Tigers respond to shocking wake-up call

for an 80-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead.

“It wasn’t really a scare,” Garcia said. “We knew we could come back. It was a wake-up [call]. We weren’t ready.”

On the next offensive series for Taos, Garcia almost made it 3-for-3 in touches for scores, but he was corralled after a 25-yard run. Four plays later, Tigers quarterback Jude Suazo hit tight end Santiago Cortez for a 17-yard touchdown pass and a 20-7 lead with just 4:30 to go in the quarter.

Garcia added a 23-yard touchdown run in just 2:28 later for a 28-7 lead, and any questions about a Braves’ comeback were answered. It wasn’t happening. In just seven carries, Garcia had 217 yards and three touchdowns to lead a rushing attack that steamrolled SFIS for 415 yards.

SFIS (4-1) had one last-ditch attempt to put a scare into the Tigers faithful when Terrell Toledo took another squib kick after falling behind 20-7 and rumbled 22 yards to the Taos 38-yard line. Three plays later, the Braves faced a fourth-and-1 at the Taos 29, but Anders Pecos’ came up several inches shy of getting the first down on his run with 3:32 left in the quarter.

“Coach Abreu is a great coach,” SFIS head coach Carl Vigil said. “He made some great adjustments. … It’s tough playing a number-two, number-three team in the state. He has a great program going on over there.”

It didn’t help that Alec Lee left the team on Monday for what Vigil said were “personal obligations.” It took a key component away from the Braves’ offense, and backup Matthew Morgan had only two days of practice to prepare for the Taos game.

“We could tell the timing was off, right off the bat,” Vigil said. “Guys weren’t there like they have for the past four games. Communication wasn’t there, and plays weren’t called as smoothly. But we have confidence in Matt.”

Despite the final score, the Tigers acknowledged that SFIS was not nearly the pushover it was in last year’s 54-0 win at Anaya Field. Garcia saw defenders who attacked the line of scrimmage.

“Last year, they were a lot more scared,” Garcia said. “They wouldn’t even hit. They ran away from contact.”

Abreu saw a more athletic team during a couple of the 7-on-7 passing camps the Braves attended in the summer.

“You watched the tapes against McCurdy and Zuni, and you see them flying all over the field,” Abreu said. “They have more confidence.”

Vigil said he was impressed by the responses he received from his players during the half, even though they were down 56-7.

“I asked them, ‘Who’s really getting their butt whooped like they were last year?’ ” Vigil said. “Not a single player said they were. We weren’t getting tossed around like rag dolls, but that’s a really good program over there. And they showed it.”