Saturday, August 30, 2008

Tiger football welcomes Jaguars with domination

Belen wins its opener on road at Deming.

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

Los Lunas

In a sloppy game that was Valencia High School’s first as a varsity squad, the host Los Lunas Tigers proved to be too strong for the Jaguars, winning 27-8.

After a scoreless, mistake-filled first quarter, Los Lunas’ defense opened up the scoring with a safety with 11:41 left in the second quarter after a 46-yard punt pinned Valencia back at its own 8-yard line.

An illegal procedure penalty pushed them back to the four, and the Tigers got great penetration to get a sack in the end zone.

Los Lunas got its first touchdown with 10:07 left in the second quarter, as Anthony Salazar streaked down the sideline and hauled in a 70-yard touchdown from quarterback Ray Contreras.

After Los Lunas recovered a fumble at Valencia’s 16-yard line, Contreras hit Omar Garcia for a 15-yard touchdown on a fade route with 8:44 left in the half. The extra point was no good, and the score was 15-0 Tigers.

The fumble recovery was one of several Valencia turnovers that the Tigers were able to capitalize on.

After the Jaguars took over, Orey was sacked for a 13-yard loss to put the ball at their own two, and he was sacked again for Los Lunas’ second safety of the game.

Marc Sanchez intercepted VHS quarterback Ferrer Orey at the Valencia 40, and Robert Valencia capped off the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown just 1:12 before halftime.

The Jaguars finally got on the board with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter, as a wide open Curtis Peralta caught Orey’s 30-yard touchdown pass to the right sideline.

Peralta took a direct snap on the extra point try to complete a two-point conversion and cut the score to 24-8.

Spencer Waquie hit a 34-yard field goal with 1:07 left in the game to complete the scoring.

Los Lunas will next host Valley on Friday at 7 p.m., while Valencia plays at Bernalillo at the same time.

The Belen Eagles won their opener at Deming, beating the Wildcats 35-14.Clovis Rivera had 221 rushing and scored on runs of 61 and 65 yards, Dylan Barba threw touchdown passes of 66 and 65 yards, and had 122 yards rushing.

Daniel Jaramillo had 70 rushing yards for the Eagles, who host their home opener Friday, Sept. 5, against Aztec in a 7 p.m. contest.