Santa Fe Indian School favored to advance to 3-0 at home tonight against McCurdy, and on Saturday night, St. Michael’s has tough task at Moriarty and Santa Fe High heads to Capital

Demons and Jaguars look to win first time this season, St. Michael’s and Moriarty both with 2-0 starts

By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today

Things are looking up for the undefeated Santa Fe Indian School football team. It has opened with road victories at Cuba (46-6) and Fort Wingate (57-6) and is at home for tonight’s 7 o’clock game against Espanola McCurdy.

Now resting on top of the state’s 4A rankings, the Braves don’t figure on a tough test against the Bobcats.

A look at McCurdy’s two outings points how why. It is 0-2 with a 44-7 whooping at home against Raton, and on the road lost 18-7 to Cuba. Of course, Indian School can’t take anyone lightly, so it will just bank on its offensive balance of pass and run, and on its aggressive defense.

A closer contest is expected at Moriarty Friday night, with both the Pintos and St. Michael’s off to 2-0 starts. Moriarty comes off a game one 33-19 win at West Las Vegas and a 46-0 rout at Los Alamos. The Horsemen opened by shutting down Santa Fe High, 48-0, on the road, and then turning back Capital, 46-21, at home.

Last year, the teams traded victories. During the regular-season, the Pintos won 20-7 at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex, but in a rematch in the state 4A quarterfinals again in Moriarty, St. Michael’s stunned the Pintos, 33-30, than lost to eventual state champion Portales in the semifinals.

Across town at Capital High, it will be a match-up of 0-2 teams when Santa Fe High comes to visit. Both lost to St. Michael’s, while the Demons were then run over by visiting Santa Teresa, and the Jaguars took a 20-7 loss at Roswell Goddard.

Unless they play to a tie, one will remain winless, and being at home, Capital becomes favored. It played the Rockets to a scoreless first quarter and trailed 7-0 at halftime. Its defense did well until the fourth quarter, but its offense missed several opportunities to score late in the game.

Versus St. Michael’s, the Jags never threatened, trailing 20-7 at intermission, 40-7 after three quarters, and coming away with a pair of TDs in the final quarter of the 46-27 setback. As for Santa Fe High against the Horsemen, it played through a scoreless opening quarter before allowing 40 unanswered points in the second half.

Santa Teresa unleashed a running game led by magical quarterback Dominick Dozal and the Demons had no way to slow him down. He ran for five touchdowns and put the contest out of reach by halftime in the 39-21 rout. It stretched Santa Fe High’s losing steak 26.

Now it’s new Demons’ head coach Andrew Martinez going against long-time head coach Bill Moon of the Jaguars.

And now Santa Fe High will have to shut down Capital’s senior quarterback Cisco Leos, something St. Michael’s and Goddard were able to do. But Leos can throw the ball and did pass for three TDs versus St. Michael’s. But the Jaguars rely mostly on their running game led by senior Lucas McNabb, plus their aggressive defense.

As for the Demons, they have to cash in on opportunities, something they didn’t do in the first two games. Penalties and turnovers spoiled two early scoring chances against St. Michael’s, and after that its defense couldn’t handle the Horsemen’s balanced passing and rushing game.