From just seeing the reaction in team huddles, you would have thought the winner and loser of the game was reversed.
The Escalante Lobos had a quick huddle, and seemed thrilled with their performance. While Española Valley players had heads hung while both team captains and coaches gave long talks after the game.
But the Sundevils (1-2) did just enough to score their first win of the football season 21-14 on the road over Escalante (1-2) with a strong second-half defense leading them to a win on Sept. 1. But Escalante remains happy with their performance against a school with (according to New Mexico Activities Association calculation) nearly eight times as many students and bigger players, while the Sundevils are looking to improve in what they saw as a game they should have won by more.
“We’ve got to find some pride in ourselves and play better,” Española coach Tylon Wilder said after the game. “Nobody’s happy with that win at all. That was the most horrible win I’ve ever been part of in my life. And you can write it, too. We’re better than that. We are way better than that.”
Two field goals and an extra point by Española’s kicker Andres Valenzuela proved to be the difference on the scoreboard. And a late interception by Abraham Tamayo helped seal the win.
“I was in the perfect spot,” Tamayo said. “He made a mistake, I was there … the momentum carried it, we finished the game out.”
But after an early scoring drive, the Sundevils struggled to put together consistent yardage, and nearly gave away the win at the end.
“I was just proud of how they fought and how hard they worked,” Escalante coach Rico DeYapp said. “I knew it was going to be a tough fought game, and I’m just happy we fought all the way to the end.”
Escalante quarterback Trey Archuleta could hardly walk after the game; he ran the ball 28 times for 132 yards and a score, took more hits on passing plays (5-for-10, 71 yards and another touchdown), and took a beating at middle linebacker in the middle of every play. But while he seemed to be in pain, he would never admit it.
After the game, Archuleta said he felt, “Like a champ.”
“There’s not really words to describe how much heart he plays with,” DeYapp said. “He’s one of the smallest guys on our team but he plays one of the hardest.”
Adrick DeLeon led Española to the win with two first-half touchdowns and 99 yards. But he missed much of the second half with a knee injury, forcing Española to turn to sophomore third-stringer Irvin Primero.
“I’m not proud of what we did, because we could’ve done way better,” DeLeon said. “It’s just little mistakes that turned us around.”
Alex Chavez, their week one starter, played a few limited snaps to see game action while recovering from a shoulder injury, but just to take holds on kicks and hand the ball off. But Chavez was also the team’s lone captain at the start of the game, a nod by Wilder to his leadership.
“He’s the heartbeat of the team,” Wilder said. “I wanted him to be the lone guy out there, making his team proud. Because they love him to death, and I love him to death.”
Española got the ball first, and it seemed like they would have an easy time on offense as they cut through the defense like a knife through butter, traveling 50 yards in four plays, with quarterback Adrick DeLeon punching it in from nine yards out.
But Escalante answered right away, with Trey Archuleta breaking off a 62-yard touchdown run. After the first drive for each team, the scoring quickly slowed down. Both teams traded punts and a turnover on downs.
Later in the second quarter, the Sundevils found success with their “train” formation, where 10 players are bunched together near the line of scrimmage to protect for one runner on a direct snap. DeLeon ran for 19 yards on a fourth-and-1, then scored his second touchdown on a 10-yard run.
But Escalante again scored in response, showing off their passing game. Archuleta passed to Greysen Horan for 27 yards on the first play of the drive, then later hit him again for a 9-yard score. A two-point conversion on a trick play brought Escalante within one point, 15-14. That was the last touchdown for either team. Right before halftime, Española reached Lobo territory, but lost the ball on a fumble, their first of three turnovers.
The Lobos stalled inside the 10-yard line on their first second-half drive, giving Española good field position. They quickly reached the red zone, but could not get any further. Instead, they called on Valenzuela, who delivered from 33 yards.
Escalante punted, but the Sundevils immediately got the ball back on a turnover on downs. Escalante then drove into the red zone, but were stopped on fourth down. Española’s next drive was constantly hampered by penalties, and led to an interception by Escalante’s Damien Baeza.
But then Abraham Tamayo intercepted a pass with five minutes remaining at the 30-yard line. Española got down to the 12, but a chop block set them back to the 27. Then, Valenzuela nailed a 43-yard kick with room to spare, making it a 7-point game. (Española Athletic Director Matthew Abeyta wrote in a text message that it was the longest field goal he could remember; Wilder said he has confidence in Valenzuela from 50-plus yards.)
“It’s great,” DeLeon said. “Whenever we don’t score, he kicks it, it feels good. Now, we won’t go scoreless whenever we mess up in the red zone.”
Escalante, after a good kick return, got the ball with 2:29 left and one more chance to score. On a third down in Española territory, Horan broke open but saw a good pass slip through his hands. Then a fourth down pass sailed over his head, letting Española take over and kneel out the clock.
“It’s play by play,” Archuleta said. “We forget about it after that last play.”
“I take full responsibility for the loss,” DeYapp said. “The boys played hard, they came out and executed what I wanted them to do. And it didn’t go our way.”
The Lobos remain home next week and look to get over the hump as they face a tough team in Estancia (0-3), against whom Escalante has lost the last two years by a combined 111-38. Estancia has won the last nine matchups between the two teams, dating back at least to 2008 (per MaxPreps records).
“There’s mistakes we made, and there’s mistakes we made,” Horan said. “But come next week, we’re going to fix those mistakes, and we’ll come out ready.”
Española will look for a big win next week on the road at West Las Vegas (1-2) who will put pressure on the Sundevils’ secondary; Española won 28-14 last year but against a backup quarterback.
“We can play great Sundevil football,” Wilder said. “But we just haven’t yet.”