State’s best team resides in Albuquerque
Think of this culmination as the Mount Everest of hikes for high school football teams in Albuquerque.
On Saturday afternoon at Wilson Stadium, after decades that included several close calls and near misses — and a whole bunch of assembly line seasons where the city never cobbled together any threat at all while the south stomped Albuquerque’s collective brains out — the top two teams in Class 6A football will enjoy a double distinction next weekend.
No. 1 Manzano and No. 2 La Cueva will settle one score: the best team in Albuquerque.
That, in turn, will settle the other: crowning a state champion.
This is a summit that some of us wondered might never be reached.
Getting two Albuquerque teams in a state championship game has felt like a grind, like one long endurance test — a metaphorical mountain that has been casting a shadow for generations.
We never got Highland vs. Sandia in the 1970s. Or Sandia vs. Eldorado. Or Eldorado vs. Del Norte. Or, more recently, La Cueva vs. Eldorado. Or any combination.
There was always a proverbial storm that forced Albuquerque to stop in its tracks and
turn back.
In the modern, multiple-class era, there was Eric Roanhaus and his five straight blue trophies with Clovis that was impeding Albuquerque’s challengers. Or the late Jim Bradley, both at Roswell and at Mayfield. Or his son Michael with the Trojans. Jim Miller at Las Cruces. Sam Jernigan at Goddard. These men coached football programs that were superior to Albuquerque’s best, in most every way. And the results bear that out.
Those who attempt to scale Everest do so in stages, catching their breath at camps along the way.
That has, in a very roundabout way, been what the city has been doing for decades as it attempted to have two neighbors square off in a state final.
We always had to be content to have one local contender here and there. Occasionally two, but never able to break through that glass ceiling together.
The romantic in me is certainly thrilled. There is so much to sell with this matchup, and we’ll be doing precisely that every day this week, leading up to kickoff on Saturday.
Manzano and La Cueva have reached this summit, so it seems the least we should do.
REALLY? As if La Cueva coach Brandon Back didn’t need more suffering, he now is in the process of trying to pass a kidney stone, he said Sunday.
He and all the Bears coaches already must be racing to buy hair coloring products after these last two weekends, first with that spirited come-from-behind win over Eldorado, and then a white-knuckle overtime victory against Cleveland.
Not since Volcano Vista in 2012 — a year that saw the Hawks win consecutive playoff games by a single point — have we seen a team advance two straight weeks so dramatically.
And this latest win was accomplished with starting quarterback Dylan Summer in street clothes. All credit to the Bears for getting through with Reece Wilkinson and Austin Smith at QB, and that duo will now have to contend with Manzano’s vaunted defense with Summer (knee) not returning this year. PART II: Manzano and La Cueva met in early October, with the Monarchs winning 28-21.
What many people either don’t know or have forgotten is that Manzano, after building a 21-0 halftime lead, had three of its premier playmakers — Jordan Byrd, Andrew Erickson and Alejandro Vallejos — out of action for a majority of the second half of that game.
Still, Manzano’s defense that was forced to make two stops in the final 4 minutes with La Cueva having two late cracks inside the Monarchs’ 20 to seal the win.
THIS AND THAT: As I love to needle, it’s worth pointing out that all four remaining No. 1 seeds — Manzano, Artesia, Eunice and Melrose — won on the road this last weekend. And each of them quite comfortably. … The offensive juggernaut of Melrose capped an 11-0 season on Saturday, taking the 8-Man crown with a 76-24 win at Mountainair. … Eunice’s shutout streak ended at seven Saturday, but the fierce defense of the Cardinals still rolled into the 3A final with a 37-6 victory at Estancia. … Artesia on Saturday at Bulldog Bowl will make another attempt at a 30th state championship when the Bulldogs host Belen at 1 p.m. in the 5A final.