First win comes at 3A-level team’s expense
Even in a running-clock scenario, enacted late in the first half to spare the visiting Wingate Bears as much scoreboard punishment as possible Friday, Sept. 8, the fact that with the exception of one third quarter oopsie – rectified the very next play – the Ignacio Bobcats impressively controlled the football for pretty much the first 16 minutes of the second half.
That is, the third quarter and the first four minutes of the fourth – via a ‘drive’ initially begun at IHS’ 34-yard line following senior Marcus Maez’s kickoff return, interrupted by WHS junior Arwin Thompson recovering freshman Brandon Blevins’ fumble nine plays later at Wingate’s 29, and then resumed by Bobcat sophomore Aven Bourriague intercepting Bear senior quarterback Dylan Clark’s first-down pass at the guests’ 45.
A holding penalty against the ’Cats backed them up to their own side of midfield, but on 1st-and-20 sophomore Lincoln deKay blasted through the line for a 25-yard gain down to Wingate’s 30. A false-start penalty, however, then brought the third quarter to a close. Still looking to tack on one last score, junior D.J. Hendren then got the fourth frame underway with a 15-yard carry, and Blevins followed with a 10-yarder giving Ignacio 1st-and-goal at the Bears’ 10.
Wingate then burned a timeout, stopping the clock with 10:51 left in regulation, and the pause paid off when Hendren was dropped for a 4-yard loss on first down. A personal-foul penalty then forced IHS back to the 29, and Blevins was stopped for a 3-yard gain on 2nd-and-goal. Always with speed to spare, Hendren managed to get the ’Cats back to the 10 with a 16-yard romp, but WHS then recorded a turnover-on-downs by tackling sophomore quarterback Zane Pontine after a four-yard keeper.
Pinned back at their own 6 with just 7:45 left and ticking away, the Fort Wingate, N.M., representatives managed to escape the proverbial ‘red zone’ thanks to senior Titus Morgan’s three-yard run on first down, then Clark’s 13-yard throw to Thompson – Blevins, unfortunately, was injured while attempting to pull Thompson down from behind – on second.
But Bobcat senior Rylan Maez broke up Clark’s next attempt, and Wingate essentially lost all hope of avoiding a shutout when senior lineman Kaden Herrera had to fall on a backwards-bouncing fumble back at his team’s own 2 for a 20-yard loss. Two plays later, junior Jaden Martin’s last punt grossed just 10 yards out to the 21, but netted just three after Bourriague returned it seven. Positioned at WHS’ 14 with 1:54 left, Ignacio decided to call it a night and two Pontine kneel-downs in ‘victory formation’ capped a thorough 46-0 win.
“We were very disappointed by the loss, so you know we had to get it back,” Rylan Maez said, referring to IHS’ competitive 42-30 setback on the 1st at 2A Moab, Utah, Grand County. “So, we just shoved it down their throat, played smash-mouth football.”
“I think we did an outstanding job on defense,” added senior Nate Hendren. “We really, like, stepped it up. Our offense … still needs work, but the defense is solid; we were at that quarterback … making sure … at the end of the game.”
“Practice was really good,” D.J. Hendren said, when asked how preparations went to welcome Wingate, in the wake of the loss at GCHS. “Maybe the first day wasn’t such a hard practice, but everyone really did step it up because … it takes everyone to be really good, not just one person. In our minds we feel we can beat everyone; we have to have that ‘team’ mentality to do it.”
With Hendren and Hendren pairing up to plant Clark for an 11-yard loss on the night’s first play from scrimmage, Martin was summoned to punt and end a three-and-out possession. Senior Devante Montoya netted 20 yards on the return, setting Ignacio (1-2 overall, 0-0 1A South Central) up at the Bears’ 15 with 10:16 left in the first quarter. One snap and one penalty later, the Bobcats scored via a 16-yard Pontine-to-Montoya connection with 9:14 left, plus Pontine-to-Rylan Maez two-point conversion.
Things only went downhill from there for overwhelmed Wingate (2-2, 0-0 NMAA Dist. 5-3A).
Three snaps into a WHS series which started at their own 49, the ’Cats struck again as Montoya intercepted Clark and returned the pick 65 yards for a touchdown with 8:01 to go. Pontine’s two-point try also flew his way, but went incomplete. But no matter; sophomore Gabe Archuleta recovered a squibbed kickoff muffed by the Bears, and IHS went back on offense at the visitors’ 48 with 7:56 remaining. 11 seconds later, Ignacio’s lead had grown to 20-0 after Nate Hendren rocketed 48 yards for a first-down TD (Pontine’s conversion toss to Archuleta fell short).
D.J. Hendren then gave the Bobcats yet another possession when he recovered what was essentially an onside kick all the way down to the Wingate 30. Set up with 7:40 left, IHS needed just 1:48 to again capitalize with D.J. Hendren (unoff. 7-54 rushing) carrying across the goal line from 20 yards out. Pontine’s conversion pass went incomplete, but WHS’ first try at a fourth-down conversion would return the ball – Bourriague intercepted a long Morgan option pass at the Ignacio 15 – to the Bobcats.
And Ignacio needed just five plays and 1:49 to further inflate their advantage to 32-0, thanks to a 22-yard TD tote by deKay (unoff. 10-114 rushing). Montoya (1-16 receiving) couldn’t hang on to Pontine’s two-point toss, but the ’Cats very nearly had yet another opportunity before the quarter mercifully expired. D.J. Hendren scooped up a Thompson fumble on WHS’ very next offensive play and ran it back for an apparent score, but the return was negated by a personal foul penalty.
Starting their new drive from the Bears’ 33 with 2:04 left, Ignacio completed the short quest in six plays – the last being a 15-yard Pontine-to-Rylan Maez pass with 11:37 remaining in the second quarter. Junior Charlie Pargin’s first point-after kick was no good, but the Bobcats quickly ensured the night would end early.
Forcing Wingate into another three-and-out after freshman William Mendoza-Lechuga broke up a Clark pass, IHS again set up shop in enemy territory after Martin’s punt out of bounds grossed/netted 10 yards out to WHS’ 39. Four plays and a false-start penalty later, Ignacio gained the desired 40-plus point lead when Nate Hendren (unoff. 4-85 rushing) scored from 24 yards out with 7:10 left until halftime. Pontine hit Archuleta with the two-point throw, extending IHS’ onslaught to 46 points unanswered as the ’Cats took nothing for granted. Especially not with Montezuma-Cortez set to visit two Fridays later on the 22nd.
“We played really hard tonight because we do have a bye week,” said D.J. Hendren, “to get ready for Cortez.”
“That was just what we needed,” Maez (2-22 receiving) said, of the timing of Ignacio’s first win this season. “We had to go hard; we didn’t think (Wingate) was going to be a slouch. We just studied film and did our jobs, and came out with the ‘W.’”