Santa Fe Indian School had won its first five of six starts until Robertson and St. Michael’s came to visit

In his first time as head coach of the Santa Fe Indian School football team, Bill Moon was feeling good when the young, inexperienced Braves had gotten away to a good start, and were 5-1 and with confidence when Robertson and St. Michael’s came a-visiting and spoiled everything.

Coming into those two District 2-3A games, Indian School had been piecing together touchdowns and playing spirited defense with a shortened roster.

But the Cardinals (6-2) arrived and came away with a 54-0 whooping of the Braves, and then came the Horsemen (6-1) to leave with a 53-0 romp. These are currently the top two teams in 3A along with undefeated Raton (8-0), with the Tigers now a true contender after getting past visiting Robertson, 28-26, Friday night.

St. Michael’s needed all the points it would ring up with its initial touchdown, a 66-yard punt return by senior Davin Flores only 3:45 into the game. The PAT was good and after that came a number of quick points. In fact, the visitors tallied seven offensive touchdowns on only 14 snaps.

Flores scored three times, senior Diego Armendariz, Issac Diaz, Marcus Leyba,  Daymon Lujan, and sophomore Zachery Martinez, who recently because the starting quarterback after 4-year starter Lucas Coriz was out for the season with a knee injury suffered in the opener.

And so Martinez accounted for a quartet of touchdowns on 6-for-7 pass completions for 198 yards, and added to his TDs with an 86-yard run in front of the SFIS sideline that ended the tilt via the mercy-rule with 4:35 to go in the third quarter.

As for Moon’s Braves, they never got going in offense. They wound up with negative yardage that included 21 yards on a trio of passes and minus 37 along the ground.

It didn’t help that their leading player, Fenyx Moringdove, hung out on their sideline, not dressed to play, and it was an undisclosed injury. He is fast and usually runs for most of the Indian School touchdowns  The Horsemen defense was also very fast and rushed the Braves.

With his roster without several players for the last two games, Moon will no doubt need about all of them for his next contest on Friday night at undefeated and top-ranked Raton (8-0). Before a full house at home versus Robertson, the Tigers led 28-26 and held off the challenge of the home side’s try for a 2-point conversion with four seconds left.

In the regular-season finale, Raton will bus its way to St. Michael’s Christian Brother Athletic Complex. But before that, the Horsemen will play host to West Las Vegas (6-1) (0-1) this Saturday afternoon, then head for the Cardinals (6-1) (1-0) on Oct. 22.

While St. Michael’s is on the hunt for the post-season, it will be a winning campaign for Indian School, now 5-3 and with two games remaining.