The Española Valley Sundevils’ football team took another misstep Oct. 3 in their long road back to respectability. The Sundevils lost 52-32 to Hot Springs in their Homecoming game.
“We didn’t take a step forward,” second-year Española coach Bill Moon said. “We took a step back.”
The Tigers, a Class AAA school, were just 1-4 coming into the game, but looked bigger and stronger than the Sundevils, a Class AAAA team.
“The two games I hate are the first game of the season and homecoming,” Moon said. “We weren’t able to get out on the game field (to practice) all week, and there was a lack of mental focus.”
The Sundevils looked inspired as they tore through the Homecoming banner held by their cheerleaders and took the field before the opening kickoff. Despite the shouts from the stands and the sidelines, they got off to a disastrous start.
Quarterback Michael Aragon fumbled the snap on Española’s first play from scrimmage but recovered the ball. Two plays later he was sacked on third down for a 9-yard loss, and Española had to punt the ball. Aragon, a sophomore, was starting in replacement of senior quarterback Isiah Serrano who is out for the rest of the season because of a knee injury.
On Hot Springs’ first play from scrimmage, running back Hunter Biemer bolted 35 yards for a touchdown. It was the first of three Hot Springs’ touchdowns in the first quarter, giving the Tigers a 19-0 lead.
Penalties snuffed out any hope of a Sundevils’ comeback in the second quarter.
“We decide to go for (a first down) on fourth-and-inches,” Moon said “We jump offsides.”
Hot Springs added two more touchdowns on long passes from quarterback Evan Tooley to Zachary Degase. The 217-pound Tooley would be too much for the Sundevils to handle. He finished the game with three touchdowns and during several long runs he tossed tacklers aside.
Española finally got something going just before halftime. Behind the running of tailback Estevan Borrego, the Sundevils drove 57 yards for their first touchdown. Aragon scored on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line with 34 seconds left in the first half, making the score 33-6 at halftime.
“We weren’t together at the start of the game,” Borrego said.
Borrego scored two touchdowns in the second half and finished the game with 188 yards rushing on 28 carries. The Sundevils scored 26 second-half points, but the deficit was too much for them to overcome. The final Española touchdown was scored by Shawn Atencio with 44 seconds left in the game.
“I was pleased with a lot of things,” Moon said. “We kept coming back and didn’t quit playing.”
Española opens the District 2AAAA season Friday against Capital.