Tigers outlast Coyotes in 6-man District 2 tilt

Oct. 15—DORA — Senior Dylan Taylor's 28-yard touchdown run about midway through the fourth quarter on Friday lifted Elida past Dora 24-20 in a key 6-man District 2 matchup.

Both teams now stand 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the district, trailing top-ranked Gateway Christian (6-0, 3-0). Elida is third in this week's MaxPreps 6-man poll, while Dora is fourth.

In a seesaw affair, the Coyotes held a 7-6 lead at halftime. Most of the scoring came in the third stanza, which ended with Dora clinging to a 20-18 advantage after both teams tallied twice.

Senior running back Mason Pritchett scored Elida's other three touchdowns, on runs of 20, 4 and 42 yards. Dora senior Conner Rooney rushed for touchdowns of 35 and 5 yards, while senior Lane Faver's 10-yard scoring toss to sophomore Cole Kircher gave the Coyotes a 20-18 lead late in the third segment.

Elida entertains Floyd in district play on Friday, while Dora travels to Albuquerque on Saturday for a non-district tilt against Chesteron Academy.

In other New Mexico area games on Friday:

Floyd 40, Grady 20 — At Floyd, junior Isaiah Nieto scored five touchdowns as the Broncos picked up their first win of the campaign.

Nieto scored on a 63-yard run in the first quarter for Floyd (1-4, 1-2 6-man District 2), then caught TD passes of 44, 54 and 57 yards from junior Daegan East. He also had a 57-yard interception return in the third stanza.

All the scoring for Grady (2-5, 0-4) came on passes from eighth-grader Noah Stanfield to eighth-grader Zander Ciancio, covering 48, 9 and 5 yards.

Grady is off this week, with the Bronchos' next outing coming in non-district play at Mountainair on Oct. 21.

Melrose 66, Clayton 18 — The Buffaloes stampeded to an 8-man District 3 win over the Yellowjackets at Clayton as freshman Jaxon Odom ran for three touchdowns and caught a pass for a fourth.

Sophomore quarterback Josiah Roybal ran for a 31-yard touchdowns and also threw a scoring pass each to five receivers for Melrose (5-3, 2-0 district), including a 7-yarder to Odom in the second quarter. The others were for 49 yards to junior Dathan Yeary, 22 yards to sophomore Brayden Eldridge and 11 yards to junior Michael Cardonita, who was playing his first game of the season coming off a knee injury.

Odom's TD runs were for 65 ,38 and 60 yards, and he also accounted for three of the Buffs' six 2-point conversions. Clayton (5-3, 0-3), playing its first year in 8-man, got single tallies in each of the first three stanzas.

Melrose is home on Friday night for a district clash with Logan.

Texico 54, Hagerman 0 — Sophomore running back Alex Fuentes ran for three touchdowns and the Wolverines (5-2, 1-0 District 4-2A) posted a dominating victory over the Bobcats (2-6, 0-2) at Hagerman.

Fuentes had scoring runs of 8, 7 and 2 yards, while junior quarterback Cade Figg rushed for TDs of 75 and 32 yards. Meantime, junior defensive back Ariel Garcia and junior linebacker Daltyn Cain notched pick-6s in the game, the latter ending it on the 50-point lead rule.

The Wolverines entertain unbeaten district leader Jal on Friday night.

In area Texas games on Friday night:

Stratford 40, Farwell 7 — In a battle of unbeatens, the Elks scored three times in the second quarter to open a 19-point halftime lead in the District 1-2A Division I opener for both teams at Stratford.

Sophomore quarterback Bryce Braden completed 8-of-13 passes for 175 yards and two scores and rushed 14 times for 93 yards and three tallies for Stratford (6-0). His TD runs covered 9, 4 and 16 yards while the touchdown tosses were 38 yards to his older brother, senior Luke Baden, and 31 yards to junior Lane Uttley.

Farwell's score came on a 35-yard run by senior quarterback Alec Actkinson in the third canto.

The Steers (5-1) return to action on Friday with a district home matchup against Sanford-Fritch.

Ralls 27, Bovina 20 — At Bovina, running back Zaiah Riojas rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns, including a 45-yarder late in the third period and a 77-yarder midway through the fourth to erase a 20-14 deficit and rally the Jackrabbits past the Mustangs in the District 3-2A Division II opener for both teams.

Bovina (1-5 overall) led 20-7 at halftime, getting first-quarter touchdown passes from junior quarterback Daniel Herrera of 13 yards to senior Darian De La Rosa and 41 yards to senior Caesar Amaya. Herrera added a 3-yard TD rush in the final minute of the half.

Ralls (5-1) finished with 425 yards on the ground in the contest. Meantime, Bovina posted 350 total yards, including 200 passing on 11-of-21 by Herrera, while De La Rosa finished with 23 carries for 110 yards and three receptions for 57.

Bovina's next outing is a district matchup on Friday at Crosbyton.

Bushland 34, Muleshoe 0 — The unbeaten Falcons (7-0 overall) opened District 2-3A Division I play with a convincing home triumph.

Bushland opened a 22-0 halftime lead. The Falcons limited the Mules (5-2) to 33 yards of total offense.

After an open date this week, Muleshoe returns to district play on Oct. 21 when it entertains Amarillo River Road.