Demons hit lowest point in 50-0 beating from Roswell

Aug. 27—Before closing his postgame talk with his players following Friday night's 50-0 loss to visiting Roswell, Santa Fe High football coach Andrew Martinez paused for a moment before asking one question.

"Who are you at your lowest point?"

After looking into the eyes of as many players as he could, he gave his own answer.

"Because that's how you'll be defined," he said.

While this may not actually be the Demons' low point just yet, Friday's blowout loss came with a weird feeling Martinez hasn't experienced in a while. His team was beaten in every facet of the game by the reigning No. 1 team in Class 5A — and that's especially true of the space between the players' ears.

"That look in their eyes, that blank stare those guys had early in the game, I've seen that before," Martinez said. "It's the look we had in a game against La Cueva, a game where they realize the other team is in a different place than they are."

Roswell looked every bit the part of a No. 1 team. After dismantling the defending 4A state champion, Lovington, in last week's season opener, the Coyotes provided more of the same before a quiet home crowd at Ivan Head Stadium. They scored on five of their six offensive possessions while returning a punt and an interception for touchdowns, the latter ending the game via the mercy rule with 3:55 still on the clock in the third quarter.

Even worse were the injuries. Three Demons were carted off the field while a handful of others either needed assistance or came limping off under their own power. The biggest loss came on what proved to be the final play from scrimmage as starting quarterback Michael Abeyta was hit along the Roswell sideline after throwing an interception.

He remained on the turf for several minutes, getting a ride off the field and into the medical tent on the team's sideline.

"Not sure what his status is but it's not good," Martinez said. "Not good."

The Roswell team that finished the game was a far cry from the Roswell that was on the field for the first possession. The Coyotes (2-0) fumbled three times on their first four snaps, recovering all of them. They wound up punting.

They kicked it into overdrive from that point. Using a no-huddle offense that barely gave the officials enough time to spot the ball before it was snapped, the Coyotes got a big night from everyone who touched the ball. The team's seven touchdowns were scored by seven players, the last of which was a pick-6 by Frank Ramirez on the play that injured Abeyta.

"We're coming away from this thing with a lot of injuries and, not to be insensitive, it has to be the next-guy-in mentality if we're going to turn this around," Martinez said. "This is the last time I'm going to say this this year; we're young and it's not going to be an excuse anymore this year. We've got to be better as coaches to get these guys ready and locked in."

Martinez said the last time he'd seen as many injuries from a team he'd coached was in 2002 when, while an assistant at St. Michael's, the Horsemen had at least a dozen players go down in a loss to Santa Fe High.

"As a coach, you never want your kids to be on the wrong side of this, but Roswell — that's a very good, very strong team," he said. "I don't know if I've ever seen a team that physically strong since maybe that La Cueva game. Strong, physical and speed. If we want to be who we want to be, we've got to play those kind of opponents."

Heading into rivalry week against St. Michael's, Martinez reminded his players of one thing.

"No one's going to feel sorry for us and the Horsemen, they're coming in here salivating," he said. "The feeling right now is like getting kicked in the gut. It's like we just got kicked and how we recover, how we come back from this will say a lot."

GAME NOTESTough sledding: The Demons got into Roswell territory just once, and it came on a sustained drive that lasted nearly five minutes. A pass interference call helped push Santa Fe High as far as the Coyotes' 19-yard-line but the drive stalled when Abeyta was sacked on fourth down, and the Demons trailed 14-0.

Stats: The Demons had just 57 yards of total offense. Abeyta passed for 75 yards but the team's running game produced negative 18 yards.

Roswell quarterback Manny Fuentez completed 9 of 11 passes (all in the first half) for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

Big play: Santa Fe's biggest play on offense came on the drive when Abeyta rolled out to his right and hit receiver Gabriel Lomayestewa — generously listed at 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds — for a 32-yard gain. The drive was kept alive by two Roswell penalties in third-and-long situations.

Not great: Considered a postseason contender before the opener, Santa Fe is 0-2 and has been outscored 106-12. The Demons will host St. Michael's (2-0) on Friday at Ivan Head Stadium.