to a 54-8 victory.
“We had Clayton scouted well and we knew what they were going to do,” Vigil said. “They’re bigger than us, faster than us and do everything in fast forward. We can’t duplicate that in practice.”
McCurdy falls to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in District 1A.The Bobcats take on local rival Escalante Saturday in Tierra Amarilla; the winner is guaranteed a spot in the Class A state football playoffs.
Escalante is 4-4 overall and also 2-1 in District 1A. The Lobos defeated Questa 43-36 Oct. 25. That game started Oct. 11, but play was suspended late in the second quarter due to weather; Escalante was leading 15-8. The game was completed Oct. 25 and the Lobos came out on top.