SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Welcome to the jungle. Raton High School’s football tigers at 1535 Tiger Circle, about a 2-hour trip from Santa Fe, a short way from the Colorado border, elevation 6,885, population 1,000,
Standout individuals senior running back Cayden Walton.
And heading up that way along I-25 north Saturday is St. Michael’s, kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. in the District 3A clash that will, as usual, fill the stands.
The Horsemen know all about the older Walton, his brother, Cannon, is a sophomore, his father Brock, the former head coach, is now an assistant. And Cayden has no doubt been a nightmare for other teams since his freshmen year.
“Cayden has been overwhelming,” said his dad who coached some real good Tigers that often provided difficult times when playing St. Michael’s, “he is just a heavyweight on the field, tough to stop, and has big-time statistics like I’ve never seen here before, and he’s also an honor roll student.”
His stats include 32 touchdowns. 30 along the ground and two by way of receptions. an average of 276.8 yards per carry, 30.1 through the air, an average of 7.6 tackles as a free safety, a number of sacks, five interceptions, and at 5-foot-9, 195 pounds,
has first-line colleges on his trail.
Said his father: “Cayden is also a team leader, he provides confidence and the others look up to him.”
That’s what lies ahead for the Horsemen who eliminated favored Raton, 6-0, in the state tournament. That was at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex, this is at Tigerland where this team has gone 7-1 overall, with the lone setback against Socorro.
All the rest have been no contest and includes Guyman High of Oklahoma in game two. The rest of the schedule has a bunch of pushovers, but you’ve got to figure that most schools don’t feel like taking the long ride.
It has a roster of seven seniors, nine juniors, 9 sophomores, and a dozen freshmen. Cayden even saw some action as an 8th-grader.
The starting quarterback, 6-foot, 180 junior Jacob Mattorano, blends right in, throwing eight touchdown passes and averaging 11.7 yards per carry. His favorite target is 5-9, 180 senior Adrian Romero, who has reeled in eight touchdown catches and averages 21,3 yards per receptions. The sophomore Cannon Walton, is not yet Cayden, but he’s 5-9, 163, and getting there as a wide receiver and linebacker,
And beware of the team’s smallest player, 4-11, 130 sophomore Brooklyn Olibarri-Marquez, a catchy name and his position is as a guard.
In all, these Tigers have run up 330 points and allowed 106. They have outplayed Eunice, Guyman, Trinidad of Colorado, Tucumcari, Escalante, Santa Fe Indian School, and West Las Vegas. their Sept. 19th tilt versus visiting Robertson was postponed and has been rescheduled for Oct. 21.
As for St. Michael’s, which is 6-1 overall after losing at Robertson, there’s no turning back. It perhaps needs to figure out how a good Socorro team can leave Raton with a 27-14 victory.
The Horsemen come off a 28-20 home loss to Robertson in a rainy, splashy afternoon. On offense they have a mixture of the arm of senior quarterback Zach Marrtinez, senior running back Marcus Leyba, and senior wide receiver Creed Chavez.
Defensively, when they jell and play aggressively, they can be tough, although they have had difficulties when it pours, and hopefully, they need good weather conditions up at Tiger town.
The only problem is that rain or shine Cayden Walton hasn’t been effected, he just takes off like it’s just another game.
Have a good ride, St. Michael’s, and perhaps you can come out on the long end.
