High school football playoff positions, seeding on the line

Los Lunas, Valencia and Belen head into the final week of the regular season with plenty at stake.

After last weekends’ games, LLHS and VHS are playing for positioning and seeding in the postseason, while BHS may be facing a must-win situation.

Los Lunas Tigers

An 11 a.m. kickoff on a Saturday morning isn’t something Los Lunas (6-2, 5-1) is used to and, at times, it showed, but the Tigers still rolled to a 42-21 victory over Atrisco Heritage Academy (2-7, 1-5) at Nusenda Community Stadium in Albuquerque.

LLHS jumped to a quick 15-0 first-quarter lead, with twin brothers Jordan and J’den Howard finding the end zone.

Touchdowns by Jagger Casillas, the first of two, and Anthony Scott helped the Tigers take a 28-7 lead with only seconds left in the half, but the Jaguars found life when they scored on a long touchdown pass with no time on the clock.

Despite numerous penalties and three touchdowns called back, Los Lunas was never threatened in the second half.

“We had a lot of penalties but battled through adversity and got the job done,” said Jordan Howard.

The Tigers’ defense gave up several big plays through the air, but also recovered a fumble and had interceptions by Eliaz Saenz and Brad Mallory. J’den Howard was moved from offense into the secondary, at one point breaking up a pass.

“It’s unusual,” J’den said about switching to defense. “I’ve been practicing all week (in the secondary.) I was ready.”

LLHS piled up nearly 500 yards of total offense, with Jordan Howard rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while Kaiden Reese threw for 153 yards and two scores.

The regular season ends Friday at home for LLHS, facing Sandia (5-4, 4-2) for second place behind La Cueva in District 2-6A.

“Both teams are fighting their behinds off for district placement and playoff seeding,” said Greg Henington, Los Lunas coach. “It’s going to be like a playoff atmosphere.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Valencia Jaguars

The separation between No. 8 Valencia (6-3, 3-2) and third-ranked St. Pius (7-2, 5-0) in class 4A was noticeable Friday at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque. The athletic ability of the Sartans was on full display during their 65-28 victory.

“They’ve got a lot of firepower. A lot of weapons,” said LeDarrius Cage, VHS head coach. “We just gave up too many big plays. That’s what it came down to.”

VHS fell behind 21-0 early in the second quarter but the Jaguars repeatedly showed resilience. Three times VHS answered St. Pius touchdowns with scores of their own from Dalton Muzzy, Michael Storms and Aiden Harrington.

However, St. Pius scored several times in dramatic fashion; with two seconds left in the half and on their first play of the third quarter to build an insurmountable lead.

“We’ve got to play four quarters perfectly, every single snap,” said Aiden Gonzales, VHS defensive end.

“We can’t be letting ourselves get down on it and blame each other. We’ve got to close together and work as a unit.”

The Jaguars’ Gauge Holloway ended the scoring on a 20-yard touchdown strike from Harrington.

“There were some (positive) flashes,” Cage said, adding, “When you face good teams the margin of error is very small, and we made a lot of errors.”

It’s back on the road for Valencia Saturday, with a road trip to Albuquerque Academy.

“This is one of those must-win games,” Cage said. “They are a team that’s pretty good. Their record doesn’t speak to how good they are.”

Kickoff at Academy (3-6, 1-4) is at 1 p.m.

Belen Eagles

It was a big step toward a berth in the 5A state playoffs for Belen (3-5, 3-3), riding a strong first half to a 35-13 victory over Rio Grande (0-8, 0-6), keeping the Ravens winless.

“I thought we played real well in the first half,” said Kevin Peña, BHS head coach about the Eagles 29-0 halftime lead. “In the second half, we settled down a little.”

Peña suggested Senior Night festivities at halftime may have contributed to the sluggish final two quarters.

“Overall, as a team we played well,” he said. “Our scoring was distributed pretty good.”

Touchdowns by Jasode Harris, Chalito Cano and Damian Avila, who had two scores, gave BHS the cushion they needed. Brady Aragon posted the Eagles’ only TD of the second half, a five-yard run, to put the game away.

Peña said the players need to “keep the pressure on, put their foot on the peddle” for the entire game.

The victory puts Belen in position to snare a 5A playoff spot if they can win Friday at Santa Fe Capital. Currently, BHS is ranked 11th, while Capital (2-7) is 14th.

“It’s got to be our biggest game of the year,” Peña said. “The winner of this game should be in the playoffs. I would assume. The loser could be the odd man out.”

Game time is set for 7 p.m. in Santa Fe.