CLASS A: QUARTBACK FIGHTS OFF INJURY TO LIFT MCCURDY OVER LOBOS, TO PLAYOFF BERTH.

Byline: JAMES BARRON

ESPANOLA -- The pain of a heated rivalry shot up Louie Martinez's left leg Saturday.

It was the leg of a sophomore quarterback in charge of McCurdy School's offense.

It was a leg that worked in concert with the right one to help

Martinez rush for 92 yards and throw for another 135 yards to

help the Bobcats to a crucial 35-18 win over District 1A foe and long-standing adversary Escalante at Martinez Field.

It was a leg that wasn't good for much of anything as he lay on the trainer's table in the McCurdy locker room for a post-game checkup from the trainer.

Martinez grimaced as his inner thigh was poked and prodded to determine the extent of the injury, which occurred after he took a hit on a play that was blown dead by a penalty in the second quarter.

Martinez insisted it was the typical football pain after a long afternoon of hitting -- and being hit.

"I'm gonna be fine," Martinez said. "Just fine."

The short-and-sweet answer is what McCurdy head coach Eric Vigil is accustomed to from Martinez.

"He's not a vocal leader, but in a no-huddle offense you don't have to be," Vigil said.

It was the kind of sacrifice a team leader makes, especially when a Class A playoff berth was on the line, which the Bobcats (6-3 overall, 2-1 1A) secured with a runner-up finish in 1A.

McCurdy earned a No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 Jal in an A first-round matchup next week.

Vigil made it clear to his team all week what was at stake.

"I told the kids that were playing for our lives," Vigil said. "If not, we start basketball next week (on Monday) then."

Martinez was a big part of extending the season, bum leg and all. He coolly led a Bobcat offense that normally lived on the pass and big plays, but couldn't against the Lobos' pass defense.

Escalante (7-3, 1-2) held an

18-13 lead entering the third quarter thanks to 195 first-half rushing yards and two touchdowns from junior Isaiah Maldonado, but the Bobcats churned out a nine-play,

63-yard scoring drive in a grinding fashion that was better suited for their opponents.

Martinez connected on four of five passes for 49 yards, including a 23-yard floater to Ryan Bustos on a third down-and-8 play from the Escalante 26-yard line.

Martinez's option keeper over the left side from 3 yards out, followed by his 2-point conversion pass to Carlos Herrera, made it 21-18, McCurdy, with 4 minutes, 16 seconds left in the third.

Martinez said the Bobcats had to nickel-and-dime their way down field because of Escalante's zone defense.

McCurdy had 189 yards rushing until the final three plays -- all shotgun kneels by backup quarterback Josh Lovato.

"They were in a cover-4, so we just decided to run on them," Martinez said. "Even though there was like six, seven men in the box, we just decided to run because we were able to."

Meanwhile, the Bobcats defense was impervious to the run in the second half as Maldonado ran for only 28 yards on seven carries.

"We couldn't give him as many carries because we were down two scores," Lobos head coach Diego Brusuelas said. "Those two touchdowns came at us pretty fast. We weren't able to run the ball near as much as I would have wanted."

Maldonado also had a costly fumble early in the fourth quarter when the Lobos were on the cusp of cutting into a 28-18 deficit.

He took an option pitch left and pushed his way to the McCurdy 9 before he was hit and fumbled. And who else was there but Martinez to recover the ball?

Four plays later, Martinez finally showed the quick-strike capability of his offense when his 10-yard roll-out pass to Bustos turned into a 72-yard touchdown for 35-18 with 7:08 left.

Escalante tried to pass but quarterbacks Justin Atencio and Andrew Garcia combined on a 8-for-23 effort for 143 yards and two Garcia interceptions.

The only good was an

Atencio-to-Eric Belser slant that Belser broke for a

59-yard touchdown as he slipped through two Bobcat tackles on the way to the end zone for a 6-0 lead at 7:35 of the first quarter.

Maldonado also took advantage of shoddy McCurdy tackling on touchdown runs of 85 yards and 4 yards as he broke a pair of tackles on each play.

"Maldonado and Belser are strong guys," Vigil said. "We gotta wrap up those guys."

At least there is one more week to correct that flaw. And one more week for Martinez's leg to heal.

Contact James Barron at [e-mail]

or 986-3045. Read his blog,

The Read Barron, at thereadbarron.com.