Demons ran up a 38-6 victory

A fired-up Santa Fe High football team with many of its key players returning, made sure that Albuquerque Manzano remained winless in dominating the Monarchs, 38-6, in a joyous non-district victory Saturday morning at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque.

The Demons reeled in their initial win in four outings with a quick pair of touchdowns and continued to outplay Manzano from start to finish.

Next comes a Sept. 30 test against Lovington, and believe it, the defending state 4A champions are also winless, as in five overwhelming losses that has it outscored 128-276. Believe it, the program that is second only to Artesia in state titles was the pre-season pick to add yet another championship, but nothing has gone right as it first plays host to ArtesiaFriday night before heading to Ivan Head Stadium.

Whether or not the Wildcats can gain their initial triumph versus the Bulldogs, they can also be an unprecedented 0-6 and another winless team when it faces Santa Fe High.

But Manzano, forget about it. It was already 14-0 in the early part of the opening quarter. Meanwhile, head coach Andrew Martinez’ defense held the Monarchs to but 84 yards and forced four first half turnovers that helped gain a resounding 28-6 lead at halftime.

After a quick early turnover, it took the Demons only two plays to score as Alex Mora returned from the injury list and ran 28 yards for the touchdown to give his team its first lead of the season just 24 seconds into the tilt. They didn’t stop there, reaching the end zone on four of their first five possessions, and missed only a field goal from Jazzi Gonzalez from 29 yards out.

For Manzano, the touchdown Wit tallied while down 28-6 with 2:50 left before intermission, and it was its first points of the season after being outscored 140-0 coming into this game.

“This win came at the right time with an off week,” Martinez said. “I’m just proud of them. They stuck together and quieted the noise from the Monarchs’ fans. “We have Lovington next, followed by our first district test at Clovis.”

Led by Mora, whose older brother led the rushing game last year, His team pieced together 404 yards of total offense, which was four times what it averaged (8.3 yards per game), and 227 yards along the ground. Starting quarterback Andrew Allen returned after yielding the position to now injured Michael Abeyta, and proceeded to complete 12 of 23 throws for 176 yards and a touchdown. He added 64 yards running the ball and scored a touchdown in the third quarter for a 35-6 lead.

The win was the first in Albuquerque for the program since defeating Albuquerque High, 49-13, on Sept. 8. 2012, and also marked Santa Fe High’s only sixth win in the Duke City in 20 years, with three of them coming in 2003.