A lack of healthy players led to a forfeit and homecoming was the backdrop for a big district win to highlight Week Five’s high school football games.
Española Valley 24, Moriarty 18
The Sundevils (3-2, 1-1 District 1-4A) got an overwhelming first half performance from the offense Friday on homecoming night, but it was the defense that stepped up all game against the Pintos.
“It was a good win,” Española coach Caleb Holbrook said. “It was an overall team win. The offense did their job. The defense did their job and we had some special teams success, as well.”
Coming off an ugly loss the previous week against Grants, the coach said he was anxious to see how the team would respond. And the answer was, quite well, thank you.
“The biggest thing was fixing our mistakes that we made the week before,” Holbrook said. “Taking a loss like that, there’s so much to learn. We fixed the mistakes from the previous week, fixing them and learning from them. That’s what this was all about and that’s what we did.”
Quarterback Irvin Primero turned in his best half of the season in the first two quarters, completing 10 of 12 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns.
“Those are great numbers,” Holbrook said.
Primero found receiver Cody Coffeen for two long touchdown passes and he finished the half with three catches for 125 yards.
Mike Maestas had the other touchdown grab and brought in four receptions for 125 yards.
The Sundevils scored first, going up 6-0 in the first quarter, then gave up a touchdown early in the second quarter, leaving it tied at 6-all. But Española scored twice before the half ended to take an 18-6 lead into the third quarter.
The second half was far different, however, as the Sundevils offense struggled, but the defense was there to make the plays.
After the Pintos had cut it to 18-12, Matias Trujillo, who had two fumble recoveries, turned in a monster play late in the third quarter. He blew up a sweep, stripped the ball from the Pintos running back and sprinted in for a 15-yard touchdown.
“That was one huge,” Holbrook said. “They came out in the second half and we weren’t moving the ball as well as we should have been. That was a big time defensive score to get the momentum back going into the fourth quarter.”
Still, the defense had to make a couple of big stops at the end of the game to preserve the lead.
“The defense fought and pulled out this game for us,” Holbrook said.
Hozho Academy 21, Pojoaque Valley 14
Too many mistakes proved to be the downfall Friday for the Elks (2-2) in Gallup.
“We self-destructed,” Pojoaque coach Zeke Villegas said. “A lot of penalties. A lot of turnovers.”
Four turnovers, to be exact, including one near the end of the game in the red zone that put an end to the final chance to tie the score and force overtime.
“We were up and down the field,” he said. “The penalties, the turnovers, not finishing drives killed us. Giving up 21 points, same thing happened against Hot Springs. We were playing touchdown for touchdown. It just doesn’t result in anything good. We had a lot of penalties that were holding calls, blocks in the back. We kind of just beat ourselves.”
It didn’t help that quarterback Josh Gonzales, who missed the second half against Los Alamos after an ejection for two personal fouls, was unable to complete his one-game suspension last week because the game against Dexter was suspended before halftime and did not count as a complete game.
And the Elks didn’t realize that until mid-week, after Gonzales took practice snaps under center all week. That left top receiver Joaquin Baca back at quarterback, which is not his natural position.
“We haven’t had our quarterback for three games,” Villegas said. “He runs the offense, he runs the show. Having to adjust around that is pretty difficult. When he’s in there, it’s just a different atmosphere for the offense.”
D’Marcus Rodriguez had 122 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Jaden Leyba-Moya had 128 yards on the ground, while Josh Martinez added three catches for 62 yards.
Pojoaque now has a bye before starting District 2-3A play against Robertson on. Oct. 3.
Legacy Academy 2, McCurdy 0, forfeit
With just 12 available players for Saturday’s game, Bobcats coaches and administration decided to forfeit the game against the Silverbacks in hopes of having enough players ready to start District 1-2A play next week against Newcomb.
Melrose 28, Escalante 12
Lobos quarterback Braylon Emery ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and Damien Baeza added another 55 yards and a score Friday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the two-time defending state champion Buffaloes.
“It was a real test,” Escalante coach Carlos Casados said. “I’m pleased with the way we played. Not pleased with the outcome, but that game made us better for our district games coming up.”
The host Lobos (3-2) actually had two long scoring plays that were overruled because of penalties and that was a big difference in the outcome.
“They were at key moments in the game,” the coach said. “When they had momentum, two big plays, touchdowns, were called back.”
Cloudcroft 60, Dulce 8
It may not seem like much, but it was big moment for the visiting Hawks, (0-4), who got their first score of the season and found some offense under new quarterback Malik Green.
“There’s a little bit of progress going on,” coach Jeremy Wooten said. “We had plenty of chances. We moved the ball. I’m a ground-and-pound dude.”
Dulce took its first possession 60 yards before stalling out inside the 10 yard line, but on the third possession, with the run firmly established, the Hawks caught the Bears by surprise with a pass from Green to Jarrius Willie that ended up going 50 yards for the score.
“It’s improvement, every week,” Wooten said. “New kids, never played before. All this year is about is building for the future and our hard games are out of the way. We should be a lot more competitive in district.”