The Ignacio Bobcats wasted few opportunities to build up as much momentum as possible for subsequent 1A South Central conference action by trouncing Trinidad 55-0 this past Friday.
“We can’t take breaks,” stated senior Rylan Maez, who actually caught more of THS quarterback Isaiah Moreno’s passes (2) than teammate Zane Pontine’s (1) in a 55-0 demolition closing out IHS’ Homecoming Week. “We’ve got two weeks (away) and we’ve got to put our nose to the grindstone and go hard. So yeah, we’re going to put up a fight.”
With center Cruz Martinez the triggerman on virtually every snap during the first three quarters, the Bobcats (2-3, 1-0) were able to run the football relatively at will and racked up nearly 300 yards on the ground.
Junior D.J. Hendren put forth an eight-carry, 145-yard effort. He recorded touchdown runs of 39 and 11 yards during the second quarter, then adding another 11-yard score – IHS’ last of the game with 0:05 left in the third. With senior Nate Hendren unavailable, sophomore Lincoln deKay gained 98 yards on 13 tries with two TDs.
“Cortez … even though we lost to ’em we still played a decent game,” Pontine said, alluding to Ignacio’s 24-0 loss to 2A Montezuma-Cortez the previous week. “But there were still a lot of mistakes in that game and I feel like we made up for a lot of those errors this week. Our line did an amazing job; they really set it up.”
Pontine unofficially finished 5-of-7 passing for 141 yards and was not intercepted. Maez caught one pass for 29, sophomore Gabe Archuleta one for 21, and senior Devante Montoya three for 91 – including a 60-yard touchdown capping the very first drive after halftime, which the ’Cats entered holding a 33-0 lead.
“I saw Devante running down the sideline and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s wide-open,” Pontine said. “Their corner was four yards away, so I chucked it – and I honestly thought it was going out of bounds. Somehow he caught it and scored; it was pretty cool.”
Defensively, sophomore Aven Bourriague intercepted Moreno to set up the Bobcats’ very first score (a 5-yard Pontine carry, with 4:49 left in the first quarter), but had a second pick negated in the second quarter due to a pass-interference penalty against IHS. Five plays later, as Trinidad (0-5, 0-1 South Central) looked to sustain its lengthiest drive, Maez picked off Moreno at IHS’ 15 and returned it six yards.
Maez would also intercept Moreno late in the third quarter, setting up Hendren’s third TD run. In addition, the Bobcats recovered two onside kicks and preserved their shutout with fourth-quarter fumble recoveries by deKay (after Archuleta blew up THS receiver Andres Romero following a catch) and junior Charlie Pargin (after Moreno lost control of the ball while juking a defender in open field deep in Ignacio territory).
“He threw the ball, and I’d seen that dude coming across the middle … and me being the free safety, I just hit the guy!” said Archuleta. “Then Lincoln came in and scooped it – I felt like it was a perfect tackle; I stuck to my assignment, my job.”
“We even got a break … to enjoy the last Homecoming game together and have some fun,” Martinez said, of how IHS’ regulars were mostly benched during the fourth quarter. “Hard work pays off, and that was just us reaping the benefits.”
The Bobcats play Center next weekend. The Vikings are 0-5 so far this season.
“Hopefully going forth we can finally put it all together fully; we’ve proved we’re not the same team as last year,” Martinez said. “We can really get it done.”
