It was a special season for the Pojoaque Valley football team, but the Class 3A fourth-seeded Elks could not keep it going in the quarterfinals, losing to No. 5 New Mexico Military Institute, 42-28, on Friday in the program’s first home playoff game.
Pojoaque (5-5) fell behind 14-0 and could not quite get all the way back into the game.
“I feel we played well for the most part, but had some crucial mistakes early in the game that cost us,” coach Zeke Villegas said.
The Elks had three turnovers, two of those coming within the first three possessions and one coming at their own five yard line.
Quarterback Josh Gonzales had a big game, rushing for 137 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns, and he also threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to D’Marcus Rodriguez, who also scored on a short run. Gonzales, however, did have one interception.
“We allowed too many points and on offense, we made a couple of mistakes that were big that we just needed to fix,” Gonzales said. “We just dug ourselves into a hole and could never get out.”
Still, Pojoaque trailed just 14-7 late in the first half when the Colts came up with a gut-punch touchdown right before halftime.
“That was kind of a back breaker,” Villegas said. “It was a one-touchdown game and we were getting the ball back and we gave up a touchdown pass with 12 seconds left. Just little things like that. The first half didn’t really go our way.”
With a large, raucous and festive crowd on hand, the atmosphere may have been just a bit tough to handle at first, the coach said.
“A little bit of nerves and not ever having a home playoff game, it took a little bit to settle in,” he said. “It was pretty overwhelming at times. I don’t think they’re used to being at home for the playoffs. For some players, it really got to them.”
Still, Pojoaque wasn’t completely out of it at the break.
“We talked to them at half, that we were getting the ball back to start the second half and we had to go down and score,” Villegas said.
Which is exactly what the Elks did, and they tried an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and while a Pojoaque player seemed to have first possession of it, NMMI came away with it when the pile was uncovered.
“If we get the onside there, it would have turned into some momentum for us,” Villegas said. “Instead we gave up another touchdown and that’s as close as we got. Those key mistakes in the first half, those killed us.”
Still, the Elks battled until the final horn, he said.
“We were down two scores almost the whole game,” Villegas said. “I will say, they never stopped pushing forward. We kept going back and forth and we ended up putting up 28. But you can’t give up 42.”
Much of the damage can be attributed to Colts running back Konstantino Scopelitis, a 6’2” 180-pound bruiser who had 98 yards rushing with four touchdowns and 113 yards receiving with two more scores.
“He was a really, good athletic kid and he had a good fight against us,” Villegas said. “Our main focus was to stop him.”
Defensively, Matthew Romero had 16 tackles, including nine solo, and Joseph Garcia had both of the Elks’ sacks.
Despite the final result, Gonzales said it was a great experience.
“I just don’t think we had the best game that we could have had,” he said. “But, it was fun. A lot of fans there. It was packed. A lot of energy in the stands. Just to be there was a great feeling.”
And it was another step forward for the Pojoaque program, Villegas said.
“Last year, we had our first away playoff game and felt that helped us to get to where we were able to get a home playoff game this year,” he said. “With this, I think the first home playoff game, that’s now under our belts so for me, it’s going to help us next time we host. I don’t think they will be so star-struck and all the emotions and all the fans. We’ll put it in our back pockets and next time we’re at home for a playoff game, it will be business as usual.”
And there is no reason that can’t be next season.
“We told them in the locker room that we have 90% of our starters back next year,” Villegas said. “This is another stepping stone. We’ll work off this going into the off season. I feel we get better and better every year. Next year will be our fourth year and those freshmen I started with will be seniors and have been in the program all four years. We’ll have 14 seniors and 12 of them start.”