Rattlers offense struggles in loss to Thoreau

Tucumcari football coach Donnie Garcia was looking for progress after the opening-week loss at Jal, and he found it with his defense during the Rattlers' home opener Friday night against Thoreau.

Tucumcari's offense remains a work in progress, however.

The Rattlers D showed grit by forcing two turnovers and halting several Hawks drives. However, the Rattlers offense didn't get much going for a second straight week, and Thoreau kept plugging away with its run game to turn a 16-0 halftime lead into a solid 40-0 victory.

Tucumcari totaled 29 yards of offense Friday, a modest improvement from its negative yardage the previous week against state-ranked Jal.

But the Rattlers remained mired deep in their territory for much of the contest and repeatedly gave the Hawks a short field for almost all their drives.

"Our defense actually came to play," Garcia said. "We did OK there; it's just really hard when we can't move the ball on offense. If we don't start inside our 30 each time, we're still in the game. It was only 16-0 at half; we've just gotta play ball. We have to finish on offense."

Tucumcari bottled up Thoreau's passing game, but the Hawks totaled 322 yards rushing, much of it in the second half. Ray Long ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns in 19 carries.

Thoreau coach Erik Loera admitted the Rattlers looked bad the previous week against Jal, but he wasn't going to overlook his foe Friday night.

"We weren't going to come in overconfident," he said. "They were playing a good team. Jal, they'll be in the state finals, I'm sure.

"We knew Tucumcari is fast, and we've always struggled with speed. They're struggling right now, but they've got some athletes out there. They've just got to be more consistent."

Thoreau began its first possession at Tucumcari's 40, but it took nine plays for the Hawks to reach the end zone against the Rattlers' stubborn defense, including converting a fourth-and-goal play from the 4-yard line.

Thoreau made it 8-0 when a shotgun snap went through Tucumcari quarterback Nick Romero's hands and the ball dribbled into the end zone. Romero recovered it to prevent a defensive touchdown, but the Hawks scored a safety.

The Hawks made it 16-0 on a Tys Nelson's 10-yard rushing score with about 4 1/2 minutes before intermission.

It could have been more lopsided during the first half, but Tucumcari recovered two fumbles and stopped the Hawks on a fourth-down attempt.

After another Thoreau touchdown to make it 24-0, the Rattler offense showed life late in the third quarter. Romero gained two first downs on quarterback keepers for sizable yardage, and running back Antonio Gonzales added 15 yards on a run to move Tucumcari to Thoreau's 16-yard line.

On third-and-8, Romero's pass near the end zone was intercepted and returned to the Tucumcari 23, ending the threat.

Romero experienced a rough night passing, going 3-for-16 with three interceptions. But Garcia didn't blame him entirely for that.

"When Nick made up his mind he wanted to run the ball, he looked pretty good on those quarterback keeper plays," Garcia said. "But we have to turn around and catch the ball when we have open plays."

Late in the game, Gonzales returned a kickoff nearly 50 yards to Thoreau's 23-yard line. But the Rattlers essentially ran out of time to do much with that field position.

Garcia vowed to work on his team's offense – and other things -- this week.

"We're young all the way around, and we have to build the team," Garcia said. "It'll take time, and our schedule doesn't do us any favors, either."

The kickoff for Friday's game at Rattler Stadium was delayed by about 30 minutes because of lightning in the area.

Tucumcari is scheduled to go on the road to play Loving at 7 p.m. Friday. Loving (2-0) probably will be motivated against Tucumcari. Last season, the Falcons lost 12-7 at Rattler Stadium on a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play. The dramatic TD occurred in near-darkness because the stadium's lights weren't working, and the game was shortened to one half.