Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Jaguars scare Eagles early, but BHS pulls away

Eagles set for tough battle at Moriarty on Friday

John Gale News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jgale@news-bulletin.com

Tomé For a while on Friday, Valencia's football team looked like it might pick up its first win ever over intra-county rival Belen — who was ranked No. 4 in Class 4A in a coaches association poll going into the game — but the Eagles recovered from the Jaguars' initial charge and pulled away for a 59-22 victory.

"Valencia was outplaying us in the first quarter completely," Belen coach John Lerma said. "I admire them. We have to give them and their coaching staff credit. They came up with some stuff we hadn't seen and executed it very well. Their kids were fired up."

Belen (5-1) running back Danny Jaramillo muffed two punts, but he made up for it by rushing for 198 yards and a touchdown on just 19 carries. The Eagles attempted just one pass for the third game in a row and racked up 397 total yards, all on the ground, against the Jaguars.

Using a variety of new formations, Valencia (0-6) scored all of its points in the first 10:06 of the game. After their offense was stopped on the first drive of the game, Juan Rodriguez recovered Jaramillo's muffed punt at the Eagles' 41 yard line.

Jacob Jackson scored on the next play on a run down the right sideline to give the Jaguars a 6-0 lead after the extra point was blocked.

Belen wasted no time responding, as Jason Gurule took the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles in front 7-6.

A couple of possessions later, the Jaguars put together a 52-yard drive that finished with Juan Rodriguez' 4-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion catch by Jake Sanchez put Valencia up 14-7.

The Eagles tied the score at 14-14 a few minutes later on quarterback Dylan Barba's 54-yard touchdown run along the left sideline.

On its next offensive play, Valencia scored again, this time on a 65-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Orey Feerer to Curtis Peralta. A two-point conversion from Feerer to Braden Gault put the Jaguars ahead 22-14.

Valencia coach Ed Johnson said part of the game plan was to take advantage of his team's speed to make up for their lack of size.

"Belen is the best team we've played," Johnson said. "They're so big and physical, and we're small and young. We were trying to get those big guys away from us and create some mismatches for us."

A couple of minutes later, Jaramillo muffed another punt, which gave Valencia the ball at the Eagles' 35-yard line.

With all the momentum on their side, Valencia had a real shot to put the Eagles in some serious trouble if they could have gone ahead by two touchdowns. But Belen escaped when the Jaguars turned the ball right back over on Jackson's fumble.

Lerma later admitted that the situation had him concerned.

"I was very concerned because they had an excellent game plan," Lerma said. "They executed it well. They were able to move the ball on us. I'm just proud that our kids regained their composure from the middle of the second quarter to the end of the game."

The Eagles took advantage of the gift by putting together consecutive 64- and 62-yard scoring drives that were capped off by short Rivera touchdown runs.

Rivera's runs and a Barba two-point conversion run gave the Eagles a 29-22 lead.

After another Jaguar fumble, Belen finished a 38-yard drive with another short Rivera run and a Tyler East two-point conversion run.

The three Rivera touchdowns gave Belen a 37-22 halftime lead and control of the game. They added three more touchdowns in the third quarter, a 15-yard scoring run from Jaramillo, Sean Willis' 35-yard interception return and a 10-yard run by East.

The Eagles then substituted in their second offensive and defensive units the rest of the way, and neither team scored again.

Belen at Moriarty

Friday, 7 p.m.

In a matchup of two of the top 10 teams in Class 4A, the Belen football team will play their third straight road game with a trip to Moriarty on Friday.

After winning their first three games, the 4-2 Pintos then dropped two close decisions to 5A Valley and 4A power Piedra Vista. They bounced back last week with a 42-7 blowout of West Mesa at Milne Stadium.

"Moriarty has a fine ballclub," Belen coach John Lerma said. "They're very quick defensively. They're aggressive. They attack and go to the football real well. I was impressed with their quickness. They have good team speed."

The Pintos were ranked seventh in the most recent coaches association poll that was published prior to their win over West Mesa. They are led by quarterback Nick Gonzales.

"Offensively, they have a very capable quarterback with good speed and quickness," Lerma said. "They run primarily, but they can hurt you with play-action passing."

Lerma also mentioned wide receiver/linebacker Pat Corr as a player that impressed him from his film study.

"He is a very impressive man, probably about 6-foot-3," Lerma said. "He's just a very good athlete. We'll be facing a very good ballclub."

The Eagles will look to continue to run the ball effectively when they play Moriarty, the No. 7-ranked team in 4A, as BHS has attempted just one pass in each of their last three games.

Belen's trio of quarterback Dylan Barba and running backs Clovis Rivera and Danny Jaramillo — along with strong blocking from the offensive line — is the primary reason the Eagles have gotten off to a 5-1 start.

Friday's game is the pre-district finale for the Eagles, who have a bye next week.

Moriarty coach Bob Alcorn said his team is fairly banged up, but Friday is the Pintos' Homecoming game. The Pintos, who were district opponents of the Eagles in the previous three seasons, won 35-21 last year in Belen.

Moriarty had lots of speed on that team and returned several key players this year, including its quraterback, Gonzales. While the Pintos are an effective running team and don't pass much, Gonzales is an experienced signal caller.

One of his main running backs, Ray Herrera, recently returned from an injury and rushed for about 180 yards in Saturday's win over West Mesa.

In last year's game at Belen, Gonzales had one of the Pintos' two 90-plus yard kickoff returns for touchdowns, and Herrera had 63-yard scoring run.

"Belen will be our toughest challenge so far," said Allcorn. "It's always a hard-hitting battle between these teams. They present problems and they're diverse, so it will be about who adjusts the best."

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