St. Mike’s rolls to win over Pojoaque

The St. Michael’s Horsemen were quick Saturday afternoon. The Horsemen didn’t waste much time with District 2/5-4A foe Pojoaque Valley, posting all of their points before halftime in a 39-6 win at Christian Brothers Athletic Complex. The win improved St. Michael’s to 6-1 on the season, and 3-0 in district play with a crucial matchup against top-ranked Las Vegas Robertson on Friday.

After a punt on their opening drive, the Horsemen proceeded to score six of the next seven times they got the ball. Joey Fernandez had four touchdowns, highlighted by an 85-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Antonio Gabaldon that made it 19-0 with less than 5 minutes left in the first half.

Three more touchdowns followed after that, and Fernandez completed a sterling first half with a 15-yard touchdown reception with less than a minute left to cap the scoring for St. Michael’s. Despite the offensive explosion, Horsemen head coach Joey Fernandez felt his team did not get off to a strong start.

“I kinda thought we started out slow,” Fernandez said. “Then, the second quarter got us going a little bit.”

After using his starting offense and defense to start the third quarter, Fernandez elected to use his reserves the rest of the way. The rust showed, as the back-up Horsemen fumbled the ball three times on their first four plays.

“Our younger guys got a lot of work, and they deserved the chance to play,” Fernandez said. “And I like the game to go four quarters. There are a lot of chances out there to play, especially for the younger kids.”

It also allowed St. Michael’s to enter its game against the Cardinals in relatively good health.

“It’s going to be a good ball game,” Fernandez said.