NMSU beats Utah St. in first bowl appearance since 1960
New Mexico State beats Utah State in 1st bowl appearance since 1960
The Arizona Bowl is not typically the type of game where fans storm the field. Certainly not for a team that finished 7-6.
But this has been a long, arduous wait for New Mexico State fans. All those losing seasons, all that disappointment, all that time between bowl games.
Storm away, Aggies. You’ve earned it.
Larry Rose III scored on a 21-yard run in overtime and New Mexico State won in its first bowl game in 57 years, beating Utah State 26-20 in the Arizona Bowl on Friday night.
“I’m just thrilled for these kids and this community,” New Mexico State coach Doug Martin. “Just look at these fans who showed up here. This is an unbelievable day for us.
Utah State (6-7) had the ball first in overtime and Dominik Eberle hit the right upright on a 29-yard field goal attempt, sending a groan through the Utah State crowd. Eberle made 16 for 18 field goals during the regular season, but missed three in the Arizona Bowl.
New Mexico State won it when Jones burst through a hole on the left side, sending the Aggies and their fans rushing onto the Arizona Stadium field. Jones finished with 142 yards on 16 carries.
“He’s my field goal kicker. I love that kid and he’s been really consistent all year,” Utah State coach Matt Wells said. “Was I surprised? Yes. Was I disappointed in him? Not one bit.”
The third Arizona Bowl started with some early fireworks on special teams.
Utah State’s Savon Scarver returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, then New Mexico State’s Jason Huntley took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a score.
The excitement leveled off considerably until LaJuan Hunt scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter, set up by a shanked punt from New Mexico State’s Payton Theisler.
New Mexico State’s Tyler Rogers, held in check most of the game, answered by moving the Aggies on a 69-yard scoring drive, capped by his 11-yard touchdown pass to Jaleel Scott that tied it at 20. A video review overturned the initial call that Scott was out of bounds.
Rogers, who was second nationally with 347 yards passing per game during the regular season, threw for 191 yards and touchdown with two interceptions.
This was a rematch 57 years in the making.
New Mexico State had not been to a bowl game since the 1960 Sun Bowl. The opponent: Utah State.
Utah State went to eight bowls after that, including six of the last seven.
New Mexico State went into a bowl-less tailspin, finishing with a losing record 44 times since that last bowl game. It had 14 straight losing seasons, including a 0-12 mark in 2005, before winning its final two games this season to finally get back to bowling.
The long-awaited rematch turned into the Special Teams Bowl in the first half.
New Mexico State’s Dylan Brown made two field goals, Eberle made two and missed two, and each team had a kickoff return for a touchdown.
After a third quarter of defensive stops and punting, both teams found the end zone to send the game overtime — and, later, New Mexico State’s fans onto the field.
“I thought it was a fairly clean
The best Christmas gift the Española Valley Sundevils gave themselves came late this year.
Thanks to 25 points from Isaiah Vigil, the Sundevils rallied from a 38-29 halftime deficit to upend Rio Rancho by a 72-54 count in the championship game of the Jalene Berger Holiday Hoops Classic at Rio Rancho on Friday. It was the first time the Sundevils won the tournament title, but, more important, they improved to 12-0 as they capped the 2017 portion of the boys basketball season.
“If you had said we’d be 12-0 at this point of the season, I would have said you’re crazy, not to take anything away from the boys,” Española head coach James Branch said.
But Española is, and much of that can be attributed to its defense. The Rams scored eight points in each of the last two quarters, as the Sundevils employed a variety of defenses to keep them off balance. It combined with hot shooting from the perimeter as Española hit 12 3-pointers on the night. Leading the charge was Isaiah Vigil, who had 25 points on the strength of six 3-pointers that led to his selection at tournament MVP.
Martin Gracia hit three 3s in the first quarter to help the Sundevils stay within 20-18 of Rio Rancho after a quarter.
“We had finally had an offensive explosion,” Branch said. “We’ve been winning a lot of games with our defense, but we hadn’t really broken out offensively like we did [on Friday].”
Ryan Trujillo and Azaziah Salazar each scored 10 points in a supporting role for the Sundevils, and Christian Fernandez had nine.
Keshawn Banks led Rio Rancho (6-6) with 15 points and leading scorer David Patterson managed just seven on the night.
CARLSBAD 67, ST. MICHAEL’S 43
The second-half hangover from Thursday’s 52-48 loss to Belen carried over to the consolation semifinal of the Clovis Invitational against the Cavemen, who outscored the Horsemen 26-11 in the first quarter and never looked back.
St. Michael’s was within 38-22 at the half, but a series of mistakes and missed opportunities helped Carlsbad (5-7) push the lead up to 52-31 entering the fourth quarter.
“I thought we were ready to come out and cut it down at the beginning of the third quarter,” Horsemen head coach David Rodriguez said. “But we started with three mistakes, a couple of missed layups. We really struggled this morning. We’re a work in progress, and now we’re really up and down.”
Antonio Gabaldon led St. Michael’s (5-6) with 14 points, and Jevon Montoya added eight. Carlsbad’s Javion Young scored 15 points and Josh Silas added 12.
The Horsemen finish the tournament playing Borger, Texas, for seventh place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
BERNALILLO 87, WEST LAS VEGAS 59
It was lucky number 13 for the Spartans. They are now 13-0 after using to a 19-5 run that turned a 29-24 lead late in the first half to a 48-29 lead two minutes into the third quarter of the Stu Clark Tournament in the John A. Wilson Athletic Complex on the New Mexico Highlands University campus.
Luis Villegas scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and the Spartans hit seven 3s after the break. Bernalillo also slowed down Dons forward John Balizan, who had nine of his 11 points in the first half. Jared Saiz had 19 points to lead the Dons (6-6), with 13 coming in the second half, and Steven Sandoval scored 10.
The Spartans will take on Las Vegas Robertson (4-7) in the tournament championship game, as the Cardinals rallied from a 25-16 halftime deficit to secure a 49-46 win over Albuquerque Del Norte in the nightcap.
PECOS 98, MORA 61
The Panthers used a 33-11 scoring run to put away the pesky Rangers, taking a 78-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter of the Tri-Cities Invitational semifinal in Santa Rosa.
Mario Archuleta exploded for 37 points, while Carlos Cordova added 20. Xavier Padilla had 12 points and Josh DeHerrera 10 to round out the double-digit scorers for Pecos (8-2). Mora (6-6) had Jerome Pacheco lead the way with 20 points, while Alonzo Aragon added 18 and Carlos Muller scored 10.
Pecos face off against Santa Rosa in the tournament championship in a rematch of last year’s Tri-Cities final and the Class 3A state championship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
GIRLS SANTA FE HIGH 59, ALAMOGORDO 43
The Demonettes outscored the Lady Tigers 18-4 in the third quarter to turn a 29-26 halftime lead into a 47-30 advantage heading into the fourth quarter of the Los Lunas Holiday Tournament consolation semifinal.
Alamogordo led 18-12 after a quarter, but Santa Fe High used a 17-8 scoring run to take a three-point lead in to the locker room at the half. It was the second time the Demonettes downed the Lady Tigers (4-8) this season, having beaten them 47-31 on Dec. 16.
Kaya Suina led Santa Fe High (5-7) with 20 points, and Taylor Salazar added 16.
Santa Fe High plays Artesia for fifth place at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
LAS VEGAS ROBERTSON 25, EUNICE 22
Eunice kept itself at a safe distance from Robertson’s 2-3 zone defense in a battle of Lady Cardinals in the Citizens Bank Tournament semifinals at Texico.
That was fine by Robertson head coach Leroy Barela, especially since his team held an 11-5 lead after a quarter, 14-11 at the half and 16-11 heading into the third quarter. He saw Tohatchi extend its defense against Eunice while leading in the opening round of the tournament, and Eunice (7-1) rallied for a 37-34 win.
“The more they stayed outside passing the ball around, the more content I was to stay back,” Barela said. “Why come out with the lead?”
Eunice cut the lead to 23-22 late in the game thanks to seven points from Jada Jones, but Tessa Ortiz hit a pair of free throws with 4 seconds left to secure the win.
Eighth grader Jadyn Jenkins led Robertson (9-1) with six points, while junior sister Jazmyne Jenkins added five.
Las Vegas’ Lady Cardinals play host to Texico for the tournament title at 5:45 p.m. Saturday.