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St. Pius airs it out against Española Valley, advances to 4A title game
Facing an Española Valley team capable of bleeding the clock with time-consuming drives, St. Pius knew an early sense of urgency would be key.
The No. 2 Sartans (10-2) delivered in that regard, jumping out to leads of 17-0 and 31-7 before cruising to a 31-22 triumph over the sixth-seeded Sundevils (9-4) in a Class 4A semifinal at Nusenda Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
St. Pius will head to No. 1 Bloomfield with a blue trophy at stake next Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be the Sartans’ first championship game appearance since 2016, when they bested Artesia under then-coach San Juan Mendoza to win the 5A crown. The Sartans also avenged a 31-7 defeat at the hands of Española in the first round of the 2023 postseason.
“It means a lot,” said St. Pius coach Curtis Flakes II. “These kids are putting in a lot of work and it culminated into this moment. We’re proud of these kids, and the job’s not done.”
The Sundevils entered the game having attempted just 13 passes over the course of the season, so it was no secret as to what their approach would be. And while Española racked up 369 yards rushing on the day, it didn’t score its first offensive touchdown until 58 seconds remained in the third quarter.
The tone was set early, as the Sartans forced the Sundevils to punt on their opening possession and then completed a 60-yard drive with a 14-yard scoring pass from Isaiah Carpenter to Cayl Cox-Liggins. In the first half, Carpenter to Cox-Liggins accounted for seven completions and 125 yards.
“Those (Española) kids, they'll keep the ball and keep the possession on their side for six-, seven-minute drives,” Flakes II said. “So it was huge for us to get that stop early and move with the ball and score.”
True to form, Española threw just two passes on the afternoon — both incomplete. Meanwhile, St. Pius generated most of its offense through the air. Carpenter finished with 260 yards passing and three TDs — one each to Cox-Liggins, Hershul Olloway Jr. and Bryan Thomas.
“Coming into the week, we knew that they were gonna be a really physical team,” Carpenter said. “We prepped all week just to be able to go head-to-head and bang with them because we knew if we got behind, it would be a tough game
"So we were planning just to get ahead early, get that lead going, and then we knew we'd be able to take it from there," he said.
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The Sundevils threatened to seize momentum early in the second half when Anthony Mendoza returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown with 10:40 to play in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 17-7. The Sartans didn’t take long to respond. They marched 82 yards in six plays on their next possession, a drive that ended with a 5-yard Olloway rushing TD. Then, after recovering an Española fumble, Carpenter connected with Thomas for a 47-yard scoring toss to essentially put the game on ice. The sophomore quarterback wasn’t fazed by the miscue.
“I just read the corner wrong, so I thought he bit when he didn't, or I thought he was bailing when he wasn’t,” Carpenter said of the interception. “So it was just a bad play by me.
"So, yeah, I was frustrated, and I know the coaches were kind of disappointed with that, but we knew we'd get back. Once we came back firing, we were right back where we were," he said.
