Saturday, October 4, 2008

Tigers dominate Del Norte in final district tune-up

Rio Grande comes to LLHS for 5-5A opener next week

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Albuquerque In its travels through the Northeast Heights of Albuquerque on Thursday, the Los Lunas football team found Eubank was a good way to go.

Not Eubank Boulevard, as Wilson Stadium is on Lomas, but Logan Eubank, their senior fullback who spearheaded a strong offensive first quarter that was part of the Tigers' 28-6 win over the Del Norte Knights.

The 5A Tigers (4-2) combined the efforts of Eubank, quarterback Ray Contreras, a dominant offensive line with great field position, courtesy of a strong defensive front eight. Los Lunas scored on its first three possessions. The Tigers led the 21-0 from midway through the first quarter until late in the third, and then went up 28-0 before the 4A Knights (2-4) got a late score.

LLHS is hoping the win will give them momentum as they open District 5-5A play next Friday with a 7 p.m. game against the Rio Grande Ravens. Last year's Los Lunas game against Rio Grande went to overtime, with the Tigers winning 30-27.

"We finally put four quarters together," said LLHS coach Denvis Manns. "We blocked well, we caught the ball well, and the defense was strong."

The Tigers took the opening kickoff and drove 72 yards for a score, with every inch of it on the ground. Eubank, who had 14 carries for 76 yards in the contest and scored twice, got 46 of his total on the opening drive, punctuating it by dragging a tackler into the end zone on a 12-yard scoring run.

Placekicker Spenser Waquie was another Tiger who had an excellent night, making all four extra points and launching all of his kickoffs but one deep into the end zone. Del Norte started its first four possessions on its own 20, and the Tiger defense bended but didn't break.

The Tigers began their second possession at the Del Norte 45 after a short punt, and Eubank scored again on a two-yard plunge. Contreras, who had a team-high 107 rushing yards, burst through a big hole in the middle of the Del Norte defense later in the quarter for a 70-yard touchdown run and a 21-0 lead.

Del Norte made some plays on offense at times, especially with veteran quarterback Cody Blocker involved, but the Tiger defense was huge on third- and fourth-down conversion attempts. Los Lunas, who beat Del Norte 41-7 in a 2007 game, got its final points on 2-yard run by Robert Valencia with 19.6 seconds left in the third quarter.

Valencia, who was also a key factor on defense in pressuring Blocker, said running up the middle was something the Knights were prone to doing. "We studied their plays, and we knew they went to the middle a lot," said Valencia, a senior. "We started filling up the holes where they like to run."

Valencia's score was set up by a long throw from Contreras to Anthony Salazar, who recently returned from an ankle injury. Salazar only had two catches, but both were for over 40 yards and set up touchdowns.

Contreras was 3-of-6 for 85 yards and wasn't intercepted, helping his team outgain the Knights 294-260. Del Norte never turned the ball over, and Blocker was 12-of-19 for 133 yards The Knight QB also ran for a team-high 58 yards.

Blocker's team was hurt by 55 yards in penalties; the Tigers were flagged four times for 25 yards, but weren't penalized at all in the second half.

Blocker completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Brown with 6:32 to play in the game. The Knights were driving in the waning seconds, but time ran out as the Tigers stopped the final play at the 1-yard line.

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