Cleveland falls, Artesia rises
Los Lunas earns important road victory against Farmington
RIO RANCHO — The state’s top-ranked football team fell on Friday night.
In overtime, no less. Rylan Leathers caught two fourth-quarter touchdown passes and visiting Amarillo High’s defense stopped Cleveland running back Harris Mbueha on what would have been a game-winning 2-point conversion run as the Sandies knocked off the Storm, ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, 28-27 in OT.
Using its third quarterback in its last four games, host Cleveland still dominated in the first half, and led 21-6 heading into the fourth period.
Junior Micah Hoffman opened at QB, with the starter in the first two games, sophomore Jordan Hatch, out after being hurt in the win over La Cueva. Last year’s starter, Evan Wysong, now plays for the University of New Mexico.
Hoffman struggled, but with senior Mbueha in the backfield to carry the load, no problem — for a while.
The Storm (2-1) scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters, with Mbueha capping a 12-play, 62-yard drive on a 2-yard run in the opening period.
In the second quarter, after the Sandies (1-1) coughed up a Strat Shufelt punt and Isaiah Yannis recovered it for the Storm, Hoffman found tight end Jon Baca in the end zone for a 9-yard TD pass.
Once again, the stingy Storm defense shone, limiting the Sandies to 38 yards offensively in the first half, when Amarillo was 0-for-3 on third down and ran only five plays on the Cleveland side of the field.
Jaylend Brashears took a high bounce off the second-half kickoff and raced 95 yards down the east sideline to spoil the bid for a shutout. The PAT missed, wide left.
Another costly fumble by Amarillo gave the Storm the ball on the Amarillo 25, and Juan Muñoz made them pay with a rushing TD on the first play of that possession.
Leathers was the story of the game in the second half.
“They stepped up and made a big play,” Cleveland coach Robert Garza said of the OT stop of Mbueha. “Give credit to them.”
— Gary Herron
ARTESIA 51, BELEN 0: In Belen, the defending Class 5A state champions (3-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the state, made their only regular-season visit to the metro area, and had no trouble dispatching the Eagles (0-3).
Senior quarterback Nye Estrada was 12-for-15 for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, when this game was decided. The Bulldogs led 36-0 at halftime.
Estrada capped off the game’s first drive with a 6-yard scoring pass to Juan Diego Duran. With a 2-point throw, it was 8-0 barely 2½ minutes into the game.
Running back Frankie Galindo supplied the next two touchdowns for Artesia, scoring on a 20-yard run late in the first quarter, and adding a 6-yarder early in the second quarter.
Estrada tossed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Conn midway through the quarter for a 29-0 Artesia lead.
And then this game briefly went sideways, as Artesia had the unique distinction of scoring on what was arguably the strangest punt return for a touchdown anyone has ever seen.
With the Eagles at their 28, a punt snap sailed high over the kicker’s head and into the end zone. Belen’s punter, from near the back of the end zone, collected himself long enough to swing his leg and get the ball airborne.
However, he didn’t connect solidly, and with a strong breeze also blowing in his face, the punt only reached the 8-yard line. It was caught there by Artesia’s Josiah Rodriguez, who quickly darted into the end zone.
The Bulldogs added 15 points in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, ending the the contest on the 50-point mercy rule.
— James Yodice
LOS LUNAS 40, FARMINGTON 22: At Hutchison Stadium in Farmington, Damacio Kaneshiro threw two first-half touchdown passes to Fabian Trujillo, and he also scored on a short run to get the seventh-ranked Tigers out to an early lead, as Los Lunas (3-0) went on the road and beat the sixth-ranked Scorpions (2-1).
Farmington had pulled within five at 21-16 late in the third quarter, but the Tigers answered with two TD’s over the next four minutes.
Ethan Olguin caught a key touchdown pass for Los Lunas that gave it a 33-16 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Gage Marquez had two interceptions and also a rushing TD for Los Lunas.
The Tigers, coach Greg Henington said, were anxious to pay Farmington back for a win the Scorpions had at Los Lunas field a year ago.
“We’ve been fired up about it all week, for sure,” Henington said. “We felt a little embarrassed last year, so it was a little redemption thing. … We’re super excited.”
Los Lunas has another tough road trip ahead next week, visiting 3-0 Roswell, Class 5A’s second-ranked team.
SANDIA 45, ALBUQUERQUE HIGH 9: At Milne Stadium, the eighth-ranked Matadors (3-0) stayed perfect, cruising past the Bulldogs (1-1) before a big crowd.
Hunter Maldonado was the workhorse for Sandia, rushing for three touchdowns.
Cruz Rivera threw for a TD for the Matadors, whose defense continued to perform well.
Sandia is idle next week, and emerges on the other side to face Volcano Vista.
WEST MESA 46, CIBOLA 20: At Nusenda Community Stadium, senior quarterback Elijah Brody combined for six touchdowns as the Mustangs (2-1) beat the winless Cougars (0-3).
Brody threw four TD passes — two of them to Ricky Martinez — and also rushed for two scores to lead West Mesa.
The Mustangs’ defense also forced three turnovers in the victory.
ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT: Class 3A’s No. 1-ranked team, St. Michael’s (3-0), completed the Santa Fe sweep, downing Santa Fe High 27-20 a week after defeating Capital. The Horsemen play another 3-0 team next week in Los Alamos, after the Hilltoppers came from behind to beat Capital, 23-20. … Bernalillo (3-0), ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, cruised past Del Norte, 55-3 at Wilson Stadium. … El Paso Eastlake dominated from start to finish at home, beating visiting Rio Rancho 35-7. The Rams are back down south next Saturday against Organ Mountain. … Goddard won impressively in a top 5A matchup, as the fifthranked Rockets won handily over No. 3 Deming, 35-12 at the Wool Bowl in Roswell. … The city’s other team, Roswell High, ranked No. 2 in 5A, posted an impressive 34-6 win in Hobbs against the Eagles. … Santa Rosa, a definite major player in Class 2A, went on the road and upset Class 3A’s second-ranked Robertson, 27-24. … Albuquerque’s two 8-Man programs both won Friday night. Menaul (2-0) defeated visiting Logan, 24-6, while Legacy Academy blizted visiting Clayton 62-26.