No. 1 Monarchs can be even more ferocious
Time to reflect on a hugely important weekend in prep football.
PURPLE REIGN: Manzano’s 28-21 win Friday over La Cueva cemented its status as New Mexico’s best football team. But don’t let the margin of victory Friday against La Cueva fool you — this 28-21 win was even more impressive than you probably realize.
For a majority of the second half, three of the Monarchs’ five most substantial impact players — possibly even their three most important impact players — were out of action on the sidelines.
Jordan Byrd was knocked out of the game on a touchdown run, and had to go through concussion protocol. He didn’t return. Linebacker Alejandro Vallejos was battling a calf injury. Andrew Erickson battled severe cramps, and after the game the poor kid was flat on his back on the Wilson Stadium turf. He could barely move.
Thinking back to La Cueva’s near comeback from a 28-7 deficit, we must note that the offense did stagnate without QB Byrd, and the defense clearly was missing the presence of Erickson at corner and Vallejos. Consequently, Manzano coverage schemes had to be altered, with some new personnel. The Bears threw three touchdown passes, all in the second half.
That Manzano could survive all this only adds to its status as Class 6A’s No. 1 team.
Manzano coach Chad Adcox said Saturday that Byrd did not have a headache Saturday and was preparing a game plan for Friday’s visit to Clovis as he would any other week.
As for that Monarchs’ defense, we must address just how well that unit has been performing, especially against the run.
Atrisco Heritage’s Angel Ramirez bulldozed through that defense in the opener, but by the time I had run into the Monarchs a second time, against Rio Rancho on Sept. 23, they were just flooding the Rams’ backfield and being as disruptive as a defense can be. They did much the same to La Cueva in the first half, and Manzano reduced both those stellar offenses into one-dimensional attacks.
But there is a reason for the improvement. Vallejos was forced into service as the primary ball carrier in the Atrisco game as Xavier Ivey-Saud was injured. And Noah Baca, a three-year starter at linebacker, also missed the opener.
The Manzano front seven has proven to be a fierce group of individuals, including space eaters Louis Bush and Deveyion Jackson on the interior of the line. This entire unit is marvelous.
“It all comes from our coordinator (Phil Martinez),” Adcox said. “He’s been with me since I got the head job and he’s the mastermind behind it all.”
NOT BUYING: Saturday was my first in-person look at Eldorado. The grapevine was rampant with tales of how porous this Eagles’ defense was. And to be fair, the numbers sort of bore that out.
But that’s not what I saw Saturday. With six — yes, SIX — starters missing, some likely for the season, Eldorado authored a sturdy outing against Clovis. The Wildcats finished with 277 yards of offense, most of them because of terrific running back Demerious Milton.
“I was proud of our kids, because we had a lot of kids going both ways because of injuries,” Eldorado coach Charlie Dotson said.
BULLDAWG-IN’: You just knew that when the time came, the Las Cruces Bulldawgs would answer the bell. Not only did they do that — they rang Hobbs’ bell in the process, too.
With the Eagles at the Field of Dreams on Saturday afternoon — in a matchup of District 3-6A’s top two teams — the Bulldawgs routed the Eagles 56-21. Las Cruces held Hobbs to 179 yards of total offense and the defense recorded three interceptions.
Chase Chaloupek and Brandon Baeza combined for 277 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
It would be difficult to ignore the obvious: there is almost no way a healthy Las Cruces doesn’t botch things and not win the 3-6A championship.
STAY STRONG: Don’t want this message to feel like the worn-out tread on a tire, but it bears repeating: Rio Grande continues to make progress — slow, but it’s there — under new coach Dennis Minidis.
Thursday night was arguably the Ravens’ best chance to end their 32-game losing streak. They had a two-touchdown lead on Albuquerque High, and still led 13-12 more than midway through the fourth quarter.
AHS scored with 1:45 to go to snatch an 18-13 victory. Rio Grande probably won’t get a better chance the rest of this year to end what is now a 33-game skid, but the Ravens must, at all costs, keep fighting. They’ll get there.