SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Still soaking from that 7-6 one-day thunderstorm delay football setback against visiting West Las Vegas, St. Michael’s returned this time from Saturday’s 34-18 annual out-of-state win at Texas El Paso Cathedral Prep needing it will need help in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
For the Horsemen, now 7-2 overall, winning that night at Santa Fe Indian School doesn’t figure to be a problem, and so they will have to root for the first place Dons to win at Robertson in the earlier noon game.
Overall, WLV is 7-2, so are the Cardinals, who were blanked recently 20-0 at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex, and they and St. Michael’s are 2-1 in district, so if they can get past town foe West Las Vegas, the three teams would be 3-1 in district.
In the Lonestar State tilt, Cathedral (4-5) scored first on a field goal in the initial quarter, and added a second-quarter touchdown, but the Horsemen tallied three TDS in that same quarter to go up 20-10 at halftime. Then they added a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter and the Fighting Irish finished with a TD and two-point conversion.
But the big second quarter began the run for St. Michael’s, with senior running back Mathias Duran running for touchdowns of 62 and 33 yards for his 5th and 6th TDs of the season.
Fellow senior Lucas Gurule added a 3-yard touchdown catch, junior Soren Annon came away with a 35-yard TD, and sophomore Isiah Dominguez tallied his 5th touchdown via a 30-yard reception.
Meanwhile at Capital High, it was another struggle for the Jaguars as they were handed a 34-21 setback by District 5-6A rival Clovis on Friday night. It was the first time all season that coach Joaquin (Wax) Garcia’s team hadn’t lost by a single possession, but it was close.
Now a dismal 1-8 overall and 0-3 in district, the Jags did hang around until the middle of the fourth quarter when a methodical Clovis drive closed out the scoring when a defensive stop might have allowed the home side’s offense to perhaps send the game into overtime.
“It’s mind boggling,” said a rather frustrated Garcia. “I know our kids can compete when we play, but at the same time, it’s about getting that confidence. When that adversity hits, there’s usually some doubt that goes with it.”
What hurt most was the damage brought by the Wildcats’ backfield of running back Kash Roberts, who rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Jeff Stone, as the two basically pounded Capital’s defense along the ground.
Now 4-5 overall and 3-0 on top of the district, Clovis didn’t have a single pass completion, piecing together all 389 yards of its offense by running the ball, and Roberts and Stone were the main weapons.
While the Jaguars will close out their campaign with a visit from crosstown rival Santa Fe High Friday night, the Wildcats will play host the same night to Los Lunas with the district title on the line.
Said Garcia: “We and Santa Fe High are two teams dealing with a lot of the same stuff. It’s one last chance for these guys to send the seniors out with a win. It’s for bragging rights and all that, but it’s really about finishing strong and doing it for the seniors.”
