Rio Grande forfeits victory, now owns record losing skid
Rio Grande’s road loss Friday night at Farmington was more than just another loss, the Journal has learned.
And unfortunately for the Ravens, it was a defeat that gave the Ravens — somewhat retroactively — a dubious state record.
With the news being made official Saturday that Rio Grande has forfeited its only football victory of the season for using an ineligible player, the Ravens now own — by themselves — the state record for New Mexico’s longest modern-era losing streak.
The streak is 44 games following a 28-20 loss to the Scorpions. Albuquerque High (43) had held the record.
The player in question was used during Rio Grande’s 36-22 victory over Valencia on Sept. 6. At the time, the Ravens had snapped a 39-game skid dating back to early September of 2014, and it was a result that was wellreceived through Rio Grande’s campus and in the South Valley at large.
“It was unfortunate,” Ravens coach Dennis Minidis told the Journal on Saturday about the
forfeit. “I was notified by the (Rio Grande) administration that the student-athlete in question was a couple of points below a 2.0 (grade-point average).”
The forfeit will change Rio Grande’s record from 1-6 to 0-7. And it will change Valencia’s record from 5-2 to 6-1.
“Rio Grande (this week) self reported that they had an ineligible player,” New Mexico Activities Association executive director Sally Marquez said.
“It was an oversight. What do you do?” Minidis said.
The turn of events is certainly unexpected and harsh for the Rio Grande program, which has endured many troubled days in the last four years as the one-sided losses piled up.
The mood of the Ravens was overwhelmingly positive and jubilant as they ended their losing streak last month.
But today, Rio Grande wakes up having only three more chances to win a game this season: this coming week against Valley, Oct. 18 against AHS and Nov. 3 against winless Shiprock.
The Ravens made the decision to compete as an independent this season and next.