By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Kevin Barker had a theory about his Sandia football team as the 2008 season began. He felt his squad would benefit from a tough training regimen in the late stages of the opener against third-ranked Cibola.
Well, not only did the unranked Matadors surprise the Cougars, they also surprised their own coach by seizing control of the Class 5A contest early on last Friday.
In the end, Sandia (1-0) came away with a 29-14 victory at Milne Stadium in Albuquerque.
"We were hoping to keep it close and get it to the end, because we were in better shape," Barker said. "That was our plan going in. We wanted to keep it close in the fourth quarter and have a drive to win.
"We thought we'd be able to do that because we really focused on getting in shape through the summer.”
Instead, Cibola (0-1) started the game by getting stuffed by the Matadors' defense. After Sandia scored first, the Cougars turned the ball over and were forced into a safety in their second and third possessions.
By the time Matadors' quarterback Tanner Ireland scored on a touchdown run to open the second half, Sandia had a 22-6 lead.
Ireland played every down as he double-dutied as a defensive safety. Barker said that his senior leader will, more or less, work almost that hard all year long.
"We're going to give him a little more rest at safety, but the other night we didn't rotate him out," Barker said.
Judge Chavez, Cibola's coach will regroup his squad for this week's clash with Manzano.
"We just got totally outplayed from the very start of the whole thing," Chavez said. "They were pretty good. I just thought we were going to be better than we were. They kind of hit us in the mouth and we never hit back.”
The Cougars committed six turnovers against Sandia.
"I just thought we were going to have a real good football team and I still think we can," Chavez said. "Supposedly, we were ranked third in the state and, obviously, those things don't mean anything. I don't know if we were overconfident, but we didn't play like we're capable of playing.
"If we continue to do that, we're going to be in big trouble because our schedule is murder.”
In other action, top-ranked Las Cruces High clobbered El Paso El Dorado by a 48-13 count while defending Class 5A champ Mayfield, seeking a third-straight crown, beat El Paso Chapin 27-9 in a game played at the Sun Bowl in El Paso. Trojans' senior running back Jacob Ceniceros rushed for 246 yards in the latter victory.
Volleyball: Rams, Wildcats Fare Well in 16-team Tourneys
El Paso was also the scene for a season-opening volleyball tournament that featured many of New Mexico's best squads.
Many of the teams in the west Texas city had a decided match experience this season over the visitors from their neighboring state to the north. Preseason favorites Rio Rancho and Moriarty, in Class 5A and 4A respectively, were getting their first action of the season while squads like host Franklin – the ultimate winner – had several contests under its belt.
Rio Rancho, however, did finish second overall and Moriarty was fourth. The teams also met in the tourney with the Rams taking a three-game sweep in a contest of defending state champs.
One other 16-team invitational took place in Clovis, where the host Wildcats beat back St. Michael's with a sweep in the championship on Saturday.
Senior Lainey Flatow led Clovis with 13 kills while junior Antiesha Brown added eight.
"We were fortunate to close a little bit better than they did," Clovis coach Darrel Ray said. "I think it's a huge advantage and I told Chela (Butler, the St. Michael's coach) that when we come up there, that I imagine they'll look forward to doing the same to us on their wood.”
