Jaguars earn crucial overtime win
Eldorado QB Gabe Smith throws four touchdown passes in win over Clovis
Atrisco Heritage Academy’s Angel Ramirez said he needed adrenaline to get through Saturday’s overtime battle with Valley at Milne Stadium.
As it turned out, Ramirez gave the Jaguars a shot in the arm in their 32-26 victory.
The senior running back/cornerback suffered a calf injury in the first half but made two decisive plays in the OT. First, he scored on a 7-yard run to give Atrisco Heritage (3-3, 1-0 District 4-6A) the lead. The Jags’ 2-point conversion attempt failed.
A few plays later, Ramirez wrestled a pass away from Valley wideout Chris Prudencio near the goal line for a clinching interception.
“I just read the quarterback’s eyes,” Ramirez said of the interception. “I prayed he would come my way and give me a shot. I’m just glad it worked out.”
The win was a sigh of relief for the Jaguars and a huge letdown for the Vikings (1-6, 0-1), who led much of the way. A play before Ramirez’s interception, Valley appeared to be an extra point away from victory when quarterback Naseem Madani hit Isaiah Saiz in the end zone for an apparent touchdown.
The Vikings’ celebration was cut short by a late flag for a false start.
The crucial penalty was ironic as Atrisco Heritage was dogged by penalties for much of the game. The Jags were whistled 17 times for 149 yards, while Valley had seven penalties for 35 yards.
“We had some costly ones,” Atrisco coach Patrick Johnson said. “I think our guys were too pumped up. We got them settled down in the second half and it made a big difference.”
Valley’s issues came in the kicking game. The Vikings scored three firsthalf touchdowns — two on Madani passes — but failed on all three conversions. Madani’s 11-yard TD strike to Prudencio gave Valley an 18-14 lead with 1:01 left.
The Vikings, who also kicked three short kickoffs out of bounds, then tried a short one up the middle of the field. Atrisco’s Jordan Marquez scooped it up and raced 55 yards for a touchdown to put the Jags up 20-18 at halftime. Marquez led Atrisco with 91 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Valley regained a 26-20 lead on Madani’s 1-yard keeper in the third quarter and a 2-point conversion. Atrisco got even on Antonio Gonzalez’s 1-yard run with 3:53 left in regulation. The conversion failed.
— Ken Sickenger
ELDORADO 35, CLOVIS 26: At Wilson Stadium, Eagles quarterback Gabe Smith threw four touchdown passes, two of them to Colin Barz, as Eldorado (5-2 overall) rebounded from a surprising loss to Cibola the previous week with a solid performance against the Wildcats (3-3) in a District 2-6A opener.
“We were mediocre in practice this week,” Eldorado coach Charlie Dotson said. “So this game scared me to death.”
Eldorado led for all but the first four minutes. Clovis running back Demerious Milton — who finished with 219 yards on 19 carries, and all four Wildcat touchdowns — scored on a 73-yard run on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
The Eagles scored quickly themselves.
Smith threw 22 yards to Javien Chavez on the ensuing drive, and then 23 yards for a TD to Trey Duran two minutes later for a 14-6 edge. Richard Gallegos’ 7-yard scoring run for the burnt orange made it 21-6 late in the first half.
The Wildcats scrounged together a score just before the half, with Milton scoring from the 9, and trailed 21-13.
But ultimately, Smith and the Eagles’ diversity of weapons simply wore down the Wildcats’ defense. This was largely because Eldorado continuously burned Clovis with clutch conversions on third-and-long, and also several fourth downs.
The biggest of those plays might have been a fourth-and-8, 28-yard TD pass from Smith to Barz down the middle of the field that upped the lead to 28-13 with 3:57 to go in the third quarter.
“(The loss to) Cibola would either make us better coming back from it, or worse,” said Barz. “We responded the right way.”
Milton scored from the 2 three minutes into the fourth quarter for a 28-20 game, but Eldorado put together its most impressive drive of the game, a 14-play, 80-yard, six-minute march, culminating with Smith throwing 13 yards for a score to Barz with 3:18 to go.
“We grew up,” Smith said of the week between Cibola and Clovis. “We were all a little down, but coach Dotson told us to keep our heads up.”
— James Yodice