Dramatic finishes highlight New Mexico football state championships

The 2012 New Mexico high school football season finished with plenty of dramatic and memorable moments.

Four state championship games were contested over the weekend. On Saturday, No. 1 seed St. Michael's (Santa Fe) edged No. 2 Silver (Silver City) 10-7 in the 3A state championship game. In the 2A state final, No. 1 Santa Rosa made it three in a row with a dominating 28-0 victory over No. 2 Tularosa. A day earlier, Goddard (Roswell) defeated Los Lunas 17-14 in the 4A final, while No. 2 Las Cruces knocked off No. 4 Sandia (Albuquerque) 35-28 in the 5A final.

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Among the highlights: Kelsey Cunningham connecting on a 21-yard field goal as time expired in Goddard's thrilling victory; Tim Valverde busting off a 46-yard run on the game's first play from scrimmage to set the tone in Santa Rosa's win; Las Cruces quarterback Jonathan Joy passing for 197 yards, rushing for 100 more and totaling four touchdowns; and St. Michael's somehow finding a way to win despite being outgained 225-151.

St. Michael's trailed 7-3 when Cory Serna connected with Daniel Ortega for a 10-yard TD pass with 1:31 left in the third quarter, accounting for the final points of the game.

"What we do now," Ortega said in the Albuquerque Journal, "is what we do forever more."

St. Michael's completed a perfect 13-0 season despite gaining only 67 yards after halftime. But the opportunistic Horsemen took advantage of two Silver (10-3) fumbles inside the red zone to hang on by the slimmest of margins. The difference? Santo Coppola's 49-yard field goal with 1:04 left until halftime.

Speaking of clutch kickers, Cunningham — who earlier in the game missed a 35-yard attempt — enjoyed a redemption of sorts after his game-winning kick delivered Goddard (12-0) its eighth state championship in school history and third in the last five years while also denying Los Lunas its first-ever title.

Goddard running back Cody French (152 yards on 32 carries) played a pivotal role in setting up the game-winning score.

French, who was switched to quarterback midway through the game's final drive, threw an incomplete pass into the end zone with 52 seconds to play. But previously undefeated Los Lunas (12-1) was called for pass interference — its only penalty of the game — helping set up Cunningham's winning kick.

Again on the subject of clutch performances, Las Cruces (12-1) delivered again, capturing its fifth state title since 1999 and first since 2008. The Bulldawgs did it in methodical fashion, possessing the ball for the final 8 minutes, 3 seconds, to hold off a hard-charging Sandia (9-4) team that rallied from 35-12 down with 2:33 left in the third quarter.

But Sandia's comeback attempt was thwarted after Sam Denmark came up with an interception in the end zone, and Las Cruces played keep-away the rest of the way. Las Cruces prevailed despite being penalized 15 times for 143 yards.

While the 5A, 4A and 3A finals were decided by a combined 13 points, the 2A championship contest was never close. Top seed Santa Rosa totaled 362 yards rushing while limiting Tularosa to just three first downs in the first half. Valverde spearheaded Santa Rosa's run game with 193 yards, and Marcus Lopez finished with 161.