Campos, Chavez propel Cougars, 49-33
Cibola finally plays opener after first game canceled
For a team that didn’t already have a game under its belt, Cibola looked in midseason form.
The Cougars scored on four of their five first-half possessions, and cruised to a 49-33 win over District 1-6A rival Volcano Vista at Nusenda Community Stadium on Saturday night.
Cibola sophomore quarterback Aden Chavez threw for 347 yards and four touchdowns on 27-for-41 passing, but it was the big complement in the running game that provided the difference.
Senior running back Slayd Campos, running almost exclusively between the tackles, rushed for 180 yards and three touchdowns.
“(Campos) was the main reason we won tonight, and he was the glue that held us together,” said Cibola coach Rod Williams. “There were times when he shouldn’t have gotten any yards, and he ended up getting five, six, seven, eight yards. He’s our leader, and all his hard work showed tonight.”
While Campos was softening the inside of the Volcano Vista defense, Chavez was relying on sure-handed receivers in oneon-one coverage.
Chavez hooked up with Elijah Spaulding on TD passes of 4, 6 and 24 yards to open up a 21-3 first-half lead, and in each instance, Spaulding had to beat tight Volcano Vista coverage.
“My receivers fought for it,” Chavez said. “All of my receivers and linemen, they could be interviewed tonight. That’s how great they played.”
The Hawks (1-1), who beat Eldorado last week on a kickoff return for a touchdown with just 15 seconds remaining, suffered from a few more self-inflicted wounds than they would have liked.
Uncharacteristic dropped passes in the first half, combined with untimely penalties, helped the Cougars extend their lead to 42-9 in the third quarter following Campos’ second TD run.
Johnny Herrera, Volcano Vista’s strongarmed quarterback who threw for six TDs last week against Eldorado, sparked his team to a 30-point second half.
Herrera was 17-for-30 for 278 yards with three TD passes and one touchdown run.
“We got a little greedy, started passing too much, and got off balance with our offense,” Williams said of the second half. “I felt we were really balanced on offense, but we got out of rhythm a little bit, and that allowed them to come back.”
Nathan Lopez added a 35-yard TD pass from Chavez in the third, and he finished with a team-high 139 yards on eight catches.
Campos’ 7-yard TD run in the fourth extended the Cougars’ lead to 49-25, and it also put a bow on the his senior class’ first win over Volcano Vista.
“We’ve always lost to Volcano, that’s a story that’s already been written,” Campos said. “There’s a long history between our seniors and their seniors. We were never able to beat them, but we were finally able to do it.”
Cibola had its season opener against Sandia scratched because of a positive COVID-19 test from within the Cougars program. The cancellation happened just a few hours before the scheduled kickoff.
Cibola will face Eldorado next week in the spring season finale. Volcano Vista will face La Cueva.