It was a brief first Eight-Man playoff game for Escalante, but the host Lobos packed plenty of action into their 38-0 win Friday over Alamo Navajo, which decided it had enough toward the end of the first quarter.
“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to finish the game, but the boys played good,” Escalante coach Carlos Casados said. “I wanted to keep our starters off the field as much as possible to get ready for (this) week, so it worked out.”
The No. 5 Lobos (8-3) only ran nine offensive plays, but five of them went for touchdowns against the over-matched Cougars (3-6), seeded 12th.
Back-up quarterback Charlie Ferrell completed all four of his passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns, with Julio Lujan on the receiving end of all three of the scores.
Ferrell also added a touchdown run, as did RJ Atencio.
The defense allowed just 56 total yards and forced two turnovers. Jacoby Valdez had an interception and his brother, Joel Valdez, added a fumble recovery.
“Every possession we had the ball, we scored,” Casados said. “Our longest possession was maybe three or four plays.”
The Lobos now head south Saturday to Las Cruces to meet No. 4 Mesilla Valley (6-2)
“They’re a tough team,” Casados said of the Son Blazers. “Their only two losses were to Melrose and Tatum, two of the teams we lost to. I thought we matched up pretty evenly.”
The Son Blazers like to air it out behind junior quarterback Kobe Redfearn, who has thrown for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns. But he is averaging almost an interception a game.
“We’ve been working with secondary the last couple of weeks to get them ready for their receivers,” Casados said.
Mesilla Valley spreads the ball around, with four different receivers having at least 11 receptions, led by senior Kaden Warner, who has 26 catches for 428 yards and five TDs.
In the backfield, senior Payton Tharp is the primary ball carrier with 292 yards and five touchdowns. Tharp also is the team’s leading tackler, with 10 tackles for loss among his 66 overall.
The Son Blazers do not rely on a lot of takeaways, with just eight on the season.
But, “defensively, they’re fast off the ball,” Casados said. “Our offensive line, we’ve been blocking really well. I think we can establish the run.”
Escalante has a more balanced offense but its three primary quarterbacks — Braylon Emery, Tristen Ulibarri and Ferrell, have combined for 1,335 yards and 15 touchdowns and only three picks.
Emery also powers the running game with 702 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Jacoby Valdez has 633 yards and seven scores.
Lujan is leading the receiving corps with 14 catches for 503 yards and 10 touchdowns.
And Casados may have a few wrinkles up his sleeve, as well.
“Come playoff time, everybody pulls some stuff out of the bag that you don’t use in the regular season,” he said. “We didn’t use any of that stuff in the past game, so we’ll be able to experiment with some of that this week.”
The Escalante defense has been stout behind frontman Jerome Montoya, who has registered a ridiculous 146 solo and assisted tackles. And the team has 28 takeaways, nearly three per game.
Casados is optimistic about the Lobos chances, especially since they have gone 5-0 away from Tierra Amarilla this season.
“This year, it seems like we’re playing well when we play on the road, so I hope we can continue that momentum away from home,” he said. “They know the importance of the game. This is playoff time so once you lose, you’re out. They’re locked in for this week. We’ll have a solid week of practice, four more days, then traveling there the day before. They know what’s expected. They have their eyes set on the big prize.”