With three 11-man New Mexico Activities Association state football championships during the past 12 seasons, the Escalante Lobos, now competing in 8-man, finally earned its first football victory of 2024, a 56-0 dousing of Dulce, Friday in Tierra Amarilla.
Nine Lobos’ turnovers led to losses against Tatum, 46-30, and Roswell’s Gateway Christian, 54-0, but zero turnovers against the Hawks helped Escalante close out the game before halftime.
“We had the best week of practice we’ve had all season,” Escalante coach Carlos Casados said. “We had to make some personnel changes on both sides of the ball and now the team chemistry has come together.”
Joe Cordova moved to center, while Braylon Emery and Stephen Vance were added to the Lobo backfield. After Dulce turnovers on its first two possessions, Emery and Vance made their impact felt immediately against Dulce, scoring Lobo touchdowns.
On defense, Casados moved Jerome Montoya and Joel Valdez to linebacker spots and Vance moved to safety.
The Lobos led 38-0 at the end of the first quarter behind R.J. Atencio, Emery and Jamison Martinez touchdowns, Scores by Julio Lujan and Martinez ended the contest as Atencio took a knee after a Dulce interception.
“The guys are excited,” Casados said of the Lobos’ victory. “We reduced our penalties significantly (compared to) the previous two games. We were able to execute and perform on both sides of the ball.”
Escalante hosts Dove Creek (Colorado) Saturday at 1 p.m. on the Red Rug.
“We know we have a tough opponent coming up, so we have to get back to it,” Casados said.
The Hawks (0-3) were able to recover from illness that swept through the team, causing Dulce to forfeit to Questa the previous week. Dulce dressed a season-high 12 players, but were swarmed from the start.
Dulce did come close to scoring on a 4th down pass from Michael TeCube to Antonio Herrera in the first quarter. Herrera stretched, but couldn’t get a second hand on the pass.
The Hawks have a week off before hosting Cloudcroft at 2 p.m. Sept. 21.