Eagles end long losing streak in 5-5A opener
The Belen Eagles broke a sixgame losing streak Saturday afternoon with a 48-0 victory over the Valley Vikings in a District 5-5A football opener at Milne Stadium.
“It’s a huge confidence booster,” Belen head coach Ty House said as his players celebrated. “It was severely needed right now. It’s very good for these kids and this program moving forward.”
Belen (2-6) got the first touchdown of the game on its first drive as Sefe Aragon caught a pass from backup quarterback Ben Hirschfield, who is under center in the absence of starter Luke Aragon. Aragon was injured in the fourth quarter against Deming last week.
The Eagles added another score before the end of the first quarter and went up 21-0 early in the second.
Anthony Roybal got the fourth score of the game for the Eagles on a drive set up by the second interception in two drives by Belen. Roybal took it from 18 yards out to make the lead 28-0 with less than a minute remaining before halftime.
The Eagles defense came up big repeatedly in the first half, setting up Roybal’s touchdown. But on the Vikings’ prior possession, VHS (0-8) was in the red zone when safety Gavin Chavez stepped in front of the receiver in the end zone to intercept a pass and put a stop to the only real threat Valley’s offense could muster.
In the second half, Roybal continued to dominate, scoring on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, busting off a 63-yard touchdown run around the left edge. Once Roybal got around the corner, the junior running back had a clear path to the end zone. His second touchdown in two possessions made the score 34-0.
Hirschfield connected with Daniel Hanson on the next possession from 21 yards out to give the Eagles a 41-0 lead and activate the running clock with 10:22 left in the third.
ALSO SATURDAY: Santiago Henry returned two punts for touchdowns, Miguel Rios had a pick-six and a TD catch, and Cody Leslie rushed for a pair of scores and threw for two more as Menaul (7-0, 2-0 in 2/8-Man) routed visiting Alamo Navajo 58-6. … Visiting Shiprock (5-3) scored all its points in the first half and held off Albuquerque Academy (3-6) 21-14.