Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Colts between Eagles and 4A semifinals

Silver inbound for Friday playoff game

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

Belen Belen High School's football team has worked all season to earn one of the top four seeds in the Class 4A state playoffs. Now it's time to make use of the homefield advantage that goes with that high seeding.

The third-seeded Eagles take their 9-1 record into Friday's 7 p.m. home game against the Silver Colts, who demolished St. Pius 35-7 on Saturday. They'll be facing a team with both size and speed, and one the Eagles faced annually when BHS was still a part of southern-based District 3-4A.

Now, the Eagles, who have been idle since whipping St. Pius by a similar 35-0 score on Nov. 8 to clinch the District 6-4A title, are on the precipice of their first trip to the state semifinals in five years. The winner of Friday's game faces either Aztec or Los Alamos on the weekend of Nov. 28-29 in the semis.

Silver (7-4) has won six straight games, while Belen has an eight-game winning streak. The Colts lost to St. Pius as part of an 0-3 start to the season, but that was before several suspended players became eligible. Their first win was a 41-14 rout at Los Alamos, where the Eagles later squeaked out a 43-37 victory. Both teams steamrolled Deming.

The Eagles simply have to beat a Colts team that is, by many accounts, similar to BHS in many ways.

"They're primarily a running team," said BHS first-year coach John Lerma. "They have two backs we'll have to keep track off, and a quarterback with a good arm."

Sounds a lot like the Eagle offense, which has two 1,000-yard backs in Clovis Rivera and Danny Jaramillo. Silver, which won the 2005 state title, also has a solid offensive line, which has some size.

On defense, said Lerma, the Colts run a combination of odd and even fronts, with more of a read-based patient approach than the attacking style of the Eagles. Lerma said it isn't much different from the 3-5-3 schemes Belen saw in Moriarty, Aztec and St. Pius.

"We're going to take what they give us, and attack where the opportunity presents itself," said Lerma.

Road work to the Delgado Avenue entrance to BHS has been completed, so fans may enter that way or via Christopher Road. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens. A ticket presale will take place Friday in the BHS Athletics office from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Friday night setting is something both Lerma and Belen Schools athletic coordinator Jim Danner wanted. Lerma said the routine of playing on Fridays, which both teams have done nearly all year (each squad played one Saturday game), will help the players and the fans.

"Our players are used to it, and our fans are used to it," said Lerma. "And we need our fans out there."

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