A very close second.

Adam Shapiro's 6-yard touchdown reception in overtime capped a zany, memorable night at Milne Stadium, as Rio Rancho overcame deficits at the end of the regulation and in OT to grab the District 1-5A championship with a scintillating 43-39 victory over Cibola.

"That was the best game I've ever been a part of," Rio Rancho linebacker Jake Pearson said.

"I'm at a loss for words. For once in my life," Ram coach David Howes said as he clutched the district's first-place trophy.

His team showed remarkable poise down the stretch as it twice trailed by three points.

Cibola appeared to give itself a great chance to win the game with a 5-yard touchdown run by Gabriel Salazar. It came with 1:03 left and put the Cougars in front 36-33.

But the Rams answered, moving down the field quickly as veteran senior quarterback Tyler Baker used the sidelines effectively and managed the clock.

The drive stalled at the Cibola 19, at which point Zack Rogers kicked his third field goal of the game, a 36-yarder with 16.2 seconds to go to tie the game at 36.

The Cougars had the ball first in OT, but three running plays netted only 7 yards. Jorge Perez then kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 39-36 lead.

In a game in which neither team could stop the other, particularly in a heart-stopping second half, it appeared that the team that had the ball last would win, and that proved to the case here.

On third down in OT, Baker had time to throw and hit one of his favorite targets, Shapiro.

"It was a hammer route," said Shapiro. "Run, slow down, and (Baker) throws it to my back shoulder."

It was a dramatic finish to a remarkable game. The Rams (7-3 overall) ran the table in 1-5A, going 4-0. Both Rio Rancho and the Cougars (6-4, 3-1) await their playoff fate, which is in the hands of the seeding committee that meets in Albuquerque tonight.

"We beat Clovis, and this team deserves the 5 (seed)," Howes said. Rio Rancho is guaranteed a first-round home game.

For Cibola, the loss likely means a No. 8 seed, and that would be enough to get the Cougars a first-round home game, too.

"We're gonna be an 8. There's no doubt now," Cibola coach Judge Chavez said.

This rivalry has seen some fantastic games, but none that approximated Friday, when the lead changed six times in a playoff-type atmosphere.

An early turnover staked Rio Rancho to a 7-0 lead. Later, Ramon Garcia caught a 73-yard TD pass for Cibola as the Cougars went in front 14-10. That didn't last long as a 23-yard Baker-to-Anthony-Moreno hookup put Rio Rancho in front 17-14 at halftime.

Shapiro hauled in a 68-yard TD pass from Baker to begin the third quarter, but the PAT failed and the Rams led 23-14. David Vargas of Cibola went 12 yards for a TD to slice the deficit to 23-21, before the second of Rogers' three FGs made it 26-21.

Then it really got crazy.

Mark Tapia's 23-yard TD run gave Cibola a 29-26 edge. A 19-yard TD scramble by Baker put Rio Rancho in front 33-29. Then Salazar's score, which was only made possible because the Rams - who were trying to run out the clock - fumbled the ball away, putting Cibola at the 23.

"It was a hell of a high school football game," Chavez said.