Jaguars, Horsemen have plenty on the line this weekend
Oct. 14—For the Capital Jaguars, the playoffs begin Saturday.
Meanwhile, the St. Michael's Horsemen head to Raton, where they'll try to regain the edge that made them Class 3A's top-ranked team, and the Santa Fe High Demons can play the spoilers role while gaining momentum for next year.
The city's "Big Three" enter Week 9 of the prep season with big games — yes, even Santa Fe High. It's just that the Los Lunas Tigers have something on the line in Friday night's matchup at Ivan Head Stadium. Los Lunas can wrap up at least a tie for the District 5-6A title with a win and an automatic berth in the Class 6A playoffs.
As for the other two city teams, plenty is as stake. And they both play Saturday.
Capital has its final home game against Albuquerque High at 1:30 p.m. The Horsemen make the three-plus hour trip to Raton to take on the Tigers in a matchup that will keep one of them in the hunt for the District 2-3A title.
Jaguars, Bulldogs face off in a must-win game
Capital (3-4 overall, 0-1 in 5-6A) got a much-needed bye week after a tough 43-21 loss to the Tigers on Sept. 30 to open district play. The week gave the Jaguars a chance to get healthy, especially on the offensive line, where they were missing two key starters to injuries. Even without Victor Aguilar and Ricardo Martinez, Capital ran for 202 yards on the ground against Los Lunas.
As the season has progressed, it has become abundantly clear the Jaguars are as much a running team as they were under former head coach Bill Moon.
Keeping Albuquerque High (1-6, 0-2) off the field can only help Capital. Both come into the game winless, but the Jaguars need a win to entertain hopes of squeezing into the playoffs as the district runner-up. That will require a three-game winning streak to end the season — and probably help elsewhere.
It would be quite the accomplishment for a program in its inaugural season in the big-school division.
"I've been telling the kids that we got an opportunity, but we just got to win one game at a time," Jaguars head coach Joaquin Garcia said. "At the end of the day, we can do something other people said we couldn't do."
Horsemen look to regain rhythm against Raton
St. Michael's (6-1, 1-1) looked every bit the part of the state's best team heading into last week's game against Robertson, especially after a 51-20 romp over West Las Vegas on Sept. 30. However, a physical Las Vegas
Robertson team dictated the terms of a 28-20 win, as the Cardinals ran for 160 yards and limited the Horsemen rushing attack to just 36 yards.
Even with that, the Horsemen had a chance to force overtime when they drove to the Robertson 12-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Once again, the run game will be crucial to success for St. Michael's. Having tight end Tavon Lozada return to the field will help, as he was a former lineman with Santa Fe High before transferring in 2021. However, he also is a big target in the passing game for quarterback Zach Martinez. The 6-foot-3 senior is second on the team in catches (20) and leads all receivers with six touchdowns.
If St. Michael's can open up its rushing attack against Raton (7-1, 2-0), that can only help the defense in its effort to slow down Tigers star tailback Cayden Walton. The 5-foot-9 senior has yet to have a game with fewer than 200 rushing yards and peppered West Las Vegas for 332 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-7 win over the weekend.
Undermanned Demons try for upset against Los Lunas
In a season filled with injuries to key players, the Demons (1-6, 0-2) remain short-handed. However, they have shown an ability to run the ball with the return of junior running back Alex Mora, who had 82 yards in last week's 53-0 5-6A loss at Clovis.
Santa Fe High was plagued by turnovers, as three of quarterback Andrew Allen's passes were returned for touchdowns, including an 87-yard return in the opening quarter as the Demons were trying to rally from a 14-0 deficit at that point.
Andrew Martinez, the Demons head coach, said taking advantage of those opportunities is crucial in any ball game, much less one against district-leading Los Lunas (4-4, 2-0).
"We just got to execute." Martinez said. "We can't shoot ourselves in the foot and have long drives and not come out with any points. We have to slow them down because they can ground and pound you. Plus, they can hit you with the deep ball."
