Horsemen's QB still on target

Oct. 10—Consistency, thy name is Zach Martinez.

When the St. Michael's quarterback threw an interception against Las Vegas Robertson on Saturday, it was just the second of the season, out of 109 passes.

Martinez's first interception came in the second quarter of the Aug. 20 season opener against Taos in the rain at home. The second pick Saturday came in the second quarter at home, also in the rain.

Martinez's first interception came on the team's third series of the game. You can take a guess what series it was when Nathaniel Gonzales intercepted Martinez's pass.

Martinez rebounded with perhaps his best performance as quarterback, connecting on 16 of 27 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He now has 13 touchdown passes to just two picks this season.

So, if there was such a thing as a betting line on his next interception, the odds are good that it will happen at home in the rain on the third possession of the game.

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Let's keep the Horsemen football theme going for a moment. Coming into Saturday's game against Robertson, St. Michael's had achieved perfect offensive symmetry. Through six games, the Horsemen had 990 rushing yards and 990 passing yards.

Alas, the Cardinals ruined everything with a stout defensive performance. The Horsemen had 212 passing yards as a result, compared to just 36 rushing yards. They will try to rectify the imbalance when they play at Raton on Saturday.

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Was there a request for one more note about Northern New Mexico's best football rivalry? Well, here you go. The last time St. Michael's beat the Cardinals was Oct. 27, 2018, by a 39-7 score at Christian Brothers Athletic Complex. It was a day in which senior quarterback Dominic Morgan threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns, while Luke Kastendieck had 81 yards on the ground as St. Michael's built a 32-0 lead early in the third quarter.

The two teams played each other three weeks later in the Class 3A quarterfinals, and the Cardinals snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a 28-27 win. They scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the game, and Mathew Gonzales scored on a two-point conversion reception to secure the win.

Robertson went on to its fourth straight appearance in the state championship game that year, and has won four more Horsemen-Cardinals matchups since then.

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Is there anything better than walking into a stadium and seeing the vibrant green grass look so thick and healthy that you'd swear it was one of those plush blankets straight off the shelf?

Well, the folks at SportsField Management think it can be better. A professional organization whose members are devoted to manicuring and perfecting all things grass and dirt (the real kind) is opening its annual mowing pattern contest this Thursday.

The rules are simple; you must be a SFMA member to enter ($130 fee required) and any patterns you mow must be done with standard mowing equipment. In other words, no computer-programmed robots, no space-aged laser cutters, no alien ships laying down crop circle formations. It's something you have to plan, eyeball and execute yourself.

So fire up that mower, go find one of the few grass fields that still exist out there — say, Ragle Park, the St. Mike's football field or the 17th fairway at Marty Sanchez — and do your thing.

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Want a sneak peak at what the state cross-country meet might look like? Head to Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza on Saturday. The meet will be held on the same course Nov. 5.

The regular-season meet will operate much like the state meet, with divisions for small schools (Class 1A/2A), 3A, 4A and 5A.

The event begins with the big-school boys and girls races at 9 a.m., followed by 1A/2A, 4A and 3A. While most of the schools in the state will compete at the race, the question remains about which teams will not appear.

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Predictions for the New Mexico Bowl are pouring in and, based on the early returns, it looks like another non-Lobos postseason affair.

Of the 10 national sports outlets tracked by the bowl game for its weekly media notes package, none of them foresee a UNM appearance for the Dec. 17 game at University Stadium.

A look at this past weekend's projections might make the casual fan root for the crystal ball being used by Yahoo Sports and the Sporting News. Yahoo forecasts a Boise State-Houston showdown while the Sporting News sees an Air Force-BYU matchup.

The bowl's contract calls for a Mountain West-Conference USA matchup, but in the event one or both leagues cannot field enough bowl-eligible teams, the New Mexico Bowl can go window shopping for the next-best thing. Neither BYU nor Houston are in C-USA, which makes their projections somewhat intriguing.

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Anyone who follows minor league baseball knows there's a bona fide identity crisis taking place across the game. Teams at all levels throughout the country have sold their souls to maintain some sort of edge in the marketing and merchandising multiverse.

Virtually every team takes on a new nickname or dons an alternate uniform, all in the interest of keeping fans excited about the latest new thing. Even the Albuquerque Isotopes, once the wackiest, highest-selling brand of minor league ball in the country, have jumped head-first into the fray by going with uniforms and nicknames ranging from the familiar (Dukes) to the culturally relevant (Mariachis) to the just plain weird (Green Chile Cheeseburgers).

Toss in the alts that included Better Call Saul, Star Wars and Breaking Bad — it's a lot to take in.

Well strap on that seatbelt because it's about to get weirder. On Monday, the team will reveal its alternate logo for MiLB's 2023 promotion, Marvel Defenders of the Diamond. They're one of 96 teams across MiLB to take part in a contest designed to bring the most creative and unique Marvel-related logos to life.

A few have already gone public and, yeah, they're 100 percent superhero-ish, like the cape and shield for the Durham Bulls logo, the flaming ears on the El Paso Chihuahuas logo, the flapping cape and superhero landing pose of the Hartford Yard Goats logo.

The Isotopes will go public with their temporary rebrand at approximately noon Monday.