La Cueva cruises past Rio Rancho

Rio Rancho had the first seven and the last seven. La Cueva owned everything inbetween.

Cam Dyer’s debut as the La Cueva High School quarterback went extremely well, as the junior scored on three touchdown runs, and also threw a pair of TD passes, as the Bears opened the 2023 prep football season with a 35-14 homecoming victory Friday night over Rio Rancho at Wilson Stadium.

“I was really, really impressed with how the offense executed so early in the season, with so many guys in different positions,” Bears coach Brandon Back said. “I’m proud of how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.”

The 6-foot-4 Dyer finished 22 of 33 for 269 yards with a TD and an interception that wasn’t his doing as it was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

“All props go to my front five, and my receivers did a great job squeezing the ball,” Dyer said. “We just have some puzzle pieces to put together, but I think (it was) a very clean win.”

Dyer scored on a fourth-down run from 3 yards out in the early stages of the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. He added a 1-yard run with 1:05 to go before halftime, which ended with the Bears in front 21-7.

Midway through the third quarter, Dyer connected with Cruz Markham on a 29-yard pass, putting the Bears at the Rio Rancho 12.

Dyer kept it on the next play and scored his third touchdown.

La Cueva’s first score was a 29-yard TD toss to Markham, a solid strike deep down the middle of the field.

That drive for La Cueva countered Rio Rancho’s opening scoring drive of the night, as the Rams took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in 10 plays.

Quarterback Noah Nelson had a key 4-yard gain on fourth-and-4 — a first down he earned by perhaps a millimeter — to keep the drive alive, and later Nelson capped the march with a 20-yard scamper a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game. The Rams didn’t have much going on offensively most of the rest of the night. The passing game, in particular, struggled, as Rio Rancho completed just 4 of 21 passes for 54 yards and none in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Bears were in the red zone repeatedly; they also missed a pair of relatively short field goal attempts.

“It was a great team win and it’s good to get this one out of the way, especially with homecoming and the distraction that causes,” said Back of the very unusual Week 1 homecoming game.

La Cueva visits Cleveland next week in a rematch of last November’s Class 6A state championship game.

Rio Rancho is home to Eldorado in Week 2.

LA CUEVA 35, RIO RANCHO 14

• Rio Rancho 7 0 0 7 — 14
• La Cueva 7 14 7 7 — 35

Scoring: RR, Noah Nelson 20 run (PAT); LC, Cruz Markham 29 pass from Cam Dyer (Nathan Flores kick); LC, Dyer 3 run (Flores kick); LC, Dyer 1 run (Flores kick); LC, Dyer 12 run (Flores kick); LC, Kobe McGill 3 pass from Dyer (Flores kick); RR, Rayce Ramirez 2 run (PAT). Records: LC 1-0; RR 0-1.

First downs: RR 16; LC 21. Rushes-yards: RR 39-215; LC 27-156. Passing: RR 4-21-1—54; LC 22-34-1—269. Total offense: RR 269; LC 425. Punts-avg.: RR 3-29.7; LC 1-41.0. Fumbles-lost: RR 1-1; LC 0-0. Penalties-yards: RR 7-52; LC 10-90.

MORE: Friday Night Recap Week 1: New Mexico high school football game scores and summaries

High school football photos: La Cueva powers past Rio Rancho