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ALBUQUERQUE — For the first half Thursday at Wilson Stadium, Los Lunas showed it could play with New Mexico’s best team, top ranked La Cueva. However, it was the Bears (7-0, 4-0) making a statement in the final 24 minutes of the game, blowing past LLHS (4-2, 3-1) for a 63-31 victory in District 2-6A.
Los Lunas had few answers for La Cueva quarterback Cam Dyer, who tossed seven touchdown passes, four to Jayden Parsons.
The Tigers opened the scoring on their first drive, with J’den Howard taking an inside screen, racing through traffic and barely reaching the endzone for a 58-yard touchdown.
“I just had really good blocks, and I followed them,” Howard said. “I broke a tackle and scored.”
The extra point was no good.
It took about 30 seconds for La Cueva to take the lead back with a long run of their own, pulling in front 7-6.
Later in the quarter Los Lunas converted three fourth downs on the same drive, including when punter/quarterback Kaiden Reese was forced to scramble under a heavy rush. Gage Marquez bashed in for the touchdown from the two-yard line, putting LLHS back in front 13-7.
The best defensive effort of the night for Los Lunas came midway through the second quarter, when the Tigers stopped La Cueva on fourth down, just feet from the goal line. At times, the Bears were clearly frustrated, with five penalty flags tossed in the air after one unsportsmanlike penalty.
“I’m proud of our defense,” said Greg Henington, LLHS coach. “That (La Cueva) offense is no joke. They came up with some crucial stops at some crucial times.”
After a La Cueva touchdown, a 22-yard field goal by Nate Martinez gave Los Lunas a short-lived, final lead of the game. Another Dyer pass with 25 seconds left in the half gave La Cueva a 20-16 advantage.
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The second half belonged to Dyer and the Bears, with their speed and athletic ability hard to match. Los Lunas was hurt by two third quarter turnovers, including a pick-six and a muffed punt that led to another La Cueva score.
Los Lunas stayed close with a touchdown pass from Reese to Tayson Gaxiola and a short TD run by Reese, pulling the Tigers to within 42-31. However, that ended the scoring for LLHS.
The Tigers believe the final 32-point margin is misleading.
“We did really good, to be honest,” according to Howard. “We had little mistakes that we need to fix.”
Henington said LLHS has come a long way from the opening game 55-7 loss to Cleveland.
“I’m proud of our kids. They could have come down here and bowed down to the number one team in the state and they did the exact opposite,” the coach said.
Next Friday, Los Lunas goes on the road to Santa Fe. Both Belen and Valencia are off this week. The Eagles (2-4, 2-2) play Thursday at Highland, while on Friday the Jaguars (5-2, 2-1) hosts Manzano.
