Tigers, Eagles & Jags struggle — rivals BHS, VHS to battle for Plow Trophy

Week two of the high school football season was a disappointment for Valencia County teams, with Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia losing against quality competition.

LLHS will seek its first win this season at Farmington this Friday, while VHS hosts BHS in the Plow Trophy game.

Storm dominate Tigers

When playing a team like Cleveland, the defending 6A champion and perennial contender, finding early momentum is almost a must.

That’s what made the first play from scrimmage disheartening for Los Lunas (0-2) fans, with Cleveland’s Evan Nañez racing 80 yards on a jet sweep for the first of his three touchdowns.

“We had the right defensive call for that formation,” according to LLHS head coach Greg Hennington. “We just over pursued a little bit and (Nañez) cut it back.”

Immediately after the extra point try was missed, play was stopped because of lightning in the area.

The one-hour weather delay didn’t slow the Storm, who stymied the Tigers vaunted running attack. LLHS had just 126 yards on the ground, 72 of them by Jagger Casillias, while the Tigers only netted 109 passing yards.

After two games, LLHS has yet to score a touchdown, with three field goals and a safety.

Cleveland (2-0) scored three times late in the first half to put LLHS in a 28-0 halftime hole, then added three more second half touchdowns. Los Lunas avoided the shutout with a field goal by Nathan Martinez to make the final score 49-3.

“There’s a reason why they have won so many state championships,” Henington said, mentioning the size and athleticism of the Storm.

Despite the lopsided score, Henington is optimistic about the rest of the season.

“We don’t want to preach moral victories but we’re very proud of the steps we took in the right direction,” Henington said, citing fewer penalties and a positive attitude under duress.

Next up is a Friday trip to Farmington, which has lost to Clovis and Durango.

“We’re starving for a victory, that’s for sure,” the coach said. “I think we’re all onboard with that.”

Belen rallies but falls to Santa Fe

The most competitive game of the night was in Belen, where kickoff was delayed an hour because of lightning and heavy rain.

Once the action started, the 5A Eagles (0-2) fell behind 20-0 to 6A Santa Fe, rallied to take a halftime lead but eventually came up short 39-26.

“This team fights to the end. We just got tired,” said Belen’s Chalito Cano, who had a monster night playing quarterback and other positions on both offense and defense.

An interception and poor tackling contributed to the deficit, but BHS found new life midway through the second quarter. With the ball in his hands, Cano started left, cut back to the right, and outran the Demons’ defense for a 74 yard touchdown run.

On Santa Fe’s next possession, Jeremiah Lord took an interception to the end zone.

“It was open all the way,” said Kevin Peña, BHS coach, about the interception. “He did a great job breaking on that pass.”

Logan Gonzalez laid out for a spectacular touchdown catch, pulling the Eagles within 20-18 with 6:16 left in the second quarter. All three BHS extra point tries were no good.

After Santa Fe was stopped on a fourth down try, a long reception by Logan Chavez set up a touchdown run by Cano, and with a successful two-point try, the Eagles went into the locker room leading 26-20.

“He’s just a hell of an athlete,” Peña said about Cano, who rotated at quarterback with Gonzalez. “We’ve got to get the ball in his hands — once it’s in his hands we hope something happens.”

The Demons scored the only touchdown of the third quarter, but the extra point was blocked leaving the scored tied 26-26 entering the final stanza. With the Eagles wearing down, Santa Fe scored twice following turnovers to secure the 39-26 victory.

Next up for BHS is a Friday night meeting at Valencia for the Plow Trophy, won last year by the Jaguars. VHS is led by running back Michael Storms III.

“He’s tough. We’ll have to stop him of course,” Peña believes.

Even though it’s a rivalry game, “It’s not about a trophy,” according to Pena.

“We need a win under our belt.” Cano adds, “Every game is a big game.”

Kickoff Friday at Valencia is at 6 p.m.

Valencia falls at Gadsden

When the 4A Jaguars (1-1) meet Belen Friday, a priority will be to avoid a sluggish start. That happened to Valencia often last season and again last Friday at Gadsden, the fourth-ranked team in 5A.

“We couldn’t really sustain anything,” said LeDarrius Cage, VHS coach, about the offense in the first half. “Just a couple of missed assignments. That kind of hurt us.”

After scoring four touchdowns in the first quarter, Gadsden (2-0) took a 28-0 lead into halftime. Penalties were a big part of the issue for Valencia, and the trend continued into the third quarter when Aiden Farless returned an interception to the one yard line. However, a string of penalties pushed the Jaguars back and they were unable to score.

From there, VHS did muster several nice drives.

“In the second half, we had some flashes where we executed pretty well,” the coach said.

Quarterback Santino Mares scored one touchdown on the ground, and found tight end Eric Rodriguez with a strike for another score to make the final outcome 35-12.

Now, comes the showdown Friday against Belen for the Plow Trophy.

“It’s definitely going to be a dogfight,” Cage said. “It should be a big game. First home game, rivalry game, community game. Everything you want. They definitely have some athletes.”