St. Michael’s football team is in a must-win Saturday afternoon

After two years of being the victim of huge home and away setbacks against Robertson and its invasive quarterback Matthew Gonzales, St. Michael’s football team now awaits the arrival Saturday of undefeated, top-ranked Raton.

But instead of the usual 1:30 p.m. kickoff, it has been rescheduled for “noon.”

Why, who knows, St. Michael’s didn’t report it, but hopefully those that were preparing for 1:30 had best arrive prior to the noon hour.

No doubt, the Tigers have learned this before they and their fans begin their  3-hour I-25 trip south. And they should be beware of traffic in Las Vegas as the Dons and crosstown rival Cardinals are also kicking off at noon.

And that’s that, otherwise what was just a spot on the schedules of both teams before they began was just that, a spot that week after week became more important. Now, by winning, Raton can wrap up its regular season with an unblemished 10-0 record and top seed in 3A for the state tournament.

The Tigers were known to have a soft schedule, with their distance for 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A schools making this issue, so they went 2A with a 35-0 rout at Eunice, a 35-7 romp at a neutral field over No. 1 ranked 2A Jal, followed by the usual home and away against Colorado neighbor Trinidad with a 49-12 victory, and a 44-6 win at Tucumcari.

Then came the rest of the 2A field that brought a 49-6 domination over visiting Escalante, and a 63-28 romp at home over Clayton. Now these weren’t all  considered weak teams, but to the Tigers they were no threat.

But district opponent Robertson was. Up at Raton, the Cardinals fell short of pulling out the win in as the clock ticked down and the home side survived with a 28-26 nail-biter when the visitors missed the probable game-winning late field goal.

Next, the Tigers hit the road to West Las Vegas and left with a 14-7 triumph at a site that is always a challenge for visiting teams. A no contest 50-14 romp over visiting Santa Fe Indian School was followed by a bye weekend leading up to the anticipated clash at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex.

With former long-time head coach Brock Walton back as an assistant coach, they have been led on offense by the one-two punch of senior quarterback Dylan Quartering who goes 6-foot-2, 210, and 5-9, 180 junior running back Cayden Walton, no doubt a Brock Walton relative, and he paves the way in  team rushing with an average of 180 yards per game, as well as in total yards. Through the air, Quartieri has a team game average of 134.9.

He is a threat when he has the ball. He has breakaway speed, and is also Quartieri’s favorite target. Both go both ways, Cayden at free safety on defense and Quartieri at outside linebacker. The QB also has a strong arm, can throw it deep or short, and beware, he is also clever, can run the option and take off with his speed behind the blockers.

Another Quartieri is Matthew, a 6-2, 215 tight end and middle linebacker. Another Walton is 5-7, 145 Cannon, and he’s a freshman who is a back-up quarterback and cornerback.

The team has size from on both lines from 200 pounds to several at 235. Senior Abe Alvarez is one of the biggest at 6-2, 235, and he’s a two-way tackle. The smallest Tiger is 4-11, 130-pound freshman Brooklyn Ulibarri-Marquez, and believe it, he plays defensive tackle.

Junior Anderson Weese, at 6-2, 160, plays outside linebacker and leads the team in tackles. Junior defensive end Zach Lose is the top sack man.

Raton has 10 seniors, seven juniors, eight sophomores and the same number of freshmen.

St. Michael’s has had problems since 4-year starting quarterback Lucas Ortiz injured his team in the opener and is sidelined after needing surgery. So head coach Joey Fernandez, now in his 20th season at the helm of his alma matter, then put together practice sessions each day in search of a capable signal-caller.

He first went with five, then four, then three candidates until he gave the position to junior Zachery Martinez, who ran the offense well, made some good plays running the ball and through the air, but now Fernandez has switched to probably his best player, wide receiver Devin Flores, after Martinez’ name was on the 10-player COVID-19 positive list and had to be guaranteed for 10 days.

And with this group having to quarantine until Wednesday, Fernandez didn’t have any choice but to keep Flores, the most athletic two-way player and top pass-catcher, as the quarterback. He has game experience, an run the ball, put it in the air, and provide leadership.

Flores is co-captain with seniors Coriz, Daymon Lujan, Jordan Bernal,  Diego Armendariz, Isaiah Salazar, and Issac Ruiz.

A must for the Horsemen is to win this game by at least 13 points after losing big to Robertson. If this occurs and the Cardinals lose to the Dons Saturday afternoon, Fernandez’ team could gain a top-four berth in the state tournament. If not, they will have to win four times to win state instead of the top seeds needing three.

The coach will keep his rushing game in tact behind Lujan, Salazar, and Marcus Leyba, with Flores also capable of carrying the ball and putting it in the air, and along the way might even reel in a pass, something he does best.

Oh, and girls soccer team goaltender Milena Keene remains the point-after kicker and also does some punting. The Lady Horsemen, defending state 1A-3A champions, are the No. 3 seed and has a first round state tournament match at home Friday afternoon versus No. 6 East Mountain.

And after that she returns to the gridiron the next day, and hopefully she knows that this tilt was rescheduled from the usual 1:30 to noon.