Moriarty’s Magoffe scores 4 TDS to help Pintos neutralize Newcomb
Moriarty needed a jolt to get back on track and the visiting Newcomb Skyhawks were just what the doctor ordered.
In their Sept. 2 home matchup, the Pintos’ offense was on fire the whole game as Michael Magoffe scored four touchdowns, Santiago Chavez chipped in two, Amare Gonzales added one and the Pintos dominated the Skyhawks 47-0.
Rebounding from their loss at Albuquerque Academy the previous week, the Pintos wasted no time marching downfield during their opening drive and caught the Skyhawks sleeping when Gonzales tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Magoffe who had nobody near him. “No one really realizes we’re gonna pass on them, so I was just wide open in the end zone,” Magoffe said, adding, “I’m pretty sure that was my first one ever.”
Gonzales also said the TD pass was the first in his career.
Isaiah Quintana’s 50-yard punt return put Moriarty deep in Newcomb territory, setting up Magoffe’s second TD—A 10yard scamper around the right side.
Another good punt return by Quintana put the Pintos at the Newcomb 22. After a holding penalty moved Moriarty back a bit, Magoffe capped the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run just before the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Newcomb put together its only drive of the game, eating up most of the frame before stalling out and turning the ball over on downs at the Pintos 38 with 4.6 seconds left in the first half. On the final play of the second quarter, the Pintos came close to scoring again when Gonzales lofted a deep pass to a wide-open Quintana, but he couldn’t haul it in, and Moriarty went into the locker room leading 20-0.
“I was happy the way we came out and jumped on them 20-0,” Moriarty head coach Gabe Romero said.
The Pintos opened the second half with a surprise onside kick that they recovered at midfield. “It’s one of those things we worked on, a quick little surprise,” Romero said. “Coach Encinias said, ‘Let’s run it,’ he’s the special teams guy, and we got it and I think that was big, it got the kids excited.”
Matthew Romero’s 43-yard run put Moriarty inside the Newcomb 7-yard line. One play later, Santiago Chavez bulldozed his way into the end zone for his first varsity TD of the season and a 26-0 lead.
Magoffe capped Moriarty’s next drive with his fourth TD—A 58-yard burst on a jet sweep to extend the lead to 33-0.
Magoffe, who was wearing pink laces on his cleats, said, “My grandma had surgery today, so I had these pink laces on for her and I just played for her tonight.”
After Preston Hatten recovered a Newcomb fumble to give the Pintos a first-and-goal at the Skyhawks 1-yard line, Chavez plowed his way in for his second TD and a 40-0 lead.
“It feels good, it feels good,” Chavez said about his two TDS. “The second one felt better for sure cuz I got more people on top of me.”
Early in the fourth quarter, facing third-and-long near midfield, Gonzales rolled out to his left to throw a pass but was cornered by a couple of Newcomb defenders. Gonzales spun around and headed east, toward the opposite side of the field, then broke a tackle and zigzagged his way through Newcomb’s defense for a 48-yard touchdown.
“He started to scramble and then he just kind of juked his way back and forth and made a great run there,” coach Romero said.