Saturday high school football recap: Sandia edges Atrisco Heritage

An 80-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter, and the subsequent point-after attempt were the difference as Sandia outlasted Atrisco Heritage 21-20 in a tight, back-and-forth season opener at Nusenda Community Stadium.

“At the end of the day, I’m proud of the kids,” Sandia coach Chad Adcox said. “We pushed through it. It was hot. We had some injuries, and I’m sure they did, too. But we found a way to get the win.”

The long Cruz Rivera-to-Joey Harris connection produced the only points of the second half. Atrisco Heritage led 20-14 at halftime.

Although Sandia had repeated red zone issues — the Matadors had no fewer than three trips inside the Atrisco Heritage 10, none of which yielded a single point — they struck lightning at an opportune moment.

The Matadors, Adcox said, showed a tunnel screen to Grayson Frederich. Harris showed that he was going to block in support of Frederich, with Frederich coming toward the ball from the outside. And when the Jaguars’ defender came up, Adcox said, Harris went vertical.

He was wide open when Rivera delivered the ball. It was an easy-looking 80-yard score.

“It was Grayson on the outside, selling his route so I could go and get open,” Harris said.

Adding to the timing of it all, on the play previous, Atrisco Heritage punted, and the Jaguars argued that it nicked the Sandia returner before rolling about 25 yards into the end zone where Atrisco recovered for what it thought was a touchdown. The officials spent a couple of minutes huddled before ruling that the ball did not touch anyone, and therefore was a touchback.

The Jaguars struck first, with quarterback Landon Griego throwing 61 yards for a score to wide open Chauncey Lane. But the PAT failed, and that miss hung over the proceedings the rest of the way.

The Cruz-Rivera hookup was also responsible for Sandia’s first score, this one 17 yards long. Sandia did convert the PAT for a 7-6 lead in the first quarter.

There were two touchdowns in the final 23 seconds of the quarter. Hunter Maldonado returned a Griego pass 70 yards for a pick-6 and a 14-6 Sandia lead; Griego scored on a 9-yard keeper on the final play of the quarter, after a long pass play and 15-yard penalty by the Matadors put Atrisco Heritage deep in Sandia territory.

The Jags’ best drive of the day consumed the second half of the second quarter, a 15-play, 70-yard march. Marquise Renfro scored from the 1 with 1:52 left before halftime, and with a 2-point throw it was 20-14.

Scoring: AH, Chauncey Lane 61 pass from Cruz Rivera (kick failed); S, Joey Harris 17 pass from Cruz Rivera (Juan Aragon kick); S, Hunter Maldonado 70 interception return (Aragon kick); AH, Landon Aragon 9 run (pass failed); AH, Marquise Renfro 1 run (Aragon pass to Latavious Morris); S, Harris 80 pass from Rivera (Aragon kick). Records: S 1-0; AH 0-1.

First downs: S 11; A 13. Rushes-yards: S 18-8; AH 32-62. Passing: S 22-38-1—245; AH 14-33-3—177. Total offense: S 253; AH 239. Punts-avg.: S 3-22.7; AH 6-27.7. Fumbles-lost: S 1-1; AH 0-0. Penalties-yards: S 11-89; AH 10-87.

CLEVELAND 27, CENTENNIAL 8: In Las Cruces, Harris Mbueha finished the game with 152 yards on 33 carries, and although the Storm offense struggled when he was getting a break, the defending Class 6A state champions won this season opener with defense, downing the Hawks at the Field of Dreams.

Cleveland intercepted Centennial four times. One of those was a pick-6 by Marcus La Cuesta. The Storm defense also recorded four sacks and limited the Centennial offense to 34 yards rushing. Cleveland did not give up a third-down conversion to the Hawks in the second half.

Cleveland’s first-half touchdowns followed a blocked punt, and a wind-affected punt that went a minus-2 yards.

Read the full game story

MAYFIELD 55, MANZANO 0: At Wilson Stadium, Two Monarchs were taken by ambulance to UNM Hospital in this game, one in each half. Manzano coach Stephen Johnston said he believed both athletes had been impacted by the heat. One player was on the field for roughly 30 minutes being doused in ice, Johnston said, before he was finally loaded into the ambulance and driven away.

Johnston told the Journal late Saturday afternoon that both players were doing better.

PORTALES 45, HIGHLAND 0: At Milne Stadium: Rams junior quarterback Paxton Culpepper threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, as Class 4A Portales led the 5A Hornets 35-0 at halftime and cruised to a nondistrict victory.

Zach Radloff ran for two touchdowns in the first half, and Culpepper’s rushing TD made it 21-0.

The Rams later added two, one-play scoring drives. Culpepper threw a 46-yard scoring pass to Zane Mayberry, and then hit Braden Beck for a 28-yard touchdown for a five-TD lead at the break.

HOPE CHRISTIAN 42, MCCURDY 20: In Española, junior Mason Hohsfield rushed for four touchdowns, and the Huskies opened their season with a victory over the Bobcats.

OTHER SCORES

• Cuba 14, Santa Fe Indian School 12
• Dulce 60, Pine Hill 14
• Texico 52, Estancia 22

High school football photos: Sandia vs. Atrisco Heritage