Española Valley couldn’t hold on to a one-point halftime lead and Española Valley couldn’t stop the Taos Tigers in the second half of their District 2AAAA matchup Oct. 16 at Taos. The Sundevils, seeking their first district victory since 2007, had led 7-6 at halftime, but key turnovers fueled a furious comeback by the Tigers. Taos defeated the Sundevils 39-22, handing Española its sixth loss of the season.
The Sundevils had taken the lead on a 14-yard run by Ryan Fresquez with 1:23 left in the first half. Sean Salazar’s extra point had given Española a one-point lead.
Taos responded by quickly marching down the field. In less than a minute, the Tigers had first-and-goal at the Sundevils 9-yard line with 35 seconds left.
After failing to score on a running play, the Tigers attempted three straight passes. All of the throws fell incomplete, and the Sundevils clung to a one-point lead as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime.
The lead would be short-lived.
Taos drove 62 yards on its opening drive of the second half for the go-ahead touchdown. Taos quarterback Dakota Swinehart connected with Anthony LaBella on a four-yard touchdown pass. The conversion attempt failed and the Tigers led 12-7 at 8:12 of the third quarter.
The Tigers scored next after recovering an Española fumble at midfield. Chris Vigil scored on a screen pass from Swinehart from 40 yards out. The Tigers still couldn’t convert on the point after and led 18-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Taos would score another touchdown before Española would respond to make the score 26-8.
Freshman quarterback Antonio Garcia drove the Sundevils 70 yards for their second touchdown, hitting Ricky Gonzalez with a nine-yard pass on a slant pattern over the middle, making the score 26-14 with 5:09 left in the game. After a pair of Taos touchdowns, Garcia led his team 55 yards to the game’s final touchdown.
Despite the loss, Garcia made an impressive debut in his first varsity start.
He completed 7-of-9 passes for 56 yards with one interception and one touchdown. Garcia is starting for Española because the Sundevils’ original starter and backup are out for the season with injuries.
“It was a good experience for me and will help me help the Sundevils in my career,” he said.
The Sundevils had to shuffle their defensive lineup with starting linebackers Mike Aragon and Jared Daniels both out with injuries. Daniels also starts at tight end. Salazar took over that receiving spot and had a key reception in Española’s first touchdown drive.
“We had kids stepping up and playing new positions,” Española coach Bill Moon said. “We had to put in a whole new defense and to show you how far we’ve come, the kids learned it and executed it in one day.”
Despite the loss, Moon was pleased with his team’s performance.
“Two weeks ago, I said we’d taken a step back,” he said. “This game was a strong step forward. I’m extraordinarily proud of the way these kids played.”