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TOMÉ — It was a wild Friday night of high school football, leaving all three Valencia County teams with a 1-2 record. Belen edged Valencia in the final seconds to recapture the Plow Trophy while the offense for Los Lunas came to life in the late going at Farmington.
Friday, all three teams host homecoming games.
Plow Trophy returns to Belen
Many Belen fans lamented the discontinuation several years ago of the decades-long rivalry with Los Lunas, but Valencia has become a worthy replacement. Eagles quarterback Chalito Cano ran in a touchdown with less than a minute to go to pull BHS within one point at Valencia. When Cano followed that up with a successful two point conversion, the Eagles secured the victory and carried the Plow Trophy across the Rio Grande back home.
“No doubt, we were going for the win,” said BHS head coach Kevin Peña about opting for the two point try.
As dramatic and exciting as the second half was, the first 24 minutes was a flag-fest, with the Eagles and Jaguars combining for nearly 30 penalties, including several personal fouls.
“You’ve got kids with emotions and it just came out at times,” said Peña.
Logan Gonzalez, who plays several positions for the Eagles, added, “The intensity was really high. It was electric. It was crazy.”
Gonzalez was a victim of one of the first half penalties, which negated a long punt return for a touchdown. After a scoreless first quarter, VHS got on the board when Eric Rodriguez out jumped a defender to haul in a Santino Mares pass. It was 7-0.
With less than two minutes to go in the half, Cano hit Gonzalez for a 33 yard touchdown strike, but a low snap on the extra point kick was bobbled and Valencia defenders smothered the holder. It was 7-6 at the half.
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“We left a lot of points off the board in that first half,” said Valencia coach LeDarrius Cage about the string of costly penalties.
After the frustration of the first half, both teams put on a show the rest of the way. Belen took the lead in the third quarter when Cano scrambled and hit Josiah Valero for six. Fullback Augustine Griego was successful on the two-point try to make it 14-7 Valencia.
With strong running by Mares and Michael Storms III, VHS moved down the field, with Mares taking it the final three yards to tie the game at 14-14.
Cano answered back with a short run late in the third quarter, but he was stopped short on the extra point try, leaving the Eagles ahead 20-14. Midway through the final stanza, Storms muscled in for the touchdown and a 20-20 score after the extra point kick was missed.
Gauge Holloway put Valencia back on top with 3:26 to go, and the kick gave the Jaguars a 27-20 advantage.
That set up the drama by Belen, with Cano having to adlib from his quarterback slot.
“It was supposed to be a pass to Logan, it was clogged up so I ran,” Cano said. “I was lucky enough to get around and get in for a touchdown.”
The two-point try made the final score 28-27, with the Jaguars feeling the pain that Belen felt last year after another heart-stopping finish.
“We knew they were going to play their best game against us,” said Valencia’s Cage. “Hats off to them. They did a great job.”
BHS celebrates homecoming at 7 p.m., Friday, when another heated rival, the Valley Vikings visit Eagles Stadium. It is the first District 1-5A game of the season.
Cuba is at VHS for homecoming, 6 p.m., Friday.
Los Lunas breaks through at Farmington
It took Los Lunas most of three games for the Tigers offense to get in gear, but when it did, Farmington was left in the dust.
LLHS exploded for 40 fourth-quarter points to erase an 18-14 deficit to come away with their first win of the season over the Scorpions, 54-18.
“It just started clicking, to be honest,” said Greg Henington, Los Lunas coach. “It was a beautiful thing to see.”
Henington admitted to feeling a sense of relief after the Tigers scored their first touchdown of the season, by Kaiden Reese in the first half, as LLHS led 14-10 at the break.
The tide really turned in the final 12 minutes, when Reese and Luke Cieremans began rotating at quarterback. Cieremans found Tegan Gallegos for a touchdown that Henington called, “Huge. Giving both of those guys an opportunity to play gave the team a spark.”
After that, Henington said they were able to run the ball “down their throats,” rotating Jagger Casillias, Martin Cordova and Diego Parra, who reeled off two “really great runs.”
Next up is Homecoming Friday against Eldorado, with a 6 p.m. kickoff. It’s also the District 2-6A opener.
“This Eldorado game has enormous implications for playoff seeding and the district championship,” said Henington.
