Las Cruces beats Volcano Vista in 6A showdown; Cibola, Bernalillo also win

LAS CRUCES — Senior tailback Danny Amaro rushed for four touchdowns, all in the first half, and No. 2-ranked Las Cruces beat No. 3 Volcano Visa 38-20 in an attractive Class 6A showdown game Thursday night at the Field of Dreams.

Amaro scored twice in the final eight minutes of the first half, including a 29-yard run late in the second quarter, to give Las Cruces (2-0) a 28-14 lead.

“Danny had a great night, and we had a pretty good night all the way around offensively,” Bull-dawgs coach Mark Lopez said.

Amaro also had four rushing TDs in the opener last week against Mayfield.

“It’s all lining up for him,” Lopez said. “He’s kind of the full package for us.”

Thursday’s game was tied at 14 early in the second quarter after a long Volcano Vista touchdown pass to Ismael Mendez III.

Las Cruces is home next Thursday against Rio Rancho, and the Bulldawgs travel to face No. 1 Cleveland the week after that.

Volcano Vista (1-1) next plays Sandia a week from Saturday.

CIBOLA 46, SANDIA 24: At Wilson Stadium, Cibola scored the final 28 points of the game, all in the second half, as the Cougars (1-1) gave new head coach David Howes his first win with his alma mater.

Sandia (0-2) led 24-18 in the second half. Cibola scored to take a 25-24 lead and pulled away down the stretch against the Matadors.

Cibola won the second half 36-6.

Quarterback Hayes Baum had a big game for the Cougars, rushing for about 100 yards and four touchdowns and allowing him to overcome a pick-6 he threw in the first half that staked Sandia to an 18-10 lead.

Cibola rebounded from a tough, last-minute loss to Albuquerque High in Week 1.

“From the disappointment last week … that was one of those things, they can shut down as a team, or grow from that failure,” Howes said. “They came out tonight with a purpose. I’m extremely proud of their resilience.”

Sandia also had been looking to bounce back; the Matadors led Piedra Vista by 11 points in the fourth quarter last week but eventually fell in overtime.

BERNALILLO 14, HIGHLAND 8 (OT): At Milne Stadium, in a game that was 2-0 for a majority of the night, all of the fireworks occurred in the final 90 seconds of regulation and overtime.

The Spartans (2-0) connected on an 85-yard touchdown pass with 65 seconds left to tie the game 8-8. The Spartans, after a 15-yard penalty, missed the PAT, necessitating the overtime.

Just in the final minute of the fourth quarter, Bernalillo blocked a punt that led to a last-second field-goal attempt, which was in turn blocked by the Hornets.

Highland (1-1) went first in OT, but Bernalillo intercepted a pass on fourth down.

On the first Spartans snap, Ulysses Castro lofted a 10-yard fade route to Ivan Ruiz in the end zone for a walkoff score.

Class 4A Bernalillo, which has opened the year with two victories against 5A opponents, led the game 2-0 most of the way.

Highland finally scored on a fourth-and-11, 47-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 to go. The Hornets went for 2 and converted for an 8-2 lead.

Castro, one of three players used at QB by Bernalillo, hit Joseph Duran on a beautiful long ball seconds later for the Spartans.

“It’s great to see these kids never stop fighting,” Spartans coach John Cobos said.

Bernalillo defeats Highland at Milne Stadium: Photos