La Cueva QB Cam Dyer, hobbled by knee injury, helps lift Bears past Las Cruces and into 6A title game

LAS CRUCES — This particular 48-minute journey for the La Cueva Bears was by no means conventional.

But the Bears arrived at their expected destination just the same.

The defending Class 6A football champions — and their fans — had to negotiate the anxiety of a major injury scare to their quarterback, but the No. 1 seed’s opportunistic defense caused four turnovers, three of which were turned into touchdowns, and La Cueva advanced to the state final with a 47-19 semifinal victory over No. 5 Las Cruces on Saturday afternoon at the Field of Dreams.

La Cueva (12-0) will face No. 3 Cleveland (11-1) in the title game. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Saturday at Wilson Stadium. It will be the fourth championship game between these two since 2018, and the third consecutive year it has come down to this duo.

The most immediate, and urgent, question that is going to linger over this next chapter is, will La Cueva have a fully healthy Cam Dyer?

Last season’s Gatorade Player of the Year, an Arizona State commit, suffered a knee injury with about four minutes left before halftime, at the end of a 30-yard quarterback keeper which featured an awkward-looking tackle.

“I just got rolled up on,” Dyer said. “I think I hyperextended my knee a little bit, but I’m gonna be ready to go (next weekend). We’re gonna rehab intensely this weekend.”

Dyer exited the game for a handful of plays. Sophomore Monty Melendez took several snaps, even completed a short pass, before La Cueva punted.

Dyer returned on La Cueva’s next possession. On the second play, he made a terrific 42-yard throw on the run to Jayden Parsons near midfield, but Dyer went down again after he let it fly.

This time, Dyer laid on the field for a couple of minutes before he eventually was carried off the field.

Melendez came back in for a couple of plays.

Mason Posa, the Bears’ superstar linebacker, also lined up in the shotgun and took several snaps himself. Posa has been utilized that way on a limited basis this season.

By halftime, La Cueva was leading 21-13. It was a tentative advantage at best, primarily because no one was quite sure what had happened to Dyer, or whether he’d be physically able to return.

Melendez took the first snap of the second half. On the third play of the third quarter, Posa took a direct snap and stunningly, the state’s most elite defender sprinted 64 yards for a touchdown.

“I didn’t think I was gonna be in the game,” said Posa, who also blocked a point-after touchdown kick attempt and deflected several passes, with one of them becoming an interception by a teammate. “Big players had to step up.”

La Cueva led 28-13 at that point. Las Cruces answered with a scoring drive, and quarterback Gunnar Guardiola scored on a 2-yard, fourth-down run to cut the deficit to 28-19 after a second blocked PAT by the Bears.

And moments later, a limping Dyer was back in the huddle, his right knee covered.

“He’s a dawg,” Posa said. “I’m glad he’s my teammate. And I’m glad I’m not playing against him. The way he got hurt, and the way he kept on playing, just shows true heart. Cam is a stud.”

Dyer, whose explosive running agility is crucial to La Cueva, didn’t run again. He passed the Bears down the field, eventually lobbing a short ball to running back Cheeto Lumbrera III coming out of the backfield, and Lumbrera danced along the far sideline for an 18-yard score. La Cueva nation seemed to be breathing easier with a 34-19 lead.

Moments later, Dyer chucked a beautiful, and perfectly calibrated, 66-yard bomb to Parsons, and that score, with 2:03 to go in the third quarter, was the backbreaker for a game Las Cruces bunch.

Asked if he could have run the ball, Dyer responded, “I think I could have if I needed to. The game didn’t require that, so we didn’t risk it.”

La Cueva scored in all three phases Saturday. Tanner Montano returned a kickoff 95 yards in the first quarter, and Brody Clark had a 55-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.

“Big games require big plays and we needed big plays from our special teams and defense,” La Cueva coach Brandon Back said. “And I thought our defense played lights out.”

Dyer’s status admittedly put a strain on things, although only for a little while.

“With Cam going down … that means everyone else has to step up and do their job. I was proud of everybody’s response,” Back said.

Las Cruces had the day’s first points, on a 1-yard run by Danny Amaro five minutes into the game. Posa got his hand on the PAT attempt.

Montano’s long return gave La Cueva the lead, and the Bears expanded on that lead rapidly. Las Cruces fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Dyer scored from the 14 for a 14-6 lead. Las Cruces fumbled again two plays later, and Dyer added a 13-yard score and a 15-point advantage. La Cueva’s first 21 points came in a span of less than four minutes.

Las Cruces (9-4) authored a monster 14-play, 80-yard, 7-minute-and-47-second drive that chewed up most of the second quarter clock. Guardiola threw 3 yards to Francisco Winnikoff, creating the 8-point gap between the teams at the half.

The Bears authored an outstanding second half, given the uncertainty of things. To that end, Dyer’s health is sure to occupy much conversation in the days to come.

“We weren’t gonna run him, but we needed his arm, we needed his leadership,” Back said. “He’ll be fine. He’s got to get some treatment done, but we’ve got a great training staff and a group of team doctors that help us out. He’s the kind of kid that will do whatever he needs to do to be prepared for Saturday.”

As for Cleveland, Dyer said this:

“They’re big, they’re physical, they’re gonna be hungry (because) we beat them at their place last year. We know we have that target on our back, we’ve had it all year. So if we come ready to play, we play our game, I think we’ll come out on top.”

La Cueva conquers Las Cruces: Photos