Denied what would have been not only a game-tying, but potentially momentum-altering touchdown early in the second quarter by Monte Vista senior Enrique Ortiz, Ignacio's Lawrence Valdez, running almost the same post-style route as he'd done before, at last took what appeared to have been rightfully his.
And with four minutes left in the game, right when Pirate commander-in-chief Manny Wasinger disapproved most.
Spoiling the shutout and punctuating what assistant coach Bill Gwinn called "a hell of a game," Valdez camped under a long Trace Lovelace throw, and when MVHS' defender spun in vain, seeking a similar deflection to Ortiz's, the Bobcat junior had nobody between him and the goal line.
Doing his best impression of Monte junior Parker Randolph, Lovelace knocked through the point-after kick, cutting the guests' lead to 28-7. Though the margin ultimately stood as the final score last Friday at IHS Field, the 56-yard touchdown was exactly what the 'Cats needed to play to the last whistle.
Monte Vista senior workhorse Jacob Chavez picked up 29 yards on Monte Vista's next offensive play, but five snaps later the Pirates fumbled and Ignacio junior Dustin Sanchez was at the bottom of the pile-up.
With only 58.4 seconds remaining, there wasn't a whole lot the 'Cats could do from their own 40, but the game would end with Valdez (10-27 rushing, 1-56 receiving) gaining 11 yards on two carries and MVHS incurring a personal-foul penalty as time expired.
Which couldn't have happened fast enough for Wasinger, whose team paid the price for its closing-time collapse: sprints.
Thirty to forty yards each, and a lot of them.
"You've just got to keep playing as hard as you can, and it showed tonight: We didn't play as good as we should," said Chavez, who unofficially went over 150 yards rushing and scored the game's first two touchdowns. The latter, a 13-yard tote with 2:47 left before halftime, capped a sapping 16-play, 87-yard drive which drained 6:45 off the clock in response to Ignacio's 15-play, 66-yard push disrupted by Ortiz's breakup.
Monte Vista did join a group prayer at midfield led by IHS senior Marcus Chapman at the end of the game.
With neither side able to pass effectively, save for Lovelace's long bomb, the 1A Southern Peaks Conference clash would be decided on the ground, and MVHS (3-2, 1-0 SPC) mounted the ultimate march.
After an unreturned Lovelace punt netted 44 yards to the Pirate 13 with 0:25.1 left in the third quarter, Monte Vista controlled possession for a devastating 19 plays-the last being a 15-yard quarterback keeper around left end by sophomore Kaidon Wenta with 4:18 left in the contest.
The celebration, however, would last about 18 seconds.
Showing few lasting effects from an injured ankle two games earlier, Lovelace unofficially finished 3-of-10 passing for 68 yards, and also scrambled for 39 yards on 13 carries for Ignacio (1-4, 0-1 SPC). Sanchez (6-14 rushing) caught one pass for nine yards, and sophomore Colten Jackson one for three.
Up next for the Bobcats will be a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday at Dolores, with the Bears (3-2, 1-0) on a three-game hot streak after last Friday's 19-0 road win at Walsenburg John Mall (0-5, 0-1). Monte Vista, meanwhile, will try to keep hopes of a SPC title alive as they travel to La Jara and face #4-ranked Centauri (5-0, 0-0).
