Pojoaque quarterback Michael Garcia landed the final punch in Pojoaque’s 44-5 knockout of Española Valley Sept. 11 in Española. Garcia sliced 74 yards through Española’s defense on a quarterback counter to score the game’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“Man, he makes my life so much easier,” Pojoaque coach Quevin Redding said. “He said to me, ‘Give me that counter. I want it.’”
Garcia had scored the game’s first two touchdowns. The first was set up by an Elk interception and happened despite Española knowing what play Pojoaque had called. Screams of “Sweep, sweep,” from the Sundevil coaches were not enough to stop Garcia who swept around right end for an 11-yard touchdown at 8:22 of the first quarter. He added another touchdown at 4:11 on a 14-yard run after Pojoaque blocked an Española punt.
“Our defense gave us good field position the whole game,” Garcia said.
Pojoaque took a 20-0 lead in the second quarter on a 44-yard screen pass from Garcia to Carlos Vigil. Española then showed signs of life, grinding out yardage on the ground with tailback Estevan Borrego doing most of the damage.
The Sundevils finally put points on the scoreboard with 10 seconds left in the first half after senior Sean Salazar booted a 27-yard field goal that raised the dwindling hopes of Sundevil fans.
It looked like Española, down 20-3, might have a little momentum heading into the second half.
Salazar kicked off to Pojoaque after the field goal and drilled a low line drive that Pojoaque’s Carlos Vigil caught at the 15-yard line. Turning his back to the defense, Vigil faked a handoff to Luke Salazar cutting to his right and gave the ball to Nick Zamora cutting to his left. Once Zamora got the ball, there was scarcely a Sundevil in sight, and he scampered to the Española end zone for a touchdown. Pojoaque’s two-point conversion made the scored 28-3 at halftime.
“That was like a big stab to the heart,” Española assistant coach Kevin Hauck said.
Española scored a safety in the third quarter when Pojoaque center Ernesto Herrera, who later apologized to the team after the game, snapped the ball over Garcia’s head and through the end zone in the third quarter. Pojoaque added a 24-yard field goal by Tim Cowen and Zamora returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to make the score 37-5 at the end of the third quarter.
This was Pojoaque’s second consecutive victory over Española, which has now fallen to 1-2 on the season after suffering its second loss in as many weeks. The Elks’ 3-0 start is Pojoaque’s best since 2000, when Pojoaque began the season 4-0. The Elks will try to match that record when they host Taos Saturday for homecoming.
Pojoaque has never had a winning season. The Elks’ best finish was in 2006 when they went 5-5.