Here comes the boom: Storm demolish Rams for 1-6A title

RIO RANCHO – The Cleveland Storm cocked its collective right arm, and delivered a heavy blow to Rio Rancho’s jaw at the start.

And then they landed another jolting punch.

Followed shortly thereafter by a third powerful shot.

Cleveland was up three touchdowns barely a quarter into this anticipated showdown, bludgeoned their rivals with ruthless efficiency, and barely let up.

Class 6A’s second-ranked Storm (9-1, 5-0 in 1-6A) authored a performance as sharp as any they’ve had all year on Thursday night, and their District 1-6A-championship-clinching 49-14 win at No. 5 Rio Rancho (6-4, 4-1) was most certainly an announcement by Cleveland — with a bullhorn — that the Storm is ready to head into November and make a strong defense of their 2024 state title.

“We wanted to come out and strike first and we did that,” said senior receiver Jacob Maldonado, who had a three-touchdown effort. “We had a little chip on our shoulders … they (Rio Rancho) said, the bigger we are, the harder we fall. We wanted to let people know that we don’t fall.”

Cleveland’s win secures not just the 1-6A crown but also very likely the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The 6A postseason bracket is scheduled to be announced at about 10 p.m. Saturday.

“I think so,” Storm coach Robert Garza said, asked if this was Cleveland’s most complete performance of the season. “I think every week we’re getting better. I thought last week, we played one of our best games against Volcano (Vista). Tonight, our guys came out and they were something. We’re starting to get where we’re gonna peak pretty quick.”

Storm senior quarterback Jordan Hatch threw four touchdown passes, two to Maldonado, in the win. Maldonado scored a third TD on a 6-yard run.

“He’s a playmaker,” Hatch said. “And I have to give my playmakers (the ball), and they do the rest.”

Just about everything Cleveland touched turned golden in this season finale. The Storm, in fact, came within a yard of scoring in all three phases; a third-quarter blocked punt was picked up by a Cleveland player, who was finally tackled at the 1.

And the Storm scored on the next play, Hatch’s fourth TD pass, a throw to tight end Noah Escudero. Rio Rancho’s home crowd never had a chance to get engaged, thanks to Cleveland.

“It’s a rivalry week, it’s the one night of the year that we don’t like each other,” Hatch said.

The first 57 seconds of the game was, more or less, a microcosm of how this night played out for both rivals.

Rio Rancho quarterback Micah Takahashi, on the second play of the game, was intercepted — on a deflected ball — and Cleveland started at the Rams 25. Two plays later, Hatch’s shovel pass to Maldonado was taken 14 yards for a touchdown.

After a quick punt, Cleveland quickly doubled its lead, with Hatch throwing a short ball to speedy sophomore Evan Nañez, who got to the edge, turned the corner and sprinted 38 yards for a score with 8:07 to go in the opening quarter.

“Took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” Rio Rancho coach Nate Pino said of the slow start.

Rio Rancho had several long, promising drives in the first half, but only one, the last one, yielded any points with Ethan Rolon scoring on a 3-yard run.

The first of the three fizzled, and the Storm padded the lead to 21-0 on a 6-yard run up the middle by Maldonado. The middle of the three was Karson Weddle’s pick-6 for Cleveland, covering 60 yards, which made it 28-0 moments later.

Samuel Bustillos of Cleveland added a 2-yard run near the end of the first half for a 35-7 lead; Hatch-to-Maldonado, this one covering 15 yards with an excellent throw on the run from Hatch, sent the clock running with a 42-7 gap.

“We’re playing full team football,” Garza said. “We’re gonna be tough to beat.”

Rio Rancho has to hope it has done enough to warrant a home game in the first round of the postseason next Friday or Saturday.

“I think we’ve done enough to get a first-round home game,” Pino said.

The Rams did make a quarterback change in the second half, going from Takahashi to Crew Victor; Pino said Takahashi got a little dinged up and was having trouble throwing the ball. He said he did not think it was serious and felt with the size of the deficit it was safer to make the change.