Lions overwhelm Rattlers 40-0

SANTA ROSA - The prospect of facing Santa Rosa's vaunted single-wing offense is a challenge for most high-school football defenses.

But for a still-young and still-learning Tucumcari defense, that task was made more difficult by a Lions offense adding a few new wrinkles.

The result was Santa Rosa, ranked third in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com, scoring on its first six possessions during a 40-0 non-district victory on Friday night.

Santa Rosa's Jykub Gage and AJ Romo each rushed for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns. Nicolas Chavez added 77 yards rushing. The Lions totaled 400 yards of offense and averaged over 17 yards per carry.

The final margin of victory for the Lions (4-1) could have been worse for the Rattlers (1-3). The rest of the game after halftime was canceled by mutual agreement because lightning had developed in the area, with another storm approaching from the southwest.

Defensively, Santa Rosa put the clamps on Tucumcari's ground game, allowing no yards rushing. Tucumcari managed just four first downs.

Rattlers quarterback Nick Romero went 9-of-13 passing for 67, with Daymion Urioste making five receptions for 41 yards.

"Defensively, I thought we played well," Lions coach David Chavez said. "We have to do better with our pass coverage."

Tucumcari was without an offensive and defensive weapon in Kamren Apodaca. He was serving a one-game suspension after engaging in a brief tussle with a Raton player at the end of the previous week's game.

Tucumcari coach Tarik Embrack wasn't too down on his team against its longtime rival.

"We ran into a good team, same as last week," he said. "I'm building something that I know is in the beginning stages, so stuff like this happens. I think the last two games, we've been playing teams that are in different stage of their process.

"No one's quit, no one's given up. We're still building. We'll be there; we've just gotta be patient."

Still, the first-year coach expressed a few frustrations in the locker room after the game was called.

"We could have put up a little more of a fight, show that we're a better team, show that we're working a little bit harder," he said.

One of those frustrations surfaced midway through the second quarter. Tucumcari faced a fourth-and-4 at their 31-yard line and decided to go for it. However, about the time the ball was snapped, the Rattlers were flagged for illegal procedure. Embrack screamed in exasperation, and Tucumcari was forced to punt after being moved back five yards.

"Those are the little things we will get better at. We will," he said after the game.

In a sign how well things went for the Lions, on third-and-8 they fumbled inside their 20-yard line late in the first quarter. Instead of being tackled for a loss and forcing a punt on fourth down, Gage picked up the loose ball, worked his way through the defense and ran 73 yards. Only Jase Aughtman's tackle at the 5-yard line prevented a touchdown on the play.

Santa Rosa threw the ball only three times and completed two for 26 yards. But that was good enough for Chavez.

"We accomplished our goals," he said. "We wanted to open up our offense a little bit with the passing game. We wanted to do more than just our single-wing, spread it out and throw the ball a little more. We want to add some things to it and give opponents something else they have to prepare for."

Chavez said to not expect the single-wing to disappear from Santa Rosa, which has been its cornerstone offense since coaching legend Frank Ortiz brought it with him in 1985.

"We love our single-wing, and we're never going to get rid of that," Chavez said. "It still works for us, and we're going to keep doing it."

Santa Rosa had a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Overall, Gage scored TDs on runs of 36 and 5 yards. Romo scored touchdowns on 27 and 6 yards. Nicolas Chavez and Daryn Pacheco scored on rushes of 5 and 50 yards respectively.

The Rattlers face Hozho Academy (1-3) of Gallup in Tucumcari's annual Homecoming game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Rattler Stadium. Navajo Prep defeated the Wolves 60-20 on Friday night.

Embrack said Thursday's matchup probably will be competitive.

"We're going to play a team that's a lot like we are," he said. "I think it will be more of fair match. When we play teams that are in the same stage, with a first- or second-year coach, I think those are the games you can judge us off of, not when we play a team that has had their coach for 10 years and are No. 3 or 4 in the state."