By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Nary a prep athlete in New Mexico had much time off the past weekend as
football, soccer, volleyball, and cross country featured multiple events
throughout the state.
Football: Urlacher Won't Be Happy About This
Perhaps the football landscape in New Mexico is changing after all.
Las Vegas Robertson, when it won the Class 3A state title last year, was one
of the rare schools north of Albuquerque ever to grab a championship. On
Friday, the Cardinals might just have shown they intend to stick around
awhile as Robertson (2-0) pounced upon traditional power Lovington, 35-3.
In Lovington, the Cards marched down the field for touchdowns in their first
three possessions. Robertson quarterback Ethan Maestas connected on five touchdown passes overall as his team cruised to victory. For Lovington (0-2), the
opening of the season is as far from the glory years of Brian Urlacher - who
played at the school - as possible as the Wildcats have been outscored 91-9
in their first two games.
Another pair of teams trying to stay away from an 0-2 start tussled Friday
night in Rio Rancho, where the host Rams (1-1) knocked off St. Pius (0-2) by
a 35-15 score. The game, which featured 206 yards from Rio Rancho running
back Marcus Williams, was called on account of lightning with 4:20 left on
the clock.
At Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque, visiting Clovis (1-1) bounced back from an
opening-week loss to bury Eldorado 34-14. The victorious Wildcats pounded
the Eagles, with a 1-1 record as well, through the running tandem of Brian
Mead and Manuel Robles. Mead finished with 219 yards on the ground while
Robles chipped in with 160.
Cibola (1-1) also evened up its record with a 36-18 road win in Los Lunas
(0-2) Friday night. A balanced offensive attack was paced by fullbacks Chase
Bennison and Andrew Medina, who combined for 114 yards on 23 carries.
"It was fun. I love ground 'n' pound," Medina said.
"It's kind of funny, because everytime we get a step on somebody, I expect
them to go the distance. I gotta realize this is going to be a hard-nosed
football team, grinding the ball out," said Judge Chavez, the former Highland
coach, after the win.
The resurrection of Alamogordo football continued the past weekend as the 5A
Tigers, unbeaten after two games, rolled over Class 4A Goddard 40-7. C.J.
Oakley, a transfer from Onate, rushed for 139 yards while Alamo's fullback,
Clay Griffin, contributed 111 on the ground.
Volleyball: Bears, Rams Tune Up for Clash
Two Class 5A state contenders, La Cueva and Rio Rancho, warmed up for a
regular season meeting with each other by having good showings at large
tournaments over the weekend.
La Cueva (3-1) won the inaugural Moriarty 16-team invitational with a 23-25,
21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13 win in the title contest over the host Pintos.
Tied at 13-13 in the last game, one touch kill by Macy Painter put the Bears
at match point. Painter, on the last point of the day, had one kill attempt
dug out by the Pintos' Brandi Valencia. But the saved ball sailed long back
over the net to Painter, who smashed another shot to clinch the match.
Moriarty (3-1) had recovered from a 21-12 deficit in the first game to win.
Then, in the second, the Pintos pulled away from a 22-21 lead for another
game victory.
After the match, Painter - the tournament MVP - said that the Bears didn't
lose confidence in themselves despite the opening pair of setbacks.
"I thought we'd fight back. We've been having really tough practices lately
and that's what it's been about - coming back and winning," said Painter,
who clubbed 23 kills in the victory.
Many of New Mexico's top volleyball teams were playing south of the state
line as part of the 16-team tournament hosted by El Paso Franklin and
Coronado high schools.
Rio Rancho (2-1), which won the tourney last year en route to the 5A state
championship, finished second this time as Franklin beat the Rams 26-24,
23-25, 25-23, 25-13 in the title match.
The Rams started by defeating a tough Class 4A and fellow New Mexico squad,
Espanola Valley, in a four games quarterfinal contest. In the semifinals, another state squad was beaten south of the border as Rio Rancho knocked off
Gadsden - again, in four games.
"Anytime you can get to the championship of that tournament, it's quite an
accomplishment - especially with the group I took down there," Rio Rancho
coach Toby Manzanares said.
Soccer: Various Duke City Tournaments Highlight Weekend
The revival of Albuquerque High boys soccer was given a bit of a pause on
Saturday in the finals of the Albuquerque Academy tournament as the host
Chargers knocked off the Bulldogs 3-0. And Academy (4-1) didn't waste any
time against an Albuquerque High (5-1) squad decimated by losses incurred
during a semifinal victory over Highland on Friday.
Chargers' senior Scott Williams, in the first minute of the game, connected
on a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead and, less than a minute later, Academy
junior Jayanta Majumdar scored another goal.
Randy Martinez added some extra insurance for Academy by scoring in the 72nd
minute.
Three Bulldogs missed the championship after being issued penalty cards in a
3-2 shootout victory, the day before, over the Hornets.
The teams that met for the Class 5A championship last year met again over
the weekend.
Eldorado, once again, got the better of Sandia by edging the Matadors 1-0
for the championship of the APS Invitational. The game was scoreless through
80 minutes of regulation play and two overtime periods before the Eagles
finally prevailed in a shootout.
Two Sandia shots deflected off the crossbar in the shootout that essentially
decided the outcome.
At St. Pius, the round-robin Ramon A. Berry Invitational was taken by La
Cueva. Second-place Sandia Prep and the host Sartans - like the Bears - all
had 2-1 records in the event, but La Cueva was given the championship based
upon goal differential.
Cross Country: Roybal, Osborne Win Del Norte Invite
Only one competitor in a cross-country race gets a fully unobstructed view
of the flurry of activity just before the finish line - spectators with
cameras, children, and sometimes dogs in tow frantically getting off the
narrow running path. That athlete is the frontrunner and Cibola senior
Anthony Roybal got to be the one for the first time on Saturday by winning
the Del Norte Invitational boys race.
At Piedra Lisa Park, Roybal overtook Cougars' teammate Drew Rasmussen in the
last part of the course to take his first cross-country overall title.
"I pretty much knew I had it when I turned the (last) corner. It felt so
good coming in. There were a few people, but they got out of the way,"
Roybal said. "I'm pretty tired, I need some water."
Sandia sophomore Callie Osborne won the girls varsity race in 21:57.
Academy's Lindsay Harper was second in 22:14, with fellow Chargers' runners
Amanda and Paige Throckmorton crossing in third and fourth.
"There were a few times when you make a turn and they (the pack of Academy
runner) were coming down, so you kind of get a shot of everyone," said
Osborne, on keeping an eye on her closest competitors. "I took the lead at
the first turn, because I knew Lindsay Harper has really long legs, so I
knew she'd catch me on the downhill if I stayed with them."