By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
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Football: Matadors Earn Some Respect
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No one could blame Sandia for feeling slighted when the seedings for the Class 5A football playoffs were announced. Although the Matadors had lost only one game during the year - the first on their schedule, in fact - Sandia was given the fifth seed overall.
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Ahead of Sandia in the pecking order included one district runner up team (third-seed Alamogordo) and a squad the Matadors beat (second-seed Highland).
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But Sandia (11-1) will play on after going to Clovis on Friday (Nov. 24) and beating the fourth-seeded Wildcats 24-21.
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"We had nothing to lose, everything to prove," said Matadors' senior Derris Jackson, who ran for 132 yards and threw for 110 more to lead his team to victory.
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Jackson, who played from the quarterback position most of the game, broke a 14-14 tie early in the fourth quarter with a 46-yard touchdown run. As he had done all night, albeit on much shorter gains, Jackson shook off several attempted tackles from Clovis defenders - including a couple at the Wildcats' 35 yard line, when he appeared to be stopped.
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"I broke into the second tier (of the defense). The linemen were blocking great, they got on the big guys," said Jackson of the critical long TD jaunt that broke the deadlocked game. "And I break a few tackles."
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"He's a money player. I have no doubt that (Jackson) is the best football player in the state," Sandia coach Kevin Barker said. "Now, Brian Mead (of Clovis) might be the best running back, and there might be a better linebacker, but he's the best all-around football player."
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Mead, who rushed for 107 yards and scored all three of the touchdowns for Clovis (7-4), did cough up a fumble after Jackson's long touchdown run. Sandia recovered and, after a 27-yard field goal from Alex Gutierrez, went up 24-14 with seven minutes left. Clovis struck back quickly and Mead ran in from ten yards out, with 4:52 left, to trim the lead to three points.
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Clovis got the ball once more, with 1:03 left, but the Wildcats' last chance went awry after Jackson stuffed Mead on an attempted reverse and Matadors' teammate Michael Scarlett then picked off a Jordan Mendoza pass at midfield.
Sandia will play defending state champ Mayfield (11-0), which routed La Cueva (6-6) by a 31-0 score. The Trojans have now won 25 straight games and were propelled to victory over the Bears by quarterback Matt Sandoval - who passed for 186 yards and three touchdowns and ran for an additional 161 yards.
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The other Class 5A semifinal will feature Alamogordo against Cibola. Also on Friday, the third-seeded Tigers mauled visiting Rio Grande (7-5) by a 48-0 count while Highland (10-2) was knocked out by the the Cougars 24-20.
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Cibola (10-2) made the most daring decision of the 5A first round by going for a fourth-and-goal at the Highland one, eschewing a game-tying field goal attempt, with 2:36 remaining.
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Cougars' running back Chase Bennison barged in to the end zone on the play and Cibola went on to wrap up the victory. Bennison finished with 125 yards and, as part of his 29 carries, ran the ball 16 times in Cibola's first 23 offensive plays of the game.
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For Alamogordo (9-2), the Tigers' quarterfinal win over the Ravens began when Josh Browing picked off a Ravens' pass three minutes into the game and set up a 10-yard touchdown run for Clay Griffin. Later in the half, Browing intercepted another throw and ran 50 yards to paydirt to give Alamogordo a 28-0 lead.
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In Class 4A, the state championship will be fought for between district rivals Artesia and Goddard. The top-ranked Bulldogs, in a semifinal battle of unbeatens on Saturday (Nov. 26), cruised by Los Alamos 34-14. Junior quarterback Landry Jones paced the Artesia (12-0) effort by throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns while Los Alamos (11-1) got a combined 236 yards rushing from Ruben Martinez and Raul Rodriguez in the loss.
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Goddard (9-3), meanwhile, continued to put a hurting on teams with sparkling records by pounding Piedra Vista 49-6 in Roswell. The Panthers had lost only one game before encountering the Rockets. Last week, Goddard blew out previously unbeaten Moriarty in a quarterfinal game. The victorious Rockets were paced by 228 yards rushing from Ruben Coronado in the win over Piedra Vista (10-2).
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The Class 3A championship will be a rematch of the first game of the season for both Robertson and Portales. In that game, the Cardinals beat the Rams 13-2.
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Portales (7-6) won a second-straight road playoff game, as an underdog, by beating St. Michael's (9-3) by a 25-20 count. Defending champ Robertson (11-1) also hit the road for a 21-14 victory over Socorro (10-2).
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One state football title was awarded on Saturday when Lordsburg and Santa Rosa met in another match of unbeaten squads. Lordsburg (12-0) won its first-ever championship with a 20-10 victory at home over Santa Rosa (12-1) as the Mavericks got a couple of touchdowns from Brendon Huerta - one on a 15-yard run and the other on a 40-yard interception return late in the game.
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Only moments before, Jessie Darnell booted a 55-yard field goal, with 1:55 left on the clock, to give Lordsburg a 13-10 advantage.