Area golfers bag high finishes at Las Cruces championships
Oct. 24—Santa Fe's Geno Torres and Lee Sanchez won the Sun Country Amateur Golf Association's team title in the senior championship flight Sunday, firing a final-round 70 to finish at 2-under 140 over the two day tournament at the Hawk Golf Club in Las Cruces.
Torres and Sanchez walked away with $560 for their efforts. The Santa Fe duo of Jim Collins and Richard Alarid were fifth at 6-over 150.
The men's championship flight saw Santa Fe's Eric Trujillo and Trae Torres finish second, garnering $335 for finishing in the top two. The pair overcame a three-stroke difference after Saturday's first round, but a hot finish by El Paso's Noah Gutierrez and Christian Escalante gave them a three-stroke victory.
Kaylinda Crawford and Mechelle Taylor of Los Alamos were seventh in the women's championship flight.
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The 6-man football state playoffs are set, and New Mexico School for the Deaf is part of the mix. The Roadrunners (3-3) landed the No. 8 seed and will head to top-seeded Gateway Christian in the opening round.
NMSD started its season 2-0, lost three straight and finished with a rout of Jemez Valley last week to secure a trip to Roswell to face the defending state champions. Gateway Christian has won 18 games in a row. The winner will face either No. 4 Dora or No. 5 Ramah in the semifinals the first weekend in November.
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It was a momentous occasion for the Los Alamos football team Friday night, but one nagging question remains: What was the final? The Hilltoppers downed Albuquerque Valley at Sullivan Field to secure the District 2/6-5A title, their first since 2011.
However, there are still questions as to what the final score was. On MaxPreps.com, the score is listed as 35-15, but the following scores have been reported to various media outlets since then:
* 27-17
* 33-15
* 34-15
* 37-15
It is anyone's guess as to what the actual final score was, but at least all of them were in favor of Los Alamos.
The Hilltoppers, who are 5-4 overall and 2-0 in 2/6-5A, finish the season at Albuquerque Del Norte before finding out their seed and opponent to open the Class 5A playoffs on Saturday.
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Name a more dominant volleyball team in this area than St. Michael's.
Go ahead, we'll wait.
At 19-0, the Lady Horsemen are one of just a handful of undefeated teams. There are only five left: La Cueva, Melrose, Gateway Christian, Laguna-Acoma and St. Mike's.
The Lady Horsemen haven't lost a single set in district play and are 57-4 in that category all season. Two of those dropped sets came in the same match against St. Pius, and none has come since a 3-1 win over Los Lunas back on Sept. 10.
Despite having a roster with just two seniors and some pretty dominant underclassmen, they're not a unanimous pick for No. 1 in the Class 3A coaches poll. If you want to see all the fuss for yourself, the clock's ticking. The Lady Horsemen have three of their final four regular season matches at home, starting with Tuesday's visit from Santa Fe Prep. Senior night is Nov. 1 against West Las Vegas.
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We saw some interesting stuff in Saturday's football game at St. Michael's. The Horsemen rolled to a 55-30 win over El Paso Cathedral, but it was something the Irish did on the first drive of the game that got some folks' attention.
After moving 14 yards in six snaps, they were facing their second fourth-down situation of the game. The first one resulted in a first down when the Horsemen jumped offside as the teams were lining up for a punt.
The second saw not one, not two, but three illegal procedure flags thrown on Cathedral's gunner lined out wide to the right. The first two were on senior Daniel Landgrave as he flinched just before the snap in an effort to get downfield. The Irish replaced him with Jaiden Gonzalez on the third try and Gonzalez did the exact same thing.
It pushed the Irish back to their own 16 and helped set up the Horsemen at the Cathedral 42. The Horsemen opened the scoring five plays later when Marcus Leyba ran it in from 3 yards out to give his team a 7-0 lead they would never relinquish.
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If you ever wondered about the 50-point mercy rule in football and were curious about when it kicks in, Taos answered that Saturday against Pojoaque Valley.
For the uninitiated, the New Mexico Activities Association handbook for football rules mandate the clock run continuously once a team builds a lead of at least 35 points regardless of when that margin occurs. The game ends once the lead hits at least 50 — but only at halftime or later.
Most games this season have ended in the second half, including the Tigers' recent win over Española Valley. On Saturday they erupted for 34 points in the second quarter, and Pojoaque, building a 62-0 lead before the running clock finally got the game to halftime.
It continues what has been a brutal season for Pojoaque. The winless Elks have scored just 13 points in eight games, the fewest of any 11-man team in the state.
