You would be forgiven for thinking that the Pojoaque Valley football team was playing in Seattle and not New Mexico.
The Elks (0-2) battled heavy rain and delays in their first two road games. And after a bye week, their third game was officially called a no contest after delays.
Coming off a bye week, Pojoaque did not get much action for the second week in a row.
“They were so disappointed,” Pojoaque coach Pat Mares said. “I had kids crying.”
The third of weather delays started past 10 p.m. — three hours after the scheduled kickoff time — and about an hour later, with no end in sight to the rain and lightning, host Santa Fe Indian School opted to cancel the game early in the second quarter. With the game not reaching halftime, it was officially a no contest.
“In Northern New Mexico, the weather is weird,” Mares said. “It could be 100 degrees, and it could be raining the next minute.”
Pojoaque offered to host a continuation of the game the next day, but Mares said that Santa Fe Indian administration said they would not have enough players for a game that day.
“It was an unfortunate situation, but that’s how it goes,” Mares said. “We wanted to be in it for the long haul. They said that the superintendent pulled the plug on them and said to turn off the lights and send everybody home.”
Pojoaque looked like the stronger team for much of the game, but neither had much chance to establish themselves given the constant delays.
The kickoff came 30 minutes after the original 7 p.m. start time while under a light drizzle. Santa Fe Indian won the coin flip and elected to receive, but went three and out and gave up good field position after a punt. Pojoaque then fumbled on its second play, then the Braves fumbled the ball back with AJ Telache recovering, then the Elks fumbled again.
Pojoaque forced another punt, and a long run from Killian Medina brought the Elks to the red zone. Elias Martinez fumbled on a run, but quarterback Adam Pacheco was there to scoop up the ball and run to the other side of the field, where he found an open path to the end zone to put the Elks on the board first.
A few plays after Santa Fe Indian got the ball back, lightning struck nearby and forced a second weather delay. This one lasted nearly two hours, with the fans that opted to stay waiting in cars through lightning and rain. At 9:40, both teams retook the field.
The Braves came out of the break firing, quickly reaching Pojoaque territory then advancing further, recovering their own fumble, and early in the second quarter they got on the board with a rushing touchdown and tacked on a two-point conversion to take the lead. Mares said all of the team’s mental mistakes compounded on one drive.
Mares opted to keep the ball on the ground on their ensuing drive, and running back Elias Martinez rushed for gains of 24 yards (plus 15 on an unsportsmanlike penalty), seven and 13 yards as he reached the 21-yard line.
“Our offense was clicking like crazy,” Mares said. “Elias Martinez, he ran the heck out of the ball. We were going to stick with him.”
Then, with 10:53 on the clock, both teams left the field for another delay. This one would never end, and officially ended the game.
Pojoaque struggled with their passing game, going 0-for-2 on attempts, taking a sack and losing a fumble, while they never had a chance to give an extended test of their running game. One pass, though, was nearly a touchdown but the receiver was just out of bounds in the back of the end zone. Mares said they adjusted some route running during the delays.
The Elks will travel to Los Alamos (1-3) on Friday, continuing their stretch of all road non-district games.
“We’ll get back to the drawing board,” Mares said. “I think we’ll be okay. Our offense is starting to click, our defense is tackling. We’ve got to eliminate those mental mistakes, and I think we’ll be alright.”