Bill Moon was happy with the result, but said he preferred more than two and a-half quarters in Capital’s mercy-rule

But the long-time football coach couldn’t stop his young Jaguars from scoring and defending against the overmatched Elks

By Arnie Leshin 

A slow start by the Capital High football team turned into a rout that wasn’t pretty on opening night Friday at Jaguar Field.

The final score of 67-14 was not what visiting Pojoaque Valley might have been expecting. The mercy rule shortened the non-district contest, but it was bittersweet to Jaguars’ head coach Bill Moon, who has seen a lot of football games through 35 years of coaching.

“I’m embarrassed to play this game,” Moon said. “I get no pleasure out of this. Those poor kids from Pojoaque, they didn’t deserve this.”

No doubt Moon preferred the final outcome, but he didn’t care for the way it ended halftime through the third quarter.

“From a team standpoint,” he said, “I’m pleased, but I would have preferred we score out last points a little more slowly. Getting a full game in for these kids would have been preferable, but we’ll take it. What else are we supposed to do.”

Well, how about doing the same in its next game Friday night at Deming, another non-district foe?

Deming, though, is not Pojoaque, and it’s a road game that is unpredictable. So instead of looking ahead, Capital can be happy in the manner it did.

With 14-year-old starting sophomore quarterback Manuel Vargas taking the snaps for the first time, the Jags did as expected.

While Vargas was perfect through the air in his only attempt to throw the ball, he also scrambled on a 7-yard busted play and found himself rolling to his right all by himself. But the completed pass did go 26 yards and at least it brought Vargas the pleasure of connecting on his first and only pass.

“Hey, I’m only 14,” he said, “and I’m pretty nervous out there. It’s all new for me, and I’m thinking not to screw up.”

But his teammates wouldn’t let it happen. As Moon said before the game, we will have a running game, and that they did.

Sophomore Luke Padilla, who started as a freshman last year, paved the way with 224 yards on a half-dozen carries, scored four touchdowns, and had returned two kickoff returns for another 125 yards and one more TD.

Meanwhile, the home fans cheered the play of their Jaguars, but Moon wasn’t happy when it ended halfway through the third quarter.

It occurred after a walk-off touchdown run of 28 yards by senior fullback Jacob Jiron, one of the few returning starters on a rather young team. He celebrated taking the ball into the end zone and after the 50-point mercy-rule officially concluded the rout.

Capital did force a punt on its opening drive, than Padilla went to work. And Vargas, too, had a early fumble of the snap and stumbled slightly when bending down to pick it up. But the play of the two offset this.

On the defensive side, two notable plays was the pick-6 interception by Jaguars’ cornerback Jasper Mares, plus there was a crunching hit on the Pojoaque quarterback by linebacker Julian Sanchez.

But the wildest play might have been Capital wide receiver Isaiah Baldanado running in front of Padilla on what appeared to be a sure 70-yard TD, but the two collided after 40 yards and rolled to the ground together.

“That was on me,” Padilla said. “I made my cut a little late, but nothing on Isaiah. That was just on me. I ran right into him. He was right where he should have been.”

Despite this, it was Padilla and his teammates putting together an impressive start. Oh, and Deming defeated Gadsden, 18-12, Friday night. As for Pojoaque, its next stop is a visit to Santa Fe Indian School Thursday night. The Braves lost their Thursday night opener at Cuba, 26-14