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Scoreless after one quarter, slowly but surely it was the Horsemen holding the upper hand as head coach Joey Fernandez began his 15th season with former assistants Martinez and Joaquin Garcia on the other sideline
By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today
It was a rout in three quarters time. Before that, it was a game, well at least for the first quarter, at least for the first half.
The Friday night football season opener matching neighboring rivals St. Michael’s and Santa Fe High at Ivan Head Stadium wound up at 48-0 in the win column for the Horsemen, but early one it was obvious that the Demons were no doubt pumped up under head coach Andrew Martinez.
The home team, in fact, with a good turnout, began with a burst, taking the kickoff and driving 58 yards to the St. Michael’s 5-yard line. But it stalled, the Horsemen held firm and Santa Fe High gave the ball up on fourth and goal.
From there St. Michael’s took advance of its stout defense and Demon mistakes that included turnovers mixed with excessive penalties. But that came later, for the first quarter was scoreless and Martinez’ team was hanging tough despite miscues on both sides of the ball.
But with five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the first Santa Fe High turnover on Roberto Alaird’s fumble at his own 30, had Miguel Montoya recover and the Horsemen went 30 yard in seven plays and scored what proved to be the only points they would need.
St. Michael’s senior Joey Fernandez, Jr., son of head coach Joey Fernandez, and who has developed into one of the best players in the state, burst one year up the middle and then tossed a 2-point conversion to Alejandro Talamantes for the 8-0 lead.
It wasn’t long before another turnover sent St. Michael’s on the way to the end zone again. With the Demons trying to move the ball while deep in its own end, senior lineman Billy Homer of the Horsemen came up from the interior to slap the ball out of senior quarterback Levi Lopez’ hands.
Jeremiah Jacquez pounced on the ball in the end zone with 4:33 left in the half, senior quarterback Antonio Gabaldon followed with the two-point toss to Fernandez, and it became 16-0 at halftime.
“I thought we moved the ball well, and I thought we played well on defense,” said Martinez after his first time as a head coach after 17 years as an assistant with St. Michael’s. “We had some opportunities to score early, and while I didn’t think that’s ever going to change the game itself, it did provide us with momentum going into the second half.”
But as poorly as Gabaldon had performed by connecting on his first 3-of-11 passes for short yardage, he recovered in time to throw for three touchdowns via 14-for-17 passing and 223 yards.
He began with a 24-yard pass to Fernandez, his favorite target as Fernandez managed to grab the ball while falling down in the end zone. The point-after kick failed, but it was now 23-0 with 10:42 to go in the third quarter.
“It took me a little bit to just sit in the pocket,” said Gabaldon, “and it worked. The coaches had told me that I had a lot of time there, and I started reading the defense a lot better in the second half. Everything was now turning out good.”
The Horsemen scored twice in the third quarter and three times in the fourth. Their defense just got quicker and forced the Demons to scramble, often sending Lopez back on his heels. He sat out last season, so this was his first start at the position.
At times he managed to make enough moves, pick up some yards and get the ball in the hands of his running backs. But with each good play, positives turned into negatives and Lopez had trouble getting the ball to his receivers.
Of course St. Michael’s defense had a big role in this 15th season as head coach for Joey Fernandez.
And across the field was an unfamiliar sight for him. Martinez had brought on assistants Joaquin (Big Wax) Garcia, Manny Gonzales and Michael Gormley, and while Gormley was on the 2013 state-championship team, Garcia and Gonzales were assistants under Fernandez.
And while St. Michael’s took awhile to play its best ball, Santa Fe High couldn’t pass the test after one solid quarter and only being down by 16 at intermission. But it wasn’t as bad as the final score would indicate.
Playing an independent schedule that excludes post-season play, the Demons are home again Friday night to Santa Teresa. At St. Michael’s Saturday afternoon, it will be cross town rival Capital High making the visit.
Friday night, the Jaguars opened at Roswell Goddard, lost 19-6, but it was nothing like the 61-7 rout it suffered to the Rockets at last year’s season-opener at Jaguar Field. It was scoreless after one quarter and Goddard was up 13-0 at the half.
Hurt by turnovers that included three interceptions thrown by senior quarterback Cisco Leos, Capital got on the scoreboard in the final minutes when Leos found Abraham Sanchez for the touchdown. The PAT wasn’t good, but the Jags got the ball back, and when Leos was intercepted for the third time, the Rockets ran out the clock.
Elsewhere, Taos rolled over Hatch Valley, 55-14, Los Alamos shut down Pojoaque Valley, 37-0, West Las Vegas lost, 33-19, to Moriarty, Las Vegas
Robertson squeaked past Estancia, 27-26, and Santa Fe Indian School turned in a 46-6 romp at Cuba.
