Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
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The 2005-2006 New Mexico prep sports year got rolling in earnest with a full slate of activities last weekend. Among the highlights: A wild football finish, a major run by a small school in a big school volleyball tournament, and a clash between defending state soccer champs.
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Football: Bulldawgs, Ravens View Blocked Kicks as Opportunities
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If the opening weekend is any indication, the season could be full of crazy endings.
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Take Las Cruces High's 20-14 victory over Sandia in Albuquerque Friday (Aug. 25). The Bulldawgs seemingly had failed to break a 14-14 tie with 19 seconds left when Zach Diaz' 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked by the Matadors.
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But, while the ball harmlessly rolled around and several players from both teams headed back to their respective sidelines, a pair of Las Cruces sophomores realized that a dead-ball whistle had never been blown. Carson Koch picked up the pigskin, flipped a lateral to teammate Dante Caro, who then raced in for the go-ahead touchdown.
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Another blocked field goal play was the deciding one in another game played in Albuquerque the day before. At Milne Stadium, in a 6-6 contest between Rio Grande and St. Pius, the Sartans attempted a game-winning field goal with two minutes left. But the Ravens' Jeff Acosta blocked the kick of St. Pius' Matt Wildau and Acosta's Rio Grande teammate, Adrian Baca, picked up the ball and raced 61 yards for the winning touchdown in a 13-6 victory.
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Two of the top three ranked teams in Class 5A also squared off in the first weekend of play. In a rematch of last year's championship game, top-rated Mayfield again got the best of No. 3 Clovis with a 21-13 victory on the road.
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The Trojans' 5-6 junior quarterback, Matthew Sandoval, an unknown quantity entering the game, tormented the Wildcats' defenders by scrambling for 121 yards rushing - much of which came on third-down conversion attempts to keep long drives alive.
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It was the first game for new Mayfield coach Mike Bradley, who succeeded his father Jim as the Trojans' leader.
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"You can't judge speed by watching film for the first game," said Bradley of Sandoval. "But everybody's going to know that he's got some after this."
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The second-ranked 5A team, La Cueva, struggled in its opener Saturday as the mistake-prone Bears held off Los Lunas, 17-14. La Cueva survived five turnovers and 11 penalties to pull off the victory.
In other 5A action, the Judge Chavez era at Cibola got off to a good start as the Cougars, in front of a large crowd at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque, beat highly-regarded Eldorado 13-7. Chavez' old team, Highland, meanwhile surprised Rio Rancho by routing the seventh-ranked Rams 36-12.
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Perhaps the most impressive performance of the weekend was turned in by Class 4A Artesia. The perennially-powerful Bulldogs rocked Lovington 56-6 as junior quarterback Landry Jones completed 21 of 29 passes and recorded five touchdowns in his debut. Artesia piled up 502 yards in total offense in beating the Wildcats in Artesia.
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Volleyball: It Had to End Sometime for Tatum
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Although the bulk of New Mexico prep volleyball teams had not played, or had only had one match so far, 16 teams got a major dose of action at the Clovis Invitational.
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Like the year before, Class 1A Tatum made a major run through the tournament field - largely made up of schools at Class 3A or higher. Unlike 2005, the determined Coyotes weren't able to win the tourney this time as host Clovis - a Class 5Aÿ school - took a 25-15, 25-17, 28-30, 19-25, 15-11 victory in the championship match Saturday night.
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The result ended a 30-match winning streak for Tatum, including an unbeaten 27-0 state championship season last year.
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"It was a good run. Take nothing away from Clovis, they sure played well - they kept us off-balance with all that stuff," Tatum coach Mike Majors said. "But we really had only one senior who could handle all that pressure. The other girls are young and it's all a new experience - great experience for them."
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Clovis repeatedly attacked the smaller Coyotes from the middle blocker position as Jasmine McDonald smacked 21 kills and got three blocks while sophomore Lainey Flatow recorded 19 kills in the match.
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The third-place match was won by Portales, which defeated Los Lunas 28-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-18. Portales, the defending Class 3A state champs, got 12 kills a piece from Briana Hernandez and Bethany Self as well as 11 more from junior Jordan Roehl.
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In an out-of-the-ordinary occurence, the most valuable player of the tournament came from the fifth-place team as West Las Vegas' Vera Jo Bustos was given the MVP nod at the Clovis tourney.
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Soccer: Pitch Powers Clash
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There was no lack of state championship experience when Eldorado took on St. Pius. The Eagles and Sartans, respectively, took crowns in boys soccer last fall. In the battle of champs, Eldorado recovered from a 3-1 deficit and took a 4-3 victory in a game decided by a shootout.
Goals from the Eagles' Devon Sandoval and Nate Witkowski evened the contest in the second half. In the shootout, Witkowski clinched the victory for Eldorado by putting in a shot with the Eagles already up 3-2.
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In another match of traditional powers, St. Pius this time was the victor - in girls soccer. The Sartans got coach David Sullivan his 200th career victory by beating La Cueva 2-1 on Saturday as St. Pius got goals from Reyna Naranjo and Emily Bourgoine. Earlier in the week, Sandia stifled the Sartans' first attempt to reach the milestone for Sullivan by winning a game on Wednesday.
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For Rio Rancho's girls, just beating one of the state's elite teams was a milestone in and of itself. The Rams beat the Chargers 1-0 on Thursday (Aug. 24) on a late goal by Kelly Angerosa. It marked the first time in Rio Rancho coach Uwe Balzis' ten years at the school that his team had been able to knock off Academy.