St. Mike’s has fun in romp over SFIS
Horsemen linemen get rare chance to score
If Tayo Regenold acted like he’d been there before, it’s because he had. Once. During his YAFL days, like, a million years ago or something.
If Adrian Balderamos acted like he hadn’t been there before, it’s because he’d never been. Not a single time, not even when he played in those same youth leagues Regenold did all those years ago.
On Saturday, both of them had a chance to stand in the end zone with a football tucked under their arms celebrating their own personal moments of glory. Each of the beefy linemen scored their first career high school touchdowns in helping St. Michael’s hammer visiting Santa Fe Indian School, 54-7, in the District 2-3A opener for the Horsemen.
Regenold’s run to pay dirt came in the first quarter, capping a 65-yard drive that saw him line up in the backfield and have his number called three straight times before he finally broke through with a 1-yard run. It snapped a 7-all tie and marked the beginning of 47 unanswered points to send the homecoming crowd away happy.
Balderamos’ run came in the fourth quarter, the outcome long since decided. With Regenold and Jaxon Hay providing the lead blocks out of the backfield, Balderamos plowed headfirst into the end zone from 4 yards out to close out the scoring.
In a day and age where the skill guys get all the headlines for putting points on the board, Saturday was a rare chance for the big men to make some noise.
“I always wondered would it would feel like,” said Balderamos, a 5-foot-11, 260-pound senior guard and defensive tackle. “I think it was everything I thought it would be.”
A 6-2, 291-pound tackle on offense and nose guard on defense, Reginald took the more subdued approach. Whereas Balderamos hollered as he jumped up and down with the ball — while temporarily looking around for the nearest official to hand it to — Regenold just shoved his way past SFIS linebacker Albert Coriz and palmed the ball in his left hand while his teammates (Balderamos included) circled around him.
“I knew those guys were lesser opponents, so I didn’t want to do anything to show them up, you know?” Regenold said. “They’re out there trying and I just kind of wanted to not do anything crazy.”
All things considered, not a bad day’s work for a Horsemen team that has won four straight games and heads into the home stretch of the regular season with a full head of steam. They’ve outscored the last four opponents 193-13, giving the roster something positive to lean upon heading into next week’s visit to West Las Vegas.
Saturday’s game was never really in doubt after Regenold’s touchdown. The Horsemen (4-3, 1-0) started the game fast when Luke Kastendieck picked off a SFIS pass on the second play, then Kastendieck scored on a 50-yard run on the first play from scrimmage for St. Michael’s. Just like that, 7-0.
The Braves (3-5, 0-2) came right back with a 50-yard drive ending in a 30-yard scoring run by Francisco Pino to knot it up.
Regenold’s scoring run opened the floodgates. It was 33-7 at halftime and then the Horsemen got a 56-yard kickoff return to open the second half from Joshua Delira.
He fielded the bouncing kick on the facemask and ran alone down the St. Michael’s sideline until he got to about the 20. That’s when his left leg cramped and he stumbled his way past the front pylon with a SFIS player on his back.
After the game, head coach Joey Fernandez told his players to have fun at that night’s homecoming dance — and cautioned Delira about not hurting himself even worse.
“Josh, where’s Josh,” Fernandez said in the postgame huddle. “Don’t let your leg cramp up again on the dance floor.”
The Horsemen dominated the game, rolling up 449 yards in total offense compared to 137 for SFIS. The Braves got 78 yards rushing from Pino, but the St. Michael’s defense forced three interceptions and recorded four sacks.
A dozen players had at least one rushing attempt for the Horsemen, led by Kastendieck’s 78 yards on just four carries. The two-headed monster at quarterback combined for 265 yards passing as both Dominic Morgan and Lucas Coriz each finished 7-for-11 with a touchdown.
Fernandez admitted afterward that his plan was to get Regenold a shot at scoring. After the Horsemen drove inside the SFIS 10-yard-line late in the first quarter, he gave Regenold three straight handoffs — one for six yards, another for two.
“He’s such a big guy that he can’t give you that big burst of speed in the first couple of steps,” Fernandez said. “It takes a while for him to get going.”
As the game progressed and the outcome was no longer in doubt, Balderamos admitted he lobbied for his own shot at pay dirt.
“He kind of broke me down,” Fernandez laughed. “So I said he’d get his show if we got down there again.”
That moment came with 10 minutes remaining, St. Michael’s sitting on a 40-point lead.
“It’s exciting, you know?” Balderamos said. “When Tayo got in, I was pretty excited but, yeah, I was wondering if I’d ever get a chance.”
“Those two have worked so hard for so long for me,” Fernandez said. “It’s a nice reward for everything they’ve done.”
GAME NOTES
St. Michael’s plays two of its final three games on the road, visiting West Las Vegas (4-3, 1-0) next week, hosting Las Vegas Robertson (7-1, 2-0) on Oct. 27 and then finishing out at Raton (4-4, 0-2) on Nov. 2. … SFIS has been outscored 109-7 in its two district games and finishes at home the final two weeks against Raton and West Las Vegas. To have any real chance at the playoffs, the Braves are likely going to need to win out. … The Horsemen were without senior tight end Jake Tupler. The senior co-captain was injured.