With two teams on byes for the coming week, and the status of McCurdy still rather murky, the prep football slate is a slim one with only two games for certain on the docket.
Pojoaque Valley vs. Santa Fe Indian School, 7 p.m. Friday
Every coach preaches that their squad has been taught not to overlook an opponent.
But it would be easy for the Elks (3-3) to do just that as they face the Braves (1-7), who were mercy ruled, 50-0, by Hope Christian, lost to Class 2A McCurdy and have lost seven consecutive losses, including being shut out in four of the last five games.
“It’s another game we have to prepare for,” Pojoaque coach Zeke Villegas said. “Every game we take serious no matter who it is. I think that their coach has done a really good job with them.”
The game also is a classic trap contest for the Elks as it comes right before a match-up with 3A top-ranked and undefeated St. Michael’s.
“We just have to take care of business,” Villegas said. “St. Michael’s will be a tall task, but we’ll be ready.”
Although Monday was a school holiday, the Elks as a team decided to still come in and watch film, the coach said, which just shows the team’s commitment to one of its goals.
“We’re looking to make a big push in the last three games,” Villegas said. “Hopefully, we can get home playoff game. It would be the first home playoff game ever in school history.”
Escalante vs. Clayton, 7 p.m. Friday
After three consecutive blowout wins, the Lobos (6-2, 3-0 in District 2) are likely looking at another one against the Yellowjackets (2-5, 1-2), although there is an interesting caveat involved.
Dusty Giles, who was an Escalante assistant coach last season and also won three Class 1A state championships with the Lobos, now is the Clayton head coach, which should add a bit of spice to the mix.
“He’s a veteran coach, a really great coach,” Lobos coach Carlos Casados said of Giles. “He knows what we’re doing and his team is very prepared for what we’re going to bring. We just have to execute.”
Escalante will have to be careful not to look past Clayton to next week’s showdown with Eight-man top-ranked and undefeated Fort Sumner/House.
“We’re playing really good and we’ll continue to not take any game for granted,” Casados said. “Play same physical game we’ve been playing every week. We have two big opponents coming up that will determine the seeding in the playoffs and whether we get a first-round bye.”
The Yellowjackets are primarily a running team and Casados expects them to be well-prepared for the game.
“He knows how to prepare his teams,” Casados said of Giles. “They’re going to come ready to play and they’re going to have a good game plan. He knows our athletes well because he coached them last year, but our offense has changed a lot since last year since coach Giles was with us. It comes down to execution is everything. It doesn’t matter who the opposing coach is.”