Cougars, Hawks roll; Belen, Valencia, Hope also advance
Cibola, Volcano Vista make it four teams from 1-6A in quarterfinals
Cibola High quarterback Aden Chavez showed on Friday night at Milne Stadium that he has a strong connection with his receivers, and apparently the 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior is on the same page with his coach, Rod Williams.
That rapport factored into Chavez throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns on 17-of23 passing, as the No. 7-seeded Cougars beat No. 10 Sandia, 41-15, in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.
“He played phenomenal,” Williams said of his strong-armed quarterback who completed his first six passes. “He knows how I think now. We know how each other think. We are kind of on the same page how we look at things. He just has a lot of confidence in his receivers and they have confidence in him.”
Cibola sophomore wide receiver Marcus Wilson also had a big game with five catches for 112 yards and three touchdowns, one a 10-yard TD run, to help the Cougars (6-5) advance to next week’s quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Rio Rancho (7-1). The Rams beat Cibola 65-35 in the regular season, although the first half of that game was extremely close.
Cibola receiver Branden Castillo added 126 yards and one touchdown on three catches for Cibola, which rallied from a 7-0 deficit to score 41 unanswered points.
Sandia (5-6) was aggressive early on, after junior Gauge Berlint recovered a fumble on Cibola’s first offensive play. Sandia junior running back Malachi Thymes (22 carries, 87 yards) capped a six-play, 36-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run for the Matadors’ early lead.
But the Cougars responded with their defense, causing a turnover when Nathan Lopez recovered a fumble. Cibola running back Anthony Garcia later converted that into points with a 2-yard TD run.
Lopez also made a spectacular catch with no time left in the second quarter when he grabbed a 27-yard pass from Chavez at the pylon to give the Cougars a 28-7 halftime lead.
Chavez threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns on 7-for8 passing in the first half. He looks forward to playing against Rio Rancho again six weeks after the first meeting.
“We put up a good fight against them the first time, so I think we have a shot,” Chavez said. “If we be ourselves and I don’t make mental mistakes I think we have a good shot at beating them.” — Steve Virgen
NO. 6 VOLCANO VISTA 49, NO. 11 CARLSBAD 17:
At Nusenda Community Stadium, the Hawks (7-4) scored 42 unanswered points as they swarmed the Cavemen (3-7) in a 6A quarterfinal.
Volcano Vista will play at No. 3 La Cueva in next week’s quarterfinals at Wilson Stadium.
Running back Acen Aguilar put the Hawks ahead for good in the second quarter with a touchdown run that made it 14-10.
Quarterback Josh Gerardo and receiver Kaden Valdez hooked up for two long touchdowns in the final couple of minutes of the first half, as the Hawks led 28-10 at halftime.
The 6A first round concludes on Saturday, with No. 5 Las Cruces playing host to Clovis, and No. 8 Hobbs at home to No. 9 Eldorado. Both are 2 p.m. kickoffs on Saturday.
Class 5A
No. 7 BELEN 25, No. 10 DEMING 21: In Belen, Diego Avila’s 19-yard touchdown run with just over 8 minutes remaining proved to be the game-winning score as the Eagles (7-3) overcame the Wildcats (5-6) in a first-round game.
Belen will visit No. 2 Los Lunas in the quarterfinals.
ALSO: Mayfield, the No. 5 seed, shredded No. 12 Los Alamos 49-3 at the Field of Dreams, as the Trojans will visit No. 4 Artesia next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals. … At the Wool Bowl, No. 6 Goddard (6-4) got out quickly against No. 11 Valley (4-7) and dispatched the Vikings 56-14. The Rockets play rival Roswell in the quarters.
Class 4A
No. 5 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 14, No. 12 BERNALILLO 6:
At the Academy, Cole Conway had a short touchdown run, and Kellan Gehres had a 32-yard touchdown reception, both in the first half, as the Chargers (9-2) beat the Spartans (5-6) for the second time this season.
Academy is at No. 4 Moriarty in the quarterfinals.
ALSO: No. 7 Valencia trounced No. 10 Taos 53-23 on Friday, as the Jaguars (7-4) earned a quarterfinal against No. 2 Bloomfield (9-1).
Class 3A
No. 8 HOPE CHRISTIAN 57, No. 9 NAVAJO PREP 36:
At Wilson Stadium, James Jenkins rushed for four touchdowns, and Brent Miller ran for three more, propelling the Huskies (7-4) past the Eagles (5-6) in a first-round matchup. Hope next plays at No. 1 Raton in the quarterfinals.