Knights blank Chargers
Sprinkler head trips Del Norte’s See to provide game’s drama
Here was an example that proved there can be real drama in a football game that ends 48-0. For that, we can thank a protruding sprinkler head. Del Norte senior running back Avery See was well on his way to his fifth touchdown of the day Saturday afternoon, cruising along the near sideline at Albuquerque Academy. He had gone over 300 yards for the day on this run, and was only 10 yards from the end zone when he tripped on the aforementioned sprinkler head, and crumbled to the ground 3 yards shy of the goal line. It was an unnerving sight. A hamstring? An Achilles heel? A knee? Fortunately, See said he only sprained his right ankle. That was the last play of his brilliant 14-carry, 326-yard day as the Knights pounded the smaller Chargers in a District 2-5A matchup. “He’s a special kid,” Del Norte coach Bruce Binkley said. “He’s a wonderful athlete and a great kid.” See’s effort allowed the Knights (4-3-1, 3-0 in 2-5A) to maintain their lead in 2-5A. And in fact, a district championship is merely a foregone conclusion at this point, since the only team left on their schedule is Española Valley, a team that labored to beat Academy just a couple of weeks ago. “The mindset is to build all the momentum we can going into the playoffs,” said See, who moved close to 1,300 yards for the season after Saturday. The Knights scored touchdowns on their first four drives. See had TD runs of 8, 73 and 6 yards, and quarterback Devante Garcia added an 8-yard run. Del Norte, which has won four straight, finished just shy of 500 yards rushing — and only because the Knights lost six yards on a kneel-down on the game’s final play. Del Norte had 496 rushing yards and 585 of total offense. Academy (2-7, 0-3) had 135 yards. At the Field of Dreams, running back Ryan Beltran ran for three touchdowns and caught a pass for a fourth, and the Bulldawgs routed the Hawks in District 3-6A on Saturday night. Las Cruces (7-1, 4-0) outscored Centennial (7-2, 4-1) 23-0 in the first quarter, on a 19-yard scoring run by Beltran and a 64-yard TD pass from Payton Ball to Beltran. Ball also threw 36 yards to Ivan Molina in the opening quarter. Beltran added TD runs of 1 and 12 yards. LAS CRUCES 37, CENTENNIAL 15: