From fütbol to football; it’s been a kick

With the end of the New Mexico high school football season also comes the conclusion of a unique link between the gridiron programs at Valencia, Los Lunas and Belen.

It started for Joseph Palacio, Nathan Martinez and Nehemiah Sanchez on the soccer pitch in elementary school as teammates on Revolution, a club team with Valencia Del Rio, where they were thick as thieves.

This triumvirate then migrated to different high schools in Valencia County and shifted to football, each eventually settling in as a placekicker.

Palacio for the Valencia Jaguars, Martinez with the Los Lunas Tigers and Sanchez for the Belen Eagles.

“We were good buddies. We were a good little trio,” Martinez says of those soccer days, with Sanchez adding, “We were like best friends with each other. Sleepovers, doing kids stuff,” often on weekends after games.

“It is really a euphoric sense thinking back to those days when I was with those guys,” is how Palacio put it.

There were also several championships bringing them closer together. However, COVID hit, interrupting the soccer journey. The trio soon ended up at different high schools with all three taking up football.

For Martinez, a LLHS junior, the move to kicking duties in football started in seventh grade when he said to his coach, “I played soccer for a couple of years, do you need a kicker?”

The answer was, “Yeah. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be,” Martinez admitted of the transition. “The follow-through, contact. It’s just completely different,” kicking an oblong football compared to a round soccer ball.

By going to kicking camps and watching videos, Martinez began to jell. This season for Los Lunas, Martinez converted eight of nine field goal attempts and 50 of 53 PAT’s.

“I love kicking. I love what I do,” said Martinez, who hopes to continue his football career in college.

Soccer was still in the picture for Sanchez through eighth grade, when he played on the Belen High School varsity.

“I just wanted to try something different, something more physical,” Sanchez, a senior, recalled about his move to football. “I just came out on the field, not really having any expectations.”

The team needed a placekicker, so Sanchez raised his hand, just as Martinez did.

As he learned the trade, Sanchez was able to seek advice from his older brother Cristofori, who kicked for the Eagles during the 2021 season. Through the process, Nehemiah learned to handle clutch situations.

“It’s a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure just on me, but it’s not bad,” said Sanchez, who booted a 43-yard field goal during his sophomore season.

“No, not really,” Sanchez replied when asked if he missed soccer. “I think about it sometimes, but, no. I enjoy football more.”

In addition to kicking, Sanchez played defense for the Eagles, scoring a touchdown during a recent playoff game against Valley.

Palacio, the Valencia senior, was the only member of the trio to play both soccer and football while in high school. Soccer certainly has die-hard supporters but Palacio enjoyed the packed stands for football.

“Having the fans out here every Friday night, the lights, to be able to run with everyone, it’s awesome. I love it,” Palacio said.

Even with all the noise and distractions, kicking has a “little bit of a loner aspect,” Palacio explained. “When I’m getting ready to kick it’s just me and the field goal. I’m focused on where I need to kick, how far I need to kick it, and how fast I need to get to the ball before (a defender) gets there.”

Palacio believes that playing soccer for the Jaguars helped him “connect to my old days,” with Sanchez and Martinez, referring to them as “absolutely incredible athletes.”

The three still communicate from time to time, and when they do, “it’s all in good love,” said Palacio. Martinez simply said, “I miss those guys.”