Robertson wins clash of to teams; SFHS falls short agai
Robertson asserts its dominance over Taos as the top team in district, Class 4A
TLAS VEGAS, N.M. he only thing missing were the leather helmets.
In a day and age where most high schools play on turf fields lined with welldrained viewpoints, Friday night’s clash of No. 1 versus No. 2 in Class 4A at Cardinals Stadium was a throwback to a time where the conditions weren’t neutralized by the advancement of technology.
This week’s heavy rains were complimented by a steady mist that further saturated everything from the natural grass field to the fans sitting and standing all around. Every few feet on the field was a patch of mud, turning bright jerseys and clean pants into a mother’s worst nightmare. When it was all said and done, Robertson had reaffirmed its spot atop the polls with a 33-20 win over previously undefeated and second-ranked Taos. The Cardinals (6-0, 2-0 in District 2/54A) are now the only remaining unbeaten team in 4A.
The Tigers fell to 5-1 overall, 1-1 in the district.
Cardinals quarterback Arjay Ortiz had touchdown runs of 7 and 75 yards in the first half, then helped Robertson pull away with three more runs to pay dirt (or mud) in the second half. He broke a 14-all tie with a 47-yard run on a third down in the third quarter and added runs of 13 and 36 down the stretch.
“Just too many big plays, but that’s what happens with a player like that,” said Taos head coach Art Abreu Jr. “Things break down after we contained him in the pocket and he still makes the plays.”
When asked about it afterward, Ortiz echoed the sentiments of his coaches when talking about his play. Aside from his fivetouchdown night, he fumbled twice and was directly involved in the secondary when the Cardinals defense gave up two long touchdown passes to Taos quarterback Jude Suazo.
“I walk out of here, that’s what I’m going to be thinking about,” Ortiz said. “You can’t give up plays like that because those are the ones that come back to haunt you in the playoffs.”
Ortiz started and played the entire game at free safety, a place where Taos had its only real success moving the ball.
“We knew we had the playmakers to do that,” Abreu said. “We just didn’t do it enough.”
The Cardinals will remain the undisputed No. 1 team, a fact that is made that much more indisputable when they play home games on a field no one — other than them — wants to play on.
The recent weather left the entire field slippery and muddy. By game’s end, the white Taos jerseys were essentially beige.
“It’s a definite advantage for us, no doubt,” said Robertson head
coach Leroy Gonzalez. “But it’s one of those things that we both have to play on.”
As competitive as the game was in the first half — Taos rallied back from a pair of touchdown deficits to force the tie at halftime — it was the Ortiz show in the second half. What he didn’t do, Robertson’s defense did until giving up a late touchdown to close out the scoring.
Until the Tigers’ final drive, they had fewer than 20 yard of offense in the second half.
“It’s not the game we wanted to have, but it’s not like we came in here and got our butts kicked,” Abreu said. “There are areas we can improve on but it’s back to the preparation and, hopefully, we’re back on this field in a couple months.”
Penalties were also a main theme. There were 22 accepted penalties in the game, each sucking the life out of drives at both ends.
When it was over, the same ol’ same ol’ was the story of the night. Robertson, with its long pedigree of marquee wins in big games — especially on their home grass — came out on top again.
“I’m not happy with the way we played and, really, we left a lot of things undone,” Gonzalez said. “We make those mistakes again and it’s going to cost us.”
For both teams there’s plenty of heavy lifting to be done. Each has to play No. 3 St. Michael’s and No. 7 West Las Vegas before it’s over.
“One thing we didn’t do was play without heart, and that I am proud of,” Abreu said. “But next time we’re in a game like this we need to do the little things that make the difference.”