PLAYOFF TIME
Hawks fall to No. 10 Gadsden to open state tournament
Local soccer teams battle it out on the pitch as the postseason gets underway
Volcano Vista’s up and down boys soccer season will not extend beyond this weekend.
Visiting Gadsden, the No. 10 seed in the Class 6A state tournament, came into Albuquerque and upset the seventh-seeded Hawks 2-1 in a first-round game on Friday afternoon.
There was no further information immediately available.
Today at 2 p.m. No. 5 seed Rio Rancho plays host to No. 12 Las Cruces, with the winner to face No. 4 Cleveland in the quarterfinals.
In 5A, St. Pius, a 3 seed, had a bye into the quarters. From 1A-4A, both Bernalillo and Bosque School had first-round games Friday afternoon, with the Spartans at Hatch Valley and the Bobcats at Socorro.
GIRLS: Rio Rancho and Cibola met Friday night at the APS Complex in the first round. (See today’s main Journal sports section for the game story.)
Cleveland (No. 2 seed) and Volcano Vista (No. 4) didn’t have to play a first-round game. St. Pius in 5A, and Bosque School in 1A-4A also had first-round byes.
The quarterfinals are Thursday at the soccer complex on the Santa Ana Pueblo.
Football
Late Friday, Cibola was at Rio Rancho, West Mesa met Valley, Piedra Vista was at Volcano Vista and St. Pius visited Belen. See today’s main Journal sports section for more coverage on those games.
Bernalillo and Cleveland were idle this week.
LAST WEEK: Cibola pulled out a dramatic 28-27 victory over Volcano Vista, as backup quarterback Evan Sedillo threw a touchdown pass to Nathaniel Manzanares with 1:26 left in the game. The PAT on that score was the difference in the game.
Moses Young rushed for four touchdowns for the Hawks in the loss.
Cleveland went on the road and thrashed Piedra Vista 42-7. Justin Ainsworth caught two early touchdown passes, and Dominic Thompson also scored twice for the Storm, which clinched the District 1-6A title by virtue of its win and Cibola’s victory over Volcano Vista.
Also, St. Pius blasted Valencia 50-0 as the Sartans scored on every possession and held the Jaguars to 9 yards of total offense; Valley’s Chris Prudencio scored on a reception, punt return and interception return in the Vikings’ 34-0 shutout of Rio Grande; and running back Mark Garcia scored four touchdowns for West Mesa in a 38-0 win against Albuquerque High. Rio Rancho was idle last week.
NEXT WEEK: The final week of the regular season includes two Rio West schools playing Thursday night, with St. Pius hosting Grants at Nusenda Community Stadium, and West Mesa going to Milne Stadium to face Rio Grande.
Volcano Vista is at Cleveland on Friday night. Also Friday, Valley takes on Highland at Milne, Rio Rancho goes to Piedra Vista and Bernalillo travels to Taos. Cibola is idle.
Cross Country
Cleveland’s girls last week captured first place at the Los Alamos Invitational. Storm senior Amanda Mayoral was the race winner, in 18 minutes, 38.07 seconds. Britney Lovato of Cleveland placed fifth.
The Cleveland boys finished second by two points (43-45) to Albuquerque Academy. But the Storm’s David Apodaca took first place, in a time of 16:21.86. Cleveland’s Yonas Haile was the runner-up, four seconds behind.
Most of the Rio West schools were conducting district meets Friday afternoon. The state meet is a week from today at Rio Rancho High School.
Cleveland late Friday was playing at Volcano Vista with a chance to lock up the regularseason championship in District 1-6A. The Storm began the day 6-1 in league play, one-half game in front of the Hawks (5-1). Volcano Vista closes the regular season today against Piedra Vista. If Cleveland and the Hawks finish in a tie for first, there will be a playoff game early next week to determine the top seed for the district tournament, which is also next week.
Third-place Rio Rancho (3-4) was playing host to Piedra Vista late Friday, and the Panthers could still overtake the Rams in the 1-6A standings. Cibola (1-7) is done with its regular season.
The state tournament fields will be announced a week from Sunday, Nov. 5.
The fall golf season is coming to a close; Cleveland’s boys and St. Pius’ girls won the St. Pius Invitational earlier this week at Isleta Eagle Golf Course.
The Storm defeated Albuquerque Academy by 19 shots, 311-330. Rio Rancho was third, St. Pius fourth. Alejandro Armijo, who carded a 73, was the medalist by a single stroke over teammate Enrique Armijo. Another Storm, Lorne Fishburn, was third, with Rio Rancho’s Santiago Almaguar tied for fourth place.
St. Pius’ girls won by 46 shots over Rio Rancho, with Cleveland third.
Cleveland’s Jacque Galloway shot a 74 to claim first place. Ashlee Garrett of the Sartans was runner-up, seven shots behind, and in fact St. Pius occupied slots 2 through 6.