Jaguars run over Matadors

Atrisco rushes for 351 yards in victory

Not tricky, just brutally effective. Atrisco Heritage’s old-school rushing attack proved too much for Sandia to handle at Nusenda Community Stadium on Friday night. Angel Ramirez racked up 230 yards on 28 carries and the Jaguars battered their way to a 33-15 victory on homecoming weekend.

Overall Atrisco Heritage rushed 51 times for 351 yards to improve to 2-1 on the season. The Jaguars attempted — and completed — one pass in the game.

“It’s all about trusting your offensive line and trusting yourself,” said Ramirez, a 6-foot, 187-pound senior who put on more than 15 pounds through intense summer conditioning. “We wanted to make a statement to the rest of the state that we’re here and we’re in the race.”

Ramirez and the Jaguars set an immediate tone Friday, driving for a touchdown on their opening drive. Ramirez carried on all seven plays of the 80-yard series, capping it with an 8-yard touchdown run. Antonio Gonzalez’s conversion run made the score 8-0.

The Matadors (3-1) answered with an impressive drive, driving 65 yards in seven plays. Ky’Dae Jones scored on a 10-yard run to trim the deficit to 8-7 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.

But the Jaguars’ running game produced again late in the period. Gonzalez broke loose on a 33-yard rush up the middle and scored from 2 yards out on the next play to make it 14-7.

Gonzalez added another short TD run in the second quarter for a 21-7 Atrisco Heritage lead.

Sandia had its opportunities in the first half but was undone by three interceptions. The biggest came in the closing minutes of the first half when the Matadors had a secondand-goal situation from the Atrisco 2. Quarterback Junior Silva ran left and tried to throw against the grain but his pass was picked off in the end zone by linebacker Leo Gallegos to end the threat.

The Jaguars effectively put things out of reach with a pair of long scoring drives in the third quarter. Gonzalez picked up his third TD with a 17-yard run, and quarterback Michael Alvidrez scored on a 6-yard scamper.

Asked if he might like to catch the ball once in a while instead of bashing away from scrimmage, Ramirez laughed.

“I would,” he said, “but I got my chances in summer passing league. It’s time to run now.”