By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Robertson coach Chad Roanhaus sure didn't sound much like a man who just saw his team get off to a good start to the 2007 football season. But, then again, who's to question when Roanhaus is the one who turned the once-moribund Cardinals program into the current two-time defending Class 3A champs in New Mexico.
On Friday (Aug. 31), Robertson began the current football campaign the same way the Cardinals ended last season - with a road victory over Portales. In a rematch of the '06 title game, Robertson (1-0) came back from a 15-0 deficit and went ahead for good at the end of the third period and won 20-15.
Portales (0-1) marched down the field on its first two possessions and got touchdowns on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Chris Mosier to Ricky Lovato and a two-yard run, by Mosier, on a fourth-down play which was the second play of the second quarter.
The visiting Cardinals bounced back, however, when quarterback Adrian Martinez found Chris Ellis for a 47-yard bomb to trim the lead to 15-7. With 3:19 remaining in the second period, Martinez found Ellis for a 25-yard scoring strike and Robertson cut the margin to two points.
"Last year, I was actually the varsity kicker at the end, so I scored a few points there," said Ellis, a junior for the Cardinals. "But touchdowns are just a lot more exciting, you get the adrenaline rush when you hear all the fans cheering for you."
Another Robertson quarterback, Jake Martinez, found Jesse Estrada with a 23-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds left in the third quarter for the final score of the night.
The last drive for Portales ended when, on a fourth-and-one, Mosier was stuffed behind the line by Cards' lineman Marcos Lucero.
"I expect to see Portales later on in the year, because that's a great football team," Roanhaus said. "We needed to come out of here with a win. It was an ugly win, but we got out of here with a win."
After the game, Roanhaus reminded his Cardinals that much work was to be done - despite what the scoreboard read.
"I'm not liking Blackwater Draw too much, the way we played tonight," Roanhaus said. "They controlled the ball in the first quarter. They came out ready to play and we didn't come out ready to play. All that has to go back to how we're practicing."
In Class 5A, the streak continues for Mayfield (1-0). The Trojans, also two-time defending champs, won their 28th game in a row by racking up a 28-0 lead over visiting Clovis and going on to a 38-20 victory.
Slight but speedy quarterback Matt Sandoval carried the ball 11 times for 115 yards and passed for 138 more while Mayfield running back Nathan Enriquez added to the attack with 148 yards of total offense - including one 51-yard TD romp. Clovis (0-1) was led by 104 yards from Manuel Robles, who also caught a pair of touchdown passes.
Though Mayfield may be the team to beat, others may have a say in the end. Two potential contenders met when the season began on a Thursday (Aug. 30) night in Albuquerque as Cibola blew a 21-0 lead, then responded to beat La Cueva 24-21 when Tony Minerd hit a 43-yard field goal with 12 seconds left.
La Cueva (0-1) tied the game at 21-21 when Bears' running back Gus Bowe scored his third of three touchdowns. But Cibola (1-0), on the precipice of defeat, forced a Bowe fumble late in the game inside the Cougars' own five yard line. The ball rolled into the endzone and Cibola recovered to keep the contest deadlocked. Bowe finished with 157 yards rushing while the victorious Cougars got a couple of touchdowns on passes from Jonathan Mader to Brandon Simpson.
Volleyball: Rams, Wildcats win season-opening tournaments
Rio Rancho has ventured to El Paso before and won the West Texas Tournament of Championships. But sometimes, for a young team such as this year's Rams, the Texas teams in the tourney have just a little bit too much experience - at least for this time of the season.
El Paso Franklin defeated Rio Rancho 25-20, 25-11, 25-19 in the finals of the 16-team invitational on Saturday (Sept. 1). For Franklin (14-2), the season is well underway. For the Rams, however, it's only just began as Rio Rancho (2-1), in a quest for a third straight Class 5A title, was seeing its first action of the fall.
"Actually, they have a nice team. But I told my team that, when we were average, they took advantage. But when we were good and in system, we were just as good," Rio Rancho coach Toby Manzanares said. "It's just what we have to face - a team a little more seasoned than we are on the court. At times, we played good volleyball, but at other times we didn't and they made us pay."
The Rams opened the tourney by beating El Paso Eastwood 25-11, 25-23, 25-15 and then triumphed over El Paso Jefferson 25-20, 25-23, 25-19. Senior setter Kayla Hammond and senior hitter Ashley Rhoades, Rio Rancho's only returnees from the '06 championship squad, were named to the all-tourney team along with junior teammates Vanessa Leal (outside hitter) and Jackie Rodriguez (libero).
In Clovis, another 16-team tourney was staged as the host Wildcats beat rival Portales 18-25, 25-12, 25-12, 25-12 in the championship match.
After watching Portales (3-1) impressively take the first game, Clovis (3-1) got its offense in gear - particularly around junior Lainey Flatow and sophomore Antiesha Brown. Flatow, the tournament MVP, scored 21 kills for the match after registering only one in the opening game.
"I didn't look at the (stats) chart, but I know she was over 20 kills. She had 22 or 24 the first night (vs. Tatum), the same the next ballgame (vs. St. Michael's, in the semifinals)," Clovis coach Darrel Ray said. "When you're talking in the 20s in kills, you're talking about some good play."
For Portales, the team leader in kills was senior Bethany Self as the 6-foot-1 outside hitter got 11 overall. The Rams also got nine kills from Jordan Roehl in the loss to Clovis.
After the championship match, Portales coach Ruth Chavez admitted her team looked pretty good in the first game - before the Clovis defense shut off the Rams' offense.
"Scary good," Chavez said. "It's hard to understand what happened, but I guess it's a learning experience. We'll gonna all be looking at the film."
