Undefeated Raton Is Back

After years of Raton High football becoming just an average program, these Tigers are either back in business or just pieced together a soft early schedule to land on top of the early 3A weekly rankings.

They are currently undefeated in six starts, but no longer No. 1, that going to St.Michael’s, one of their District 2 opponents. The Horsemen are 4-1 with the lone loss coming at home, 19-7, against 6A Santa Fe High. But Raton remained as the runner-up over previously unbeaten Socorro, which was routed 37-7 Saturday afternoon at St.Michael’s.

But a gaze at the Raton slate automatically reveals the toughest part of its schedule is coming up, starting with Friday night‘s district tilt at undefeated West Las Vegas. From there, it meets up with Robertson, Santa Fe Indian School, and then at St. Michael’s in what will be a noon kickoff.

Now for the six teams that the Tigers rolled over, all 2A schools: 49-6 over visiting Escalante, 44-6 at Tucumcari, 49-12 at home to Trinidad (Colo.), 35-7 at Jal, 35-0 at Eunice, and 63-28 versus visiting Clayton.

But West Las Vegas not only gets home field advantage, but it has a more experienced lineup, more depth, and a fast-moving rushing attack to mix with its aggressive defense. The Dons are 5-0 and ranked fifth, one spot behind crosstown rival Robertson, which is 5-1, with the lone loss to Santa Fe High.

In Raton’s corner, you must mention the Waltons. Former head coach Brook is now assisting head coach Tony Giacomo, who took over from Walton in 2013. And what do you know, there’s the new modern version of Waltons about a decade behind.

And it was that far back when the Tigers came to the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex to clash with St. Michael’s and become top of the heap in their class. It was a classic before a full house.

Early in the game, senior and starting Raton quarterback Dustin Walton was injured and was carried off the field. So head coach Walton’s nephew was replaced by his son, a sophomore with size and the ability to pass and run.

It was that way as the clock ticked down, then with the Horsemen up by two, Dustin looked the way of the head coach and just bolted onto the field, for he was also a kicking specialist, but probably still with the early knee injury.

And he missed as the final whistle sounded. Dustin was in dismay, so were his teammates, the coaches, and the many Raton fans who traveled about three hours down I-25 South to the City Different.

Meanwhile, the home crowd took a collective deep breath and then celebrated in what was quite a game. Now let’s see what the Tigers have as they play their district games. First test at West Las Vegas.

Now there’s freshman quarterback, corner back, Cameron Walton, at 5-foot-7,145, and small but a rising talent in the mold of former Waltons. Then there’s junior Cayden Walton, a running back, free safety who goes 5-9,180. But the starting quarterback is a skilled 6-2, 210 senior Dylan Quartiei, who also plays outside linebacker. He runs, he passes, he provides the leadership.

The Tigers might not match up with WLV on either line, but they do have eight players who top the scale at over 200 pounds, with the biggest of all being senior 6-2, 310-pound guard, defensive back Michael Chavez. The 43-man roster lists a dozen freshmen, eight sophomores, 11 juniors and 12 seniors. They have piled up 275 points and yielded 61.

Meanwhile, St. Michael’s heads for a Friday night contest at El Paso Texas Cathedral, which lost last year at St. Michael’s, but is now 4-1.

The top two teams in the state are defending champion Rio Rancho Cleveland (5-0) and runner-up Rio Rancho High (4-0). Third is Albuquerque La Cueva, which is 5-1 and in Santa Fe High’s District 5-6A, with the Demons (5-1) at No. 10 in this class.

In 5A, No. 1 is Los Lunas (6-0), with 6-0 Farmington right behind, and Capital gets 5 votes here under “other votes.” In 3A, Indian School (5-1) gathered in 11. In 4A, Lovington, which is 3-3 but with a tough schedule, ranks first and 5-0 Silver is second.

Also on Friday night, Santa Fe High plays at Albuquerque Milne Stadium in district play against Sandia, Robertson is at Indian School, Farmington at Los Alamos, and Espanola McCurdy at Questa. On Saturday afternoon, Capital (2-3) also plays at Milne Stadium versus Rio Grande (0-5), with a 1 o’clock. kickoff.