Mother nature wrought her special kind of havoc last weekend, throwing the local high school football games into all kinds of chaos and disarray.
Grants 54, Española Valley 0
In a game that took two days to complete because of lightning Friday, then ultimately ended early because of the mercy rule Saturday, the Sundevils did not fare well on the road in their District 1-4A opener.
In just seven minutes of play before the strikes began Friday, Española (2-2, 0-1) already trailed 20-0.
And after a nearly two-hour delay, the Sundevils bussed back home, only to have to turn around the next morning and head back to Grants to finish the game at 2 p.m.
Things did not improve much thereafter in a game that Española coach Caleb Holbrook chalked up as a learning experience.
“There is no excuse for the performance that we put on,” he said. “Nothing to do with the travel. No way we’ll use that as an excuse for the performance that was put on.”
The inexperienced Sundevils offensive line struggled with the Grants beefy and veteran defensive line, giving quarterback Irvin Primero almost no time to unload passes.
And that’s to be expected at times, Holbrook said, because the coach is trying to take advantage of the senior’s throwing ability after Primero spent most of his career handing the ball off.
“He’s new at it,’ Holbrook said. “Essentially, he’s like a freshman, in a true passing offense. For me to expect him to understand the concepts and anticipation throws is not fair. I have to be patient on that end. Once we get him understanding how to anticipate a ball, it’s going to be the sky’s the limit for him.”
While the loss looks bad on paper, it will pay dividends down the road, he said.
“There’s so much good that comes out of a loss,’ Holbrook said. “We’re 2-2. We’re fine. We’re just overcoming these adversities. The score looks bad, but it reminds me of the Los Alamos game. We just have to learn from it.”
McCurdy 16, Wingate 12
The host Bobcats (2-1) hung on despite a lengthy lightning delay Saturday. They benefited from an early end to the game, as well.
Playing a second game without first-year head coach De’Jon Curtis, who had been placed on administrative leave, McCurdy reverted to an old playbook with the single-wing offense that interim coach Mel Martinez ran when he was the team’s offensive coordinator in prior years.
It is expected that Martinez will remain head coach through the remainder of the season, with Curtis returning to the team this week as an assistant coach, Sarah Tario, McCurdy director said.
Tario could not provide additional details about the situation with Curtis, who’s also an education assistant at the school, other than he returns to the school in good standing.
“He has a super-positive impact on our kids and we’re glad to have him as part of our team,” she said.
Meanwhile, Martinez said he didn’t get a chance to practice with the team before the Tucumcari game and because of work obligations, could only practice with them twice last week.
But McCurdy still was able to unleash a long drive to open the game, with Marius Sanchez taking a reverse for a 40-yard score. After a successful two-point try from JJ Vigil to give the Bobcats an 8-0 lead, the Bears came back and scored, but missed their two-point attempt.
Shortly before halftime, Vigil did it again, going in from 25 yards out and adding the two-pointer, giving McCurdy a 16-6 lead going into the third quarter.
Although Wingate scored to open the second half, the Bears again missed the extra point. McCurdy then drove the ball to mid-field with about four minutes left in the quarter before the game went on a lightning delay.
When there was no sign of a let up, the game was called in the Bobcats’ favor.
Pojoaque Valley-Dexter weather cancellation
Although the host Elks trailed 14-0 at the end of the first quarter Saturday, lightning forced a delay. The forecast was so dire for the rest of the afternoon, the coaches decided to call the game, with no winner declared since it did not reach halftime, Pojoaque coach Zeke Villegas said.
The game will not be made up.
Escalante 48,
Dove Creek (Colo.) 40
The Lobos (3-1) scored in just about every way possible Friday to go on the road and beat the Bulldogs.
Receiver and defensive back RJ Atencio turned in a huge performance, scoring on an 84-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Braylon Emery, running one in from 10 yards out, and returning a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown.
Emery added two rushing touchdowns, one from 43 yards, and running back Charlie Ferrell had a rushing TD and 76 yards on the ground.
And to cap it all off, Jacoby Valdez had a 74-yard punt return for a score.
“We had a lead pretty much through the whole game, although at one point in the third quarter it was tied at 20, but we were able to maintain a lead the whole game,” coach Carlos Casados said. “The team did really well.”
The result is a good indication of just how far Escalante has come in its second season of eight-man ball since Dove Creek won last year’s meeting 50-6.
“We knew it was going to a really tough team because they didn’t lose much from last year,” Casados said. “They’re really fast and physical so we knew we had to play a really physical game and minimize mistakes on both sides of the ball.”
The Lobos actually opened up a 48-26 lead in the fourth quarter before cramping issues took a toll on some defensive starters and allowed Dove Creek to break two long touchdown plays.
Still, it was a performance that made Casados smile, especially when thinking about how the defense forced six turnovers and the offense only had one.
“We were able to spend a lot of time in the prep room looking at film and more times than not, we knew what they were going to throw on us, depending on what set they ran,” he said. “So we were able to adjust fairly quickly.”