Amaro, Bulldawgs bite down hard on Rio Rancho

LAS CRUCES — Mayfield couldn’t solve Danny Amaro. Volcano Vista was equally vexed. Neither did the Rio Rancho Rams have an answer.

Cleveland, you’re up next.

If the Las Cruces High senior running back didn’t do another thing the rest of this prep football season — didn’t rush for another yard, didn’t score another touchdown — he could already have been judged, by most any metric, to have had a terrific season.

We are through Week 3. Amaro is well on his way toward far beyond terrific.

“Praise to my O-Line,” Amaro said. “They let me do whatever I want.”

His five-touchdown performance on Thursday night at the Field of Dreams, which required less than three quarters of his time, propelled No. 2-ranked Las Cruces to another lopsided victory, this one 47-22 over No. 5 Rio Rancho.

“The best running back in the state. THE best,” said Las Cruces quarterback Gunnar Guardiola. “I will argue that all week. There’s no one better than that guy.”

Las Cruces at one point scored 33 straight points after trailing 15-14 early in the second quarter, and Amaro was out front plowing the road for the Bulldawgs much of the way.

“He’s a hell of a player,” Rio Rancho coach Nate Pino said.

Amaro’s alpha status in Class 6A football was further cemented after he rushed for 184 yards on 18 carries with three touchdowns, and caught four passes for another 98 yards and two scores.

He has scored 13 touchdowns — 10 rushing, three receiving — in victories for the Bulldawgs (3-0), who visit No. 1 Cleveland next Friday. And Amaro has only played 10 of a possible 12 quarters.

“Danny is just so damn hard to tackle,” Las Cruces coach Mark Lopez said. “He’s shifty, he’s powerful, and he can pop it. Whether we use him or decoyed him, he’s a threat either way. He’s so multifaceted he gives us a lot to play with.”

Amaro has, unofficially, 520 rushing yards this season.

“He’s a stud. He’s a dawg,” Lopez said, and this was, of course, both a metaphorical and literal description.

The game was quite entertaining, and close, for the first quarter-plus. Amaro, on Las Cruces’ third play of the night, went untouched 71 yards along the near side for a score.

The Rams put together a nice drive to lead, with Ethan Rolon scoring on a 10-yard run — one play after Rio Rancho converted a fourth-and-3. The Rams ran a trick play pass and made the 2-point conversion for an 8-7 lead midway through the opening quarter.

Amaro, who rushed for 143 yards in the first quarter alone, scored on a 17-yard run with 2:21 to go for a 14-8 edge.

Rio Rancho quarterback Micah Takahashi threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Parker Miller early in the second quarter, with Miller making a fine grab with a defender tight on him, shedding him, and turning to the open field for the final 30 yards. It was 15-14 Rams.

Las Cruces scored the next 33 points, but one sequence stood out among the carnage.

After Jacob Misquez scored on a 5-yard run for the Bulldawgs for a 20-15 lead with 8:31 to go before halftime, Rio Rancho had the ball at midfield, when a controversial fumble was called.

Rams coach Nate Pino argued that an illegal motion penalty should have been called on his offense; it wasn’t, and a ball he said was never snapped by the Rio Rancho center was pounced on by Las Cruces.

Both teams acknowledged the importance of the play and how it changed the tone.

“100 percent,” Pino said. “I just said (to the officials), there are 10 guys moving before the snap. Either redo the play or it’s a false start. They called it a fumble. That’s a little rough.”

And on the very next snap, Guardiola threw to Amaro, who was running free down the center of the field with two steps on his defender. That 49-yard hookup upped the lead to 27-15, and it was two TDs in 26 seconds for the Bulldawgs.

“Huge momentum swing. A big game changer for us,” Guardiola said.

The play, Lopez said, really wasn’t even in the Bulldawg playbook. Guardiola and company cooked it up on the sideline, and his players convinced him it would be open.

“I love getting involved with my teammates and doing whatever I can to help this team,” Amaro said.

Added Lopez of the ability to freelance that play: “That’s the intelligence of this group.”

Amaro capped an 80-yard drive near the end of the half with a 4-yard touchdown run, and a suddenly commanding 34-15 lead for Las Cruces.

Amaro took a short screen pass midway through the third quarter, and with not much seemingly there, still turned it into a 30-yard touchdown (and a 40-15 bulge), his fifth of the night. He was done before the third quarter was.

Rio Rancho is home to Centennial next Friday night.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Pino said.

Rio Rancho football vs. Las Cruces: Photos