Rattlers fresh off bye week for battle of Interstate-40

link Rattler’s D’Ontee Sandoval fights to keep a touchdown

pass from quarterback Tyler Ferguson.

Sandoval caught the pass in the endzone for his second score during the Oct. 10 game against the West Las Vegas Dons.

Thomas Garcia

QCS Senior Writer

The Tucumcari Rattlers (0-7) football team starts a district run Friday night against the Lions (2-5) at Santa Rosa.

The Rattlers’ last game was a 67-36 loss on Oct. 10 to the West Las Vegas Dons in Tucumcari.

Rattler’s Coach Wayne Ferguson said the team did not take advantage of momentum gained from D’Ontee Sandoval’s return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the Dons. It was his third kickoff return for a touchdown in two games.

Ferguson said the team came alive in the second half, making stops on defense and executing the offense well to get into scoring position. He said the Rattlers were not as aggressive in the first half and allowed the game to get away from them.

Ferguson said the team needs to work on coming out with the same fire it had in the second half against the Dons. He said the Rattlers need to be aggressive from the start. Their game in the second half should show them they are capable of physical play.

Game time: 7 p.m., Friday at Santa Rosa.

8-Man

The Logan Longhorns (8-0) has a non-conference game Friday night against the Chiefs (3-5) at Mescalero Apache.

“From what I have seen on film and scouting reports the Chiefs have a lot of size and speed and we are going to have to shut down their run game,” said Kene Terry, Longhorn’s head coach.

Terry said the Chiefs’ running backs like to get behind their offensive line, which has many big players that create lanes for them to run through. He said the Longhorns will have to work on being aggressive on the line and pushing the Chiefs’ linemen into the backfield to disrupt the run.

The Longhorns won their last game 86-0 on Friday against the Springer/Maxwell Red Devils.

Terry said the team did a great job of eliminating dropped passes, which had been an issue in their previous game. He said they only had three incomplete passes which was a great improvement.

Game time: 7 p.m., at Mescalero Apache.

The Grady/San Jon Coyotes (5-2) (1-1) will take on district opponent the Broncos (5-1) (2-0) at Floyd.

The Coyotes lost 57-6 to the Panthers (6-2) (1-1) Friday at Lake Arthur.

What the Coyotes need to do to be ready for the Broncos is step up on defense, said Bobby Gomez, Coyotes head coach.

Gomez said the team needs to be as aggressive as they have been in past game and be prepared to stop the Broncos’ running game.

Game time 2 p.m., Friday at Floyd.