Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Jal came into its home-opening game ranked second in the Class 2A coaches poll, and it largely justified it during a 65-0 drubbing Thursday of a young and inexperienced Tucumcari team. The game ended at halftime due to the mercy rule.
The Panthers ran only 11 offensive plays but scored touchdowns on six. Jacob Lujan scored three rushing touchdowns, and quarterback Alexavier Carreon ran for two TDs and threw for another.
The besieged Rattlers committed seven turnovers, logged only one first down (on a Jal penalty) and moved the ball past midfield only once, seconds before the game ended. Tucumcari totaled minus-28 yards in offense.
New Tucumcari head coach Donnie Garcia made no excuses.
“It wasn’t too good,” he said a day after the game. “We just need to regroup and put it behind us. We need to take our lumps and get ready for next week. We can’t dwell on it.”
Garcia said two Rattler seniors were unable to play because of injuries, complicating matters for his team.
And he acknowledged the Panthers were a handful.
“They’ve got a lot of seniors, and they’ve got some big kids and are aggressive,” he said of Jal.
“Eventually, we’ll put things together. The kids are working hard. They’re not giving up on themselves.”
One sign it would be a long night for the Rattlers came in the first quarter while trailing 15-0. On its 9-yard line, Tucumcari was penalized on three consecutive plays for illegal procedure, backing up the ball to near the 1.
Garcia faulted his receivers for those penalties.
“They had a new quarterback in there where they weren’t ready for his cadence,” he said. “But you should be watching the ball.”
On third-down-and-18 from the 1, Tucumcari quarterback Nicholas Romero completed a left-side pass to receiver Daymion Urioste, who was tackled almost immediately in the end zone for a safety.
Several times, Tucumcari threw on fourth down instead of punting. That change in strategy was prompted by crosswinds that caused previous punts to sail only a few yards.
“I figured our quarterback could throw the ball 25 yards and maybe we’d get a reception,” Garcia said. “If it was intercepted, that still was better than a 10-yard kick.”
Jal’s domination was total in a variety of ways:
-- The Panthers led 38-0 after one quarter.
-- Jal never started an offensive drive in its territory, and five began inside Tucumcari’s 30-yard line.
-- The Panthers forced three fumbles and three interceptions.
Even when misfortune seemingly struck Jal, it turned into gold. On a point-after kick attempt early in the game, the snap to holder Carreon was fumbled. Carreon picked up the ball, scrambled a bit and threw a pass to Lujan in the corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion.
The Rattlers will host their home opener against Thoreau at 7 p.m. Friday. Thoreau blasted Zuni 50-0 on Saturday. The Hawks are coming off a 6-4 campaign last season where they qualified for the Class 3A playoffs.
