HORSEMEN ROUT HOT SPRINGS; POJOAQUE'S RUN ENDS.

Byline: GEOFF GRAMMER

CLASS AAA STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

St. Michael's runs for 319 yards, earns semifinal rematch with No. 2 Raton

By Geoff Grammer

The New Mexican 

As St. Michael's head coach Joey Fernandez talked to a reporter after his team's 52-21 Class AAA state playoff win over Hot Springs on Saturday, Raton head coach Brock Walton stood 15 yards away, patiently waiting.

The two friendly rivals from years of District 2AAA competition had some business to take care of.

The exchange was symbolic.

Only minutes removed from his team advancing in dominating fashion to the AAA quarterfinals, Fernandez and his Horsemen had no time to relish in the playoff victory before the realization that No. 2 Raton was waiting in the wings.

"If we want to win a championship, we sort of had a list of teams in mind we'd have to beat to get that done," Fernandez said. "We may not have thought Raton was going to be a quarterfinal game, but we always knew to get what we want, we'd be seeing them again."

Fernandez and Walton, who along with several Raton players and coaches made the trip south to Brother Abdon Field as his second-seeded Tigers enjoyed a playoff bye this week, agreed next week's quarterfinal game will be played Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Legion Field in Raton instead of Friday night.

While Raton can find comfort in the fact they beat the Horsemen 36-35 on Oct. 23 in overtime, they couldn't have liked what they saw Saturday.

St. Michael's, the No. 7 seed, unleashed a furious rushing attack on No. 10 Hot Springs (3-8), highlighted by a bruising 156-yard, two-touchdown performance on just nine carries from junior fullback Michael Lamb.

"Running the ball like they were today, especially that No. 45, I don't see anyone stopping them until maybe Lovington (in the state championship game)," said veteran Hot Springs head coach Travis Lee, who has been coaching since 1965. "I'm not saying anyone is going to roll over for them, but if they run like they did today, that's a team that keeps playing for awhile."

Lamb's 17.3 yards per carry average was highlighted by a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 32 and 9 yards that put an exclamation point on a 319-yard rushing performance for the Horsemen (8-3).

Lamb, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker/fullback, showed impressive speed on sweeps that often resulted in his being left one-on-one on the outside with undersized defensive backs.

"You could just see that cornerback's eyes get big when (Lamb) was running at him," said senior linebacker/fullback Mikey Aranda. "I don't know too many defensive backs that would want to try and stop him when he's coming at you full speed."

Lamb left several Hot Springs defenders laying on their back, breaking at least three tackles on each of his fourth quarter touchdowns.

"I love playing linebacker because I love to hit," Lamb said. "So when I'm running the ball, I always look to lay the hit on them instead of the other way around."

The Horsemen offensive line had one of its better games of the season, paving the way not only for Lamb but for a 17-carry, 116 rushing yard and two touchdown performance from junior running back Russell Disch.

"I think our line did a real good job today of giving our running backs a chance to get out and run," Fernandez said.

That offensive line set the tone early. The Horsemen took their opening drive 74 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 7 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The drive went seven plays, including six runs for 56 yards.

Hot Springs answered 15 seconds later with a 65-yard Evan Tooley to Zachary Degase touchdown pass on one of the few defensive breakdowns of the game for St. Michael's.

A Michael Wiegle 31-yard touchdown run 37 seconds later gave St. Michael's a 14-7 lead, and capped a 21-point flurry with just 52 seconds off the clock.

A second Disch rushing touchdown and a 3 yard Wiegel to Giovanni Coppola touchdown pass with under a minute left in the second quarter gave St. Michael's a 28-7 half-time lead.

It appeared they would blow the game wide open when sophomore Joe Alvarez returned the opening kick of the third quarter 81 yards for a touchdown, tying a school record for three kick return touchdowns in a season (Will Vigil had three in 1998).

But Hot Springs pulled within 35-21 with 7:35 left in the game off touchdown runs from Tooley and Hunter Bierner before Lamb decided he had seen enough.

"We sort of got a little too relaxed there late," said Coppola, who had three catches for 69 yards, one touchdown and a 42-yard field goal. "Then Lamb sort of finished it with the way he was running there in the fourth."

While Lamb's running brought an end to Saturday's game, it only brought on the beginning of a golden opportunity for the Horsemen. Should St. Michael's win the AAA championship this season, it could do so by having the opportunity to exact revenge for three bitter losses.

In next week's quarterfinal, the Horsemen face a Raton team that beat them in overtime Oct. 23. A win could set up a semifinal rematch with a Las Vegas Robertson team that embarrassed the Horsemen 26-0 at home on Oct. 31.

A win there would land St. Michael's in the AAA championship, where they could face No. 1 Lovington, the team that knocked St. Michael's out of last year's semifinals in a 31-24 triple overtime thriller.

"We know what teams we'll likely have to play to get that blue trophy," Fernandez said. "But right now, first things first. We know Raton is waiting for us."

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3060 or [e-mail]. Read his blog at grammerschoolblog.com.