Demons’ QB, running back are S.F. High team cogs
Seniors Mora, Jaramillo play crucial role in Demons’ potential for on-field success
“Include the team.”
That is the mantra Martell Mora and Luc Jaramillo live by on the football field. The two seniors have been key cogs in Santa Fe High’s offense for three seasons, but they know they have to involve the rest of the team for the Demons to become a playoff team in Class 6A, the highest classification in the sport.
Mora said it takes leadership for that to happen.
“Include the team because you’re not alone,” said Mora, the Demons’ starting running back. “I mean, it might seem like it’s just the two of us, but honestly, it’s the whole team.”
As much as they might want to spread the wealth with their teammates, Mora and Jaramillo get their fair share. In last week’s season opening 34-8 win over Las Vegas Robertson, Mora ran for 180 yards on just 15 carries, scored four touchdowns and had more than 200 all-purpose yards as he handled kickoff and punt return duties. Meanwhile, Jaramillo was 5-for-12 for 101 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 33 yards as the Demons’ dual-threat quarterback.
They accounted for 75 percent of the Demons’ offensive output, which underscored their significance. The duo will put that on display again for a Week 2 matchup at Moriarty at 7 p.m. Friday. A win will give Santa Fe High its first 2-0 start since 1998.
However, Santa Fe High head coach Andrew Martinez said they haven’t been able to find the chemistry he envisioned over the past three seasons.
The primary roadblock were injuries to Jaramillo. He had a leg injury during the summer of 2019 that slowed his development, then he injured his knee in the season-opening game against Rio Rancho in the shortened spring season.
Now, fully healthy, Martinez said the offense might finally blossom into a potent unit.
“I know Luc and Martell get talked about a lot,” Martinez said. “But you know what? [Running back] Daniel Wright is a tremendous back, and [fullback Adan Chavez] is a great blocker and can catch the ball out of the backfield. And all of those backs can run or catch out of the backfield. We have six backs that can do anything, and I feel really blessed to have those types of
kids back there.”
A big development Martinez saw out of Jaramillo was his ability to shake off a bad half and adjust. He completed just two of his first eight passes against Robertson and looked out of sync at times on the field. Jaramillo went so far as to apologize for his first-half performance at halftime, then he directed the offense to touchdowns in three of its first four possessions in the second half.
Jaramillo said he couldn’t have done that when he was the starting signal-caller as a sophomore in 2019.
“I thought I knew everything and I didn’t have to listen to my coaches,” Jaramillo said. “But going and watching film and seeing what they were saying, I kinda understood what I was doing wrong and I did everything I could to fix what I was doing.”
Jaramillo also dealt with the weight of heavy expectations that began when he was a freshman starter on a team dominated by underclassmen in 2018, as well as his own family’s expectations. His brother, Chross Jaramillo, was a talented multi-purpose football player at St. Michael’s and Capital, while his dad, Rick Jaramillo, played at Santa Fe High in the mid-1980s when the program was among the best in the state.
“My brother and dad have always been successful,” Luc Jaramillo said. “So, just living up to them and coming here, where it hasn’t been known for being successful for a long time, it’s obviously pressure, but I got my teammates with me.”
The experience Mora, Jaramillo and the 16 other seniors on the team bring to the program has been significant in helping bring Santa Fe High to the brink of respectability. Mora said it was a tough climb because of the toxic nature of the program, which has not had a winning season in 23 years and just since 1986. He said there were times when the team would be breaking down film, and some players would fall asleep during the session.
When the Demons studied film of their 2019 game against Moriarty, Mora took a quick glance around the darkened room and found nary a person nodding off.
“That just means they bought into the whole mental [preparation],” Mora said. “If you can’t [practice] on the field, then do it in here.”
Mora and Jaramillo hope that by the time the season is through, their names won’t be the only one on the tips of opposing coaches’ tongues.