Prep football recap: Jags, Eagles and Tigers fall short

One week after all three Valencia County high school football teams were impacted by lightning, Valencia, Belen and Los Lunas were each able to complete a full game. However, all three lost during week two of the season.

Valencia Jaguars

Once again, 4A Valencia (1-1) was stymied on offense by 5A Gadsden (2-0). The Panthers’ 38-0 victory Friday at VHS was their second consecutive shutout of the Jaguars.

“We still didn’t get points on the board, which is the most frustrating thing,” said LeDarrius Cage, VHS coach.

The game started more than an hour late because of lightning, which may explain why both teams sputtered on offense early. The game was scoreless after one quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Gadsden’s Alfredo Andrade scored on a short run. Later in the quarter, a Gadsden touchdown, aided by a VHS unsportsman-like penalty, and a field goal on the last play of the quarter gave the visitors a 17-0 halftime lead.

“All that stuff added up and buried us,” Cage said about mistakes.

It also hurt that VHS senior lineman Aiden Gonzales, who plays both offense and defense, went out with an injury.

It was clear that Valencia was running out of gas in the second half, especially on defense.

“The defense was on the field almost the whole game,” Cage noted, as Gadsden added three more touchdowns.

The VHS punt game provided some of the more interesting action of the night. A high snap over punter Diego Baeza led to a Gadsden safety, which was negated by a penalty. Baeza, who also is a lineman, boomed a 67-yard punt in the first half.

However, in the third quarter, fatigue may have set in when Baeza bobbled a snap and was forced to run. He was eventually dragged down, but not before delivering the best stiff-arm of the night.

“Crazy man,” is how Gonzales describes his effort.

“The ball slipped out of my hands. I had to do what I had to do,” Baeza said about his run.

After the 38-0 setback, Valencia on Friday visits Belen.

“It’ll be good to reignite that rivalry,” Cage said.

Even though they haven’t faced off since the 2020 season, the players are familiar with each other.

After all, “They are just across the river,” Baeza stated.

Belen Eagles

Two key plays for Belen (0-1) at the beginning and the end of Friday’s game in Santa Fe against 6A Santa Fe High (2-0) helped define the Demon’s 34-28 victory.

The 5A Eagles bobbled a pitch on the first play of the game from scrimmage and Santa Fe recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. That was book-ended by a Demon’s rushing touchdown with about two minutes left in the game to break a tie and help seal the win.

“It was tough,” the way the game ended, said Kevin Peña, BHS coach. “They kind of wore us down in the second half.”

The Eagles recovered nicely after falling behind early, taking a 21-7 lead at halftime. Ethan Thomas had touchdown passes to Logan Gonzales and Jasode Harris, while Damian Avila rushed for another score.

But Peña had a warning at halftime for the players.

“There are two halves to a game,” meaning there is a lot of football to be played. Santa Fe dominated the final 24 minutes, outscoring BHS 27-7.

“I knew we were tired. The numbers just wore us down,” Peña said about Santa Fe’s larger roster. “They gave it everything they had — I think we have a good team.”

At 7 p.m., Friday, Belen will renew its series with Valencia, a rivalry that has been on hiatus four years.

“A lot of the kids know each other,” said Peña. “We haven’t played in a while, so I expect there will be a lot of people there watching.”

Los Lunas Tigers

In their third season playing against New Mexico’s largest schools, the Los Lunas Tigers (0-1) still must prove they can hang with what head coach Greg Henington calls the “upper echelon” of class 6A. That includes Cleveland, which routed LLHS Friday, 56-7, in Rio Rancho.

“Their run game was amazing,” Henington said. “They’re enormous and strong.”

He could also add fast.

“We knew that was going to be a challenge.”

Still, there were positive signs. After falling behind 7-0 in the first few minutes, Los Lunas went on an impressive, time-consuming drive that included a long catch and run by J’den Howard after a screen pass. It culminated in a game-tying touchdown on a scramble by quarterback Kaiden Reese.

“Our first offensive drive was a beauty,” according to Henington, adding “We’ve got to get to where we can produce those drives more than once.”

After that, the Storm (1-1) showed why they are among the best teams in New Mexico, reeling off 48 straight points. Despite the disappointment, Henington said, “I was proud. Our kids weren’t intimidated.”

Henington believes the Tigers need to get in better game shape after the team’s opener against Roswell was ruled no-contest after less than a quarter of play because of lightning.

“That took a toll on us — It’s going to take some time to get where we want to be,” the coach said.

Los Lunas hopes to take another step at 7 p.m. Friday, when the Tigers host Farmington (2-0).