Pitches, sweeps and even a flea flicker worked in tandem, Sept. 8, to give the Española Valley High School offense a much-needed edge, as they lined up against Pojoaque Valley High School in what was a one-sided local rivalry match.
All-in-all, the defense was the star of the show for the Sundevils, similar to the first two games of the season, as they shut out the Elks, giving them the upper hand in the 21-0 showdown.
In doing so, the Sundevils doubled their win tally from last season — one. Pojoaque has yet to win a game in the three they have played.
Following a 12-6 loss to Escalante High School the week prior, the Sundevils worked on a couple of items to create a more free-flowing offense, in addition to one that is more unpredictable.
For the first two games, Española primarily relied on the heroics of fullback Nicolas Martinez to keep the offensive wheels turning.
His ability to create his own holes and bulldoze through the opposition defense proved to be Española’s go-to mode of gaining yardage.
The strong fullback is attuned to running the ball on about half of Española’s offensive plays, which creates a pattern of predictability for defenses to adjust themselves. And when Martinez did not carry the ball, generally halfback Damian Velasquez or tailback DeAntrae Curtis are set to make another inside run.
Seeing as this strategy only led to six points against Escalante, the Sundevils worked on different schemes. As such, they pitched the ball to Curtis, who is able to utilize his speed on the outside, to deadly effect.
He had 92 yards with 16 carries. Against Escalante, he was given the ball four times.
“After what happened last week, they (the coaches) realized I wasn’t getting the ball as much,” Curtis said. “So, they decided to spread the ball. And that also helped our big boy (Nicolas Martinez) out.”
At one point in the game, Española heavily deviated from its typical play-calling of attempting to knock down the defensive front with strong inside runs, as they put on a show with a 41-yard-long flea flicker.
Arlen Garcia, ponied up at quarterback, dished the ball to Markus Griego, who swept out the right side and launched a long, overhead ball to a streaking Jacob Trujillo. The play landed the Sundevils into the opposition half, from deep inside their own half.
This was Trujillo’s first game at wide receiver, having practiced the position for a week. Before catching the biggest pass of the season so far for the Sundevils, Trujillo was the back-up quarterback.
“I like this position a lot,” he said. “I like it a lot better than quarterback.”
The play meant little to the outcome of the game. Española had already scored its 21 points and a couple of plays later, they fumbled the ball to the Elks.
Throughout the game, fumbles turned out to be the Achilles’ heel for a Sundevil offense that generally drove the ball smoothly. Española finished the game with 312 total yards of offense, but five fumbles meant the team did not score more than 21 points.
With three games played, the Española defense has allowed 20 points, or roughly a touchdown per game.
The defensive unit gave Pojoaque negative rushing yards on the day, and with 21 passing yards, the Elks finished the game with seven yards of total offense.
The defense was reading their incessant sweeps and outside runs with ease, and whenever Pojoaque quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez kept the ball for a pass, he would quickly have to try to skirt a rush of lineman and linebackers that made their way through the porous Pojoaque offensive line.
“That was total dominance by the defense this week,” Española head coach Jesus Maes said.
The last bit of new offense that the Sundevils displayed was an extra point field goal, the first they have scored in any game or scrimmage this season.
Sophomore Saul Salgado missed his first extra point kick, but made the second.
The win against Pojoaque was much-needed for the Sundevils, as they are set to play three consecutive road games against consistently good football programs.
First they will play Moriarty High School and then Miyamura High School, from Gallup, N.M. Both of those teams remain undefeated so far, this season.
After that, Española will take on an Aztec High School team from Aztec, N.M. with a high-powered offense.
Pojoaque will travel to Tierra Amarilla on Friday to play Escalante High School.
If they play similarly, the Lobos should dominate the Elks.
Pojoaque only has district competition slated for the rest of their schedule, and being in one of the toughest districts in 4A football, they will have difficulty escaping the season with a single win.