Las Cruces routs Sandia; Rio Rancho next

Artesia rips Capital, Alamo wins on late FG in Class 5A

LAS CRUCES — The Sandia Matadors had the first seven points Friday night.

The Las Cruces Bulldawgs had the final 51.

No. 5 seed Las Cruces (9-2) scored on offense, defense and special teams in a Class 6A first-round game, as the Bulldawgs routed visiting No. 12 seed Sandia 51-7 at the Field of Dreams.

Las Cruces is at No. 4 Rio Rancho in next week’s quarterfinals, likely on Friday night.

Running back Johnny Terrazas rushed for a pair of touchdowns for Las Cruces. Israel Ramirez returned a punt 80 yards for a score, and Jonathan Mcrae had a picksix of Sandia quarterback Junior Silva. The Ramirez and Mcrae scores came within a span of 11 seconds in the first quarter.

The FOD is hosting two more 6A quarterfinals on Saturday, with Cibola facing Centennial at 1 p.m., and Mayfield taking on Carlsbad at 7 p.m.

CLASS 5A: Suffice it to say, the Artesia Bulldogs snapped out of their funk, scoring the first 43 points of the game en route to a 56-35 victory at No. 7 Capital.

No. 10 seed Artesia scored right out of the gate with a long touchdown pass from QB Clay Houghtaling to Erik Cueto. The Bulldogs (6-5) overwhelmed the Jaguars (6-5) in the first quarter, putting up 29 points in the game’s opening 10 minutes.

Artesia visits No. 2 Los Lunas at 1 p.m. next Saturday in the 5A quarterfinals. The Bulldogs had dropped their last three regular-season games entering the playoffs.

Elsewhere in 5A, Alamogordo placekicker Brett Money nailed a 29-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining as No. 9 seed Alamo — which blew a 24-7 lead — edged No. 8 Santa Teresa 27-26. The Tigers face No. 1 Roswell in the quarterfinals.

Alamogordo had a 17-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Desert Warriors took a 26-24 lead on a fourth-down touchdown run with 7:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Santa Teresa missed a 2-point conversion after that score, which loomed large.

Also Friday, No. 5 Deming coasted past No. 12 Belen 42-6, and sixth-seeded Piedra Vista ended Highland’s season with a 55-15 victory in Farmington. The Wildcats are at Farmington next week in the quarterfinals, while the Panthers go to Roswell to face No. 3 Goddard.

Highland was in its first playoff game since 2011.

CLASS 4A: Two metro-area teams saw their seasons end on Friday night.

No. 8 seed Ruidoso eliminated ninth-seeded St. Pius 35-13 as the Sartans close their season 4-7. The Warriors (5-6) will travel to No. 1 seed Bloomfield next week in the quarterfinals.

In Kirtland, No. 12 seed Moriarty was beaten 49-10 by Kirtland Central, as the Broncos go to No. 4 seed Grants next.

The other two 4A first-round games are Saturday, with Aztec hosting Bernalillo and Taos playing host to Silver.

OTHER CLASSES: No. 5 Tularosa was the only 3A team to advance on Friday, with a 50-0 victory over Zuni. The remaining three first-round matchups are Saturday, including No. 9 St. Michael’s visiting No. 8 Raton in the schools’ second meeting in two weeks.

In the 2A quarterfinals Friday night, No. 4 Fort Sumner/House eliminated fifthseeded Estancia, 30-8. And No. 3 Texico advanced, shutting out No. 11 Capitan 41-0.

The first of this year’s state championship games is Saturday, with No. 1 Elida meeting No. 2 Springer/Maxwell in the 6-Man final in Elida at 1 p.m.