Bears defense holds Valley to 96 yards in win
La Cueva, Bernalillo, Valencia all improve to 2-0 on Thursday
Three metro-area high school football teams improved to 2-0 on Thursday night, although this is not necessarily familiar territory for all three.
Bernalillo High School is 2-0 for the first time since 1979. Valencia High is 2-0 for the first time since 2013.
And at Milne Stadium, La Cueva routed Valley to win for the second time in as many weeks.
LA CUEVA 45, VALLEY 0: Ahead of a hugely important visit from Las Cruces next week, the Bears rolled up 513 offensive yards, while limiting the Vikings (1-1) to 96 yards.
“We’re getting there,” La Cueva coach Brandon Back said. “It’s a process. You can’t fake it, you can’t rush it. The more reps we get, the better we’ll get.”
The Bears scored touchdowns on four of their first six possessions.
The first score was the most exciting of the night, with senior quarterback Dylan Summer throwing a 67-yard strike to Prince Robertson, who was wide open.
“I just beat them on the busted coverage,” said Robertson, adding that La Cueva’s offense was definitely sharper from Week 1 to Thursday night. “We’re getting better. At first, we weren’t connecting, but now we’re getting it down.”
Summer, not widely recognized as a nimble QB, added a nifty 19-yard scoring run later in the first quarter. D’Andre Williams and wide receiver Connor O’Toole added TD runs in the second quarter for a 28-0 halftime cushion. Three of La Cueva’s four scoring drives in the opening half were with short fields of 40 yards or less.
Dominic Camacho was 6-for-6 on extra points and also kicked a field goal for La Cueva.
Summer played only two quarters. Backup Austin Smith threw for 92 yards in the second half, including a touchdown pass to Diego Flores. Summer was belted on the final play of the first half, but Back said he wanted to get Smith some time with the first-team offense in the second half.
“At that point, we are just making sure we have a good backup plan in place,” said Back.
Summer was 11-of-20 for 208 yards in his two quarters of work. Williams finished with 131 yards on 11 carries.
The La Cueva defense limited Valley to minus-19 yards rushing on 17 attempts. The deepest offensive penetration the Vikings had was late in the game when they reached the Bears’ 21. — James Yodice VALENCIA 36, HIGHLAND 6: In Tomé, Robbie Jaramillo caught a pair of long touchdown passes from QB Andres Lucero as the Jaguars stayed perfect in August. The TD connections covered 59 and 36 yards.
Valencia, which led 22-0 at halftime, plays Rio Grande next Thursday. The Jaguars won only one game last season. Highland fell to 1-1. BERNALILLO 44, NAVAJO PREP 0: In Farmington, quarterback Damian Gutierrez threw three touchdown passes as the Spartans routed the Eagles.
Told about the 1979 mark, Bernalillo coach John Cobos said: “Are you serious? Wow. It’s exciting for our team.”
The Spartans led 31-0 at halftime. They visit Albuquerque Academy a week from Saturday.