By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
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Football: Unbeaten Trojans Escape Raven Invasion
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Rio Grande's football team went into Las Cruces last Friday without all the tradition that the homestanding Mayfield Trojans have behind them.
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But the Ravens did come in with a No. 4 ranking and top-ranked Mayfield got all it could handle before emerging with a 19-14 victory.
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The Trojans took the lead for good when running back Nathan Enriquez spotted quarterback Matthew Sandoval running free and, on a sweep play, threw a 17-yard touchdown to the signal caller with 5:19 to play.
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It was the defense of Mayfield (6-0) that gave the Trojans' offense that chance. Early in the fourth quarter, Rio Grande (3-2) attempted a quarterback sneak at the Mayfield one. But Ravens' quarterback Chris Brito never got to the goal line, the Trojans took control of the ball, and Mayfield went ahead after a 99-yard drive.
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Rio Grande's offensive attack was led by tailback Adrian Baca, who rushed for 199 yards on the night.
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In Albuquerque, a pair of city squads used to better records entered a Friday night contest with matching 1-3 marks. It was Class 5A La Cueva (2-3) that felt a little better after this matchup by defeating 4A St. Pius (1-4) by a 32-2 count.
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"They were in kind of the same boat with us - needing a win, needing some confidence heading into district," La Cueva coach Fred Romero said afterward.
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The Bears got a pair of long scoring plays to get off on the right foot. Richard Bohlken broke loose for a 65-yard scoring run, a play followed by a 63-yard touchdown pass from Harry Oms to Jeron McIntosh.
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Late in the regular season, La Cueva will likely pursue a district title against Sandia. The Matadors (4-1) tuned up for their district slate by punishing 4A Del Norte (2-4) 49-7 on Thursday night (Sept. 28) as receiver Michael Scarlett romped for four touchdowns - three via completions from Derris Jackson and one on an 80-yard interception return.
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Not all of the 4A vs. 5A matchups ended in a victory for the larger schools.
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Artesia (6-0) got a pair of goal line stands itself in beating back Las Cruces High, 32-28.
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In Artesia, the last chance for the Bulldawgs (3-3) came when the visitors drove from their own 36 to inside the ten in the fourth quarter. But the Las Cruces drive ended there after three incomplete pass attempts and a run for a loss as Artesia took over the ball and ran out the last five minutes on the clock.
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Moriarty (6-0) likewise won a 4A/5A contest, although a victory over 0-6 Albuquerque High was quite expected. The Pintos' running tandem of Eric Lucero and Ben Gonzales plowed through the Bulldogs' defense to the tune of 307 yards and five touchdowns in the 42-0 victory.
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Another potent rushing tandem last weekend was the duo of C.J. Oakley and Clay Griffin for Alamogordo (5-1) as the Tigers romped over Hobbs 53-0. Griffin scored four times, three times through rushing touchdowns and once on a fumble recovery run to paydirt, and all in the second quarter
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Soccer: Regrouped Coogs Expected More...a lot more
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Cibola's boys soccer team seemingly survived an early season coaching change fairly well, at least until it ran into Rio Rancho last Friday (Sept. 29). The Rams (6-3, 3-0) grabbed a district stranglehold at the top by clobbering the Cougars 7-0.
"Early on, it was real tight - back and forth - and then we got, I almost want to say, lucky goals," Rio Rancho coach John Shepard said. "We got a couple to bounce our way, if you will."
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Goal number one on a big-scoring day came via a corner kick, only four minutes into the match, when the Rams' Asa Scott sent in a shot after a crossing pass from Danny Crouch. Only 14 minutes later, Zach Herbst scored unassisted to give Rio Rancho a two-goal margin.
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That's where the scoring froze for the remainder of the first half.
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Crouch, a senior for Rio Rancho, and teammate Kenny McAvoy then combined for three goals within the first 15 minutes of the second half to put Cibola (7-6, 1-2) away.
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McAvoy scored on an assist from Crouch only two minutes past intermission. Just five minutes later, it was McAvoy on another goal - and another assist by Crouch for a 4-0 Rams' lead.
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Perhaps just to show versatility, the fifth goal was punched in by Crouch after an assist pass from McAvoy in the 52nd minute.
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"We have a good connection there," Crouch said. "It's just pretty much trying to set the other one up."
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"Those are two of our offensive weapons, but we score as a team," Shepard said. "The defense works hard to win the ball and if those guys end up at the end of it, that's great. But it was certainly a nice breakout game for them today."
Cibola's interim coach, David Disko, took over five games into the season when Will Jones left for health reasons.
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"After the fourth game, when I took over, we've been making steady progress. Our only two losses had been through overtime penalty shootouts," Disko said. "When a team has a coach leave like this one did, its psyche can be a little fragile. They had to pick it up and do it, game by game - which they did.
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"What happened today, I don't know, but we're going to have to pick it back up real fast," Disko said.