La Cueva coach feted after win over Eldorado

While there is plenty of work yet to be done this season for La Cueva, it was nonetheless a postgame dousing well deserved for coach Brandon Back.

The Bears shook off a slow start to wear down Eldorado for a 26-7 victory on Friday night at Wilson Stadium, giving Back his 100th career victory. After starting the season 0-2, La Cueva (4-2, 3-0 2-6A) has righted the ship to win four straight.

“It's really just a reflection of the staff that we have here, the kids that come through here, and the community we serve,” Back said of his 100th victory. “That's a program milestone because when you're surrounded by great men, great kids and a great community, you can do great things like that. Everybody has an equal share in that and I'm just proud to be a part of it.”

Eldorado started the night with designs on spoiling the festivities, as the Eagles (2-4, 1-2) marched 13 plays and 62 yards to the La Cueva 18 on their opening possession. What could have been a statement for Eldorado fizzled when the Bears forced a turnover on downs.

“We started off really slow and lackadaisical, and I felt like our guys kind of locked in there,” Back said. “… Our defense stepped up when we needed to the most.”

Eldorado didn’t falter on another lengthy drive in the second quarter — this one 11 plays and 67 yards — which was capped by a nine-yard TD run from Nolan Romero-Williams to give the Eagles their only lead at 7-3 with 5:26 remaining in the first half.

From there, the La Cueva defense stiffened, and Eldorado didn’t mount another serious threat the rest of the game. La Cueva took the lead for good following a muffed punt, which allowed the Bears to start a late second-quarter drive on the Eldorado 42. Eight plays later, J-Dylan Hathaway twisted his way into the end zone for a nine-yard score to give La Cueva a 10-7 lead that it would not relinquish.

An interesting note about that drive: The turnover was set up by the punt of Chance Whitmire, who put an unusual spin on the ball, making it difficult to field. That was just a small part of Whitmire’s contribution on the evening. He also made all four of his field goals, connecting from 47, 40, 39 and 27 yards, giving La Cueva the type of special-teams weapon not often seen in New Mexico prep football.

“He's got one of the best legs in the state,” Back said. “Not only can he just kick the ball great and (make) field goals, he's a great onside (kick) guy for us.

“He literally spends two hours a day just working on that craft. You can see the dividends that it pays when he's able to put that type of work in.”

The victory sets up a pivotal showdown with Los Lunas on the road next Friday.

“That's potentially a district championship victory,” Back said. (They’ve) got a team that runs the ball really well. We've got to shore up some things in our run defense. I trust these kids and I trust these coaches to make sure we get good plans together and make sure we're doing the right thing.”