Unstoppable offenses spark Belen Eagles, LLHS Tigers wins, defense shines for VHS Jaguars

Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia each went on the road last week and secured victories.

The Eagles and Tigers, staying close to home, used quick-strike offenses to succeed, while the Jaguars’ dominating defense was the difference way down south.

Lightning, Mustangs can’t stop Los Lunas

Whether it was electricity still lingering in the air after a lightning delay or something else, the Los Lunas offense “exploded” Friday night in the opening moments of the Tigers’ District 2-6A meeting against West Mesa (1-3, 0-1)at Wilson Stadium.

By the time the first quarter ended, LLHS (3-2, 2-0) had a 42-0 lead, settling for a 57-14 victory.

“I thought we spread the ball around very well,” Los Lunas head coach Greg Henington said. “We have a lot of talent and it’s challenging to spread it around correctly.”

The Tigers were successful on that point, scoring eight touchdowns by eight different players.

Martin Cordova started the onslaught with a TD run just 30 seconds into the game. LLHS followed consecutive fourth-down stops with a Kaiden Reese TD pass to Robert Pino and a 77-yard sprint by Reese.

The momentum continued after an interception by Isaiah Barela. Reserve quarterback Luke Cieremans found Tayson Gaxiola for 61 yards, Reese hit Tegan Gallegos for another TD and Andres Cordova found paydirt after taking a shovel pass from Cieremans to make it 42-0.

Alex Casas, the Tigers’ senior center, noted the rainy conditions may have altered some of the play-calling. Still, the offensive line was impressive.

“I feel we ran the ball great and we had great movement up front,” he said.

The defense got into the act on a pick-six by Joaquin Trujillo, giving the Tigers a 50-7 lead at halftime.

With Los Lunas reserves picking up playing time in the second half, and West Mesa finding some rhythm on offense, the Mustangs avoided the 50-point mercy rule. Nick Fuentes ended the scoring for LLHS when he returned a punt for a touchdown.

“We started real hot but we just have to learn how to finish games,” was the assessment by Casas. “We had a few chances to end it but just couldn’t finish it off.”

Still, the Tigers showed growth.

“We’re in a good place. We’re one step closer to our most immediate goal,” Hennington said about the effort to win district and get a good seeding for the state playoffs.

LLHS has a bye this week before meeting Albuquerque High at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 4, at Milne Stadium.

Big play Belen bests Del Norte

There was one huge play after another last Thursday at Milne Stadium, with Belen (2-3, 1-1) taking advantage of the lions share in route to a 56-38 victory over winless Del Norte in District 1-5A action.

It started on the first play from scrimmage when Del Norte’s Isaac Altareste ripped the ball from a BHS runner and returned it 35 yards for the score. 17 seconds into the game the Knights led 8-0.

Less than two minutes later, Eagles quarterback Chalito Cano continued his spectacular season, weaving 71 yards for the score. Cano would have his hands in six touchdowns; three rushing, three passing. After the unsuccessful two point conversion, BHS trailed 8-6, but that would soon change.

On the next Del Norte drive, cornerback Jeremiah Lord intercepted a looping pass near the sideline.

“We noticed on film that the quarterback likes to lob it up most of the time,” said Lord, who raced 76 yards to give Belen the lead for good.

After a second Lord interception, Cano rewarded him with a TD strike of 53 yards as the first quarter ended with Belen holding a 20-8 advantage.

“I was gassed. I was tired,” said Lord, one of many BHS two-way players.

The craziness continued in the second quarter, with Cano scoring on an 85-yard run and tossing a touchdown pass to Noah Gonzales, the first of three TDs for Gonzales. Belen was up 34-16 at the break.

The Eagles would open the scoring in the third period when Cano hit Gonzales for another score. Cano would add another touchdown rushing followed by a Gonzales interception that resulted in six more points.

“I missed an interception early in the game,” Gonzales recalled. “I knew I had to get this one to the end zone.”

The big plays “are really what kept us in the game,” according to Kevin Peña, BHS head coach.

“It was ugly. We have got to play better,” adding that younger players must step up because of injuries.

Cano had 209 yards rushing and 162 yards passing. Mikey Peña had 9.5 tackles for the Eagles, who substituted freely on defense in the fourth quarter.

BHS returns home Friday, hosting district foe Miyamura (2-0, 3-2).

Valencia strikes gold at Silver City

A smothering defense led Valencia (3-2, 1-0) to a 14-6 upset victory Friday at Silver (4-1,0-1), ranked third in 4A at the time. It was the District 2-4A opener for both teams.

After allowing an early touchdown, VHS kept Silver out of the end zone the rest of the night, including on a drive in the closing seconds.

“Our defense played lights out,” said Valencia head coach LeDarrius Cage, who was impressed with the Jaguars secondary following the early touchdown.

“Our secondary really turned it on. We had a lot of pass breakups. It was really hard for their quarterback to find open receivers.”

VHS immediately responded to the deficit with a 21-yard touchdown run up the middle by Michael Storms III. The extra point put the Jags in front 7-6.

The offenses for both teams stalled after that. The only second-half points came in the third quarter following an interception by Jordan Henry.

That set up Valencia quarterback Santino Mares, who outran Silver defenders on a 70 yard touchdown sprint that put the visitors ahead 14-6. Cage called the effort, “A really big play. We got some momentum with that.”

Still, there were tense moments as the clock ticked down, with Valencia stopping the Fighting Colts at the 10-yard line as time expired.

“To go on the road and drive all this way and get a win over an undefeated team to start district off is pretty big for us,” said Cage.

Valencia now prepares for a Friday home game against winless Portales (0-5, 0-1), who lost last week 40-14 to Manzano Friday night.