The Mancos Blue Jays went toe-to-toe with the back-to-back New Mexico High School 8-man state champions last Friday.
Meeting up with the Melrose Buffaloes – who have claimed five of the last eight N.M. 8-man state titles – at Menaul High School in Albuquerque on Friday, Mancos hung tough for a tightly contested game.
Bowen Strazza-Whalen struck first for the Blue Jays, finding the end zone to go ahead early. And Axel Bonde and Breccen Morelli tacked on the Jays’ next two scores to go into the fourth quarter tied with the Buffaloes at 20.
“We scored first and we were neck-and-neck with them the entire game,” explained Mancos co-head coach Josh Gardner. “But then fourth quarter tied 20-20, we found a way to lose. We had three turnovers in the fourth quarter.”
The Buffaloes capitalized off a Mancos turnover to go ahead 28-20. And then, attempting to put together a game-tying drive later, the Jays turned the ball over again. As the offense stalled out, the clock rolled and Melrose wound up on top, 28-20.
“We’ve lost two close games because we fumbled the ball in critical situations,” Gardner said referencing the Jays’ loss to Melrose as well as their season-opening loss to Plateau Valley. “Our defense has been playing really well and our offensive line has been moving the ball. But turnovers are just destroying us.”
“Overall, the defense played very well,” echoed co-head coach Adam Priestley. “I would like to point out that Chance Morgan-Garcia played an amazing game at middle linebacker. I’d also like to point out Richard Martinez, who played an outstanding game with hard work.”
The Blue Jays (1-3, 0-0 A-8 Southwest League) open league play on Saturday in an away game against Del Norte (0-2, 0-0 A-8 SWL).
The Dove Creek Bulldogs were blown out by the Plateau Valley Cowboys on Saturday, 56-0.
Starting quarterback Ryan Martinez went down with a hip injury early in the first quarter. And without the sophomore signal caller, the Dove Creek offense struggled to move the ball.
Freshman Cade Curtis, who had been playing wide receiver – and had three receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown the week prior – was thrust into the QB role in place of Martinez.
“He did a good job and stepped in there and tried to as best as he could,” said head coach Shane Baughman. “And we’re proud of him for that. He just didn’t know many plays and the timing was off. Everything was just off.”
Without Martinez – who also starts at cornerback – the Bulldogs managed just 49 yards of offense and allowed the Cowboys to rack up 449.
“I knew offense would be a problem without Ryan in the lineup,” Baughman said. “But defensively, I felt like we had some breakdowns that probably shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t feel like we had the same effort that we had the week before against Rangely.”
Despite the lopsided score, Baughman did find positives in the loss.
“Dante Gallegos blocked and played defensive end really well,” he said. “I was proud of him the whole game. He did his job and took care of his guy.”
Baughman said he is unsure of Martinez’ status moving forward, but added that the Bulldogs will have their work cut out for them either way.
Dove Creek (0-2, 0-0 A-8 SWL) travels to Sangre de Cristo (3-0, 0-0 A-8 SWL) on Friday to take on the Thunderbirds, who were ranked No. 8 in the 8-man state rankings in CHSAANow’s latest poll.
