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Home / Sports News / Big second half brings Capital High Friday night’s 46-12 District 2-5A victory over visiting Espanola Valley

Big second half brings Capital High Friday night’s 46-12 District 2-5A victory over visiting Espanola Valley

Total team effort behind freshman running back Luke Padilla, senior quarterback Cisco Leos, senior all-purpose Lucas McNabb, and a stout defense

Commentary by Arnie Leshin

By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today

Upon realizing that you can’t judge your opponent by its record, the Capital High football team went into full gear after halftime.

The Jaguars began with a rush, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 13-0 lead after one quarter. But surprisingly, back came visiting Espanola Valley with a pair of long drives and before you knew it, the Sundevils trailed by only 13-12.

Capital added another TD in the second quarter and head coach Bill Moon then addressed it in the locker room at intermission.

“No big deal,” he said, “we just wanted to see if everybody was feeling okay and told them that they can’t let down, keep up the pace, and so they did.”

The Jags did in a big way, scoring 36 unanswered points to win going away. 46-12 Friday night and even their record at 4-4 while advancing to 2-0 in District 2-5A. Two more wins and they will claim the district title and automatically gain the state tournament.

“We’ve at Albuquerque Academy Saturday afternoon,” he said, “and are then home to Los Alamos the following Friday night.”

It was a total team said the veteran coach. Gifted freshman running back Luke Padilla ran for 137 yards on 15 carries and scored twice. Senior quarterback Cisco Leos hooked up twice with senior Lucas McNatt for a pair of touchdowns, and the defense just clamped down on the visitors in the second half.

This, despite Espanola having more plays, 70-49, and more possession time.

In turn, the Jaguars just went into cruise control and didn’t take that much time running up the score. Leos was in charge as he threw for 194 yards, which included a pair of stellar catches by McNatt, the state 5A high jump champion. One came on the 74-yard pass connection with McNatt on the end of a Leos pass.

On the sidelines were former Capital football players Augie Larranaga and Kevin Brown.

The Jags’ defense learned by the two second quarter touchdowns scored by Espanola. It grinded both out, but after that it was all Capital defense that included two interceptions. Moon had nothing but praise for young Padilla.

“He’s just a fine individual,” said the coach. “Great grades, great attitude, great teammate, and just a gifted runner.”

The Sundevils, who have beaten Capital only once in 14 years, dropped to

2-6 overall and 0-2 in district.

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