Lions trounce Tucumcari

SANTA ROSA - A fired-up Lions squad seized control of their Homecoming game with five touchdowns in the first quarter - including four by speedy running back Andres Madrid - en route to a 55-0 victory Friday over Tucumcari in a game shortened by the mercy rule late in the fourth period.

Madrid peeled off touchdown runs of 10, 52, 15 and 89 yards and totaled 248 yards rushing on just nine carries by the end of the first period.

Santa Rosa quarterback Nate Rodarte added 104 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Sophomore Jykub Gage scored an 89-yard touchdown run in his only carry in the fourth quarter. The Lions totaled more than 500 yards of offense - mostly in the first half as they staked a 43-0 lead - and averaged over 20 yards per play.

Meanwhile, the Rattlers totaled just 93 yards of offense and advanced just twice into their opponents' red zone, and one of those came largely because of three 15-yard penalties against the Lions. Quarterback Andrew Henderson-Clark was Tucumcari's top rusher with 31 yards in four carries.

Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson anticipated it might be a difficult night against the Lions because of five players sidelined by injuries.

"We knew it would be a tough battle because we have some many players hurt right now," he said. "We had to cancel our JV game with them Saturday because my backfield tonight is basically my JV backfield."

Ferguson said he was disappointed by what he described as a mostly lackadaisical effort.

"All I told them before the game was I wanted them to play hard," he said. "We didn't play hard. I'll take an outcome like this if we play hard and get beat. But when you don't want to play ..."

Both teams came into the game with 1-3 records. But all three of Santa Rosa's losses came against stout Class 3A teams - Dexter, West Las Vegas and Robertson. Lions coach David Chavez said he thought his young and inexperienced team could turn the corner this season against Tucumcari.

"We came out with a lot of energy and intensity," he said. "We just jumped on them for the get-go and created early momentum. That was our plan - to come out with excitement.

"We executed our offense as well as we have all year, and our defense was intense and passionate. It's what I've been looking for from our guys, and I think we've found it tonight. We're starting to find ourselves a little bit. I hope we can carry that forward."

Madrid set the tone with running plays of 24, 15 and 10 yards - the latter for a touchdown - less than two minutes into the game. He scored three more times during the quarter to help give his team a 36-0 lead.

"He's their best athlete in the school," Ferguson said. "He's a state champion in track, and he's one of their better basketball players. We knew about him and prepared for him, but when you give him the edge, we've got nobody fast enough to chase him down."

Meanwhile, Tucumcari deepened their hole with two lost fumbles during the first quarter.

Santa Rosa stepped off the gas a bit in the second quarter, but Rodarte scored on an 85-yard touchdown run to give his team a 43-0 by halftime.

Ferguson said he tried to reset his team during intermission.

"We had a long talk at halftime, and some listened to us and some didn't ... one specifically didn't," he said, referring to a lineman who stormed off the field in the second half after being yelled at for a penalty. "We talked about being a team and what it takes, putting the team first. But we continued to do some selfish stuff."

One of Tucumcari's best chances to score came late in the first half. Santa Rosa was whistled for two personal-foul penalties, plus roughing the passer, to move the Rattlers to the 15-yard line. Tucumcari moved no closer to the goal line after two rushing attempts for a loss and two incomplete passes.

"We've got to clean that up," Chavez said of the penalties. "I don't like that. Anyone who got a penalty, we'll do some (extra workouts) on Monday and make sure it's not an issue anymore."

Tucumcari also had a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter that sputtered at Santa Rosa's 8-yard line.

The Rattlers travel to Las Vegas to play Robertson at 7 p.m. Thursday. Robertson (4-1) defeated Espanola Valley 54-0 on Friday.