Rio Rancho rallies past West Mesa in Class 6A first round

RIO RANCHO – Rio Rancho scored 28 unanswered points Friday night, and the fifth-seeded Rams overcame No. 12 West Mesa 35-21 in a Class 6A first-round game.

Rio Rancho (8-3) will play No. 4 seed Sandia next week in the quarterfinals. That contest, Matadors coach Chad Adcox said, will be Friday night at Milne Stadium.

The Mustangs (6-5) led 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Ever-elusive senior quarterback Elijah Brody gave West Mesa an early lead, but the Rams retaliated, thanks to a 41-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by Anthony Raymer, who then capped the Rams’ 8-play, 50-yard drive on a 15-yard touchdown reception from quarterback J.J. Arellano to tie the game.

The Mustangs put together an 8-play, 50-yard scoring drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Marcus Sharp, to lead 14-7.

Before halftime, the Rams scored twice to take the lead. Arellano tossed a 42-yard TD pass to Jace Pitt to tie it, and a 3-yarder to Parker Miller for what became a 21-14 lead at intermission.

After a scoreless third period, Rayce Ramirez, with 19 rushes for 180 yards, carried it into the end zone from the 13 and Arellano capped the Rams’ scoring with a 9-yard run.

Rio Rancho’s defense did what it could to keep Brody from escaping the pocket, although he wound up with 163 yards on 25 carries; until his 36-yard TD pass to Sharp, his longest completion of his first seven had been for just 10 yards.

Arguably, the biggest play for the Rams defense came on the first play of the fourth quarter, with the game then a one-possession contest, as Diego Montano intercepted Brody; West Mesa had been in the red zone just three plays earlier.

Rio Rancho coach Nate Pino was happy with the win, but mildly concerned that his team had been penalized for almost 90 yards.

“We gotta get better at that,” Pino said. “We tackled better in the second half. You gotta protect your end zone, finish and keep them out of there.”

As for Sandia, the Rams and Matadors haven’t met in six years.

“We’re going into that game with a good mindset,” Ramirez said. ”We should have been ranked higher than they were.”