Garcia coaching era ends with loss at home 

If there was a Monte Vista player fully aware Friday night, Oct. 25, that the Pirates could ill-afford to regard underdog Ignacio lightly, one could have guessed senior running back Jacob Pacheco or senior quarterback Kaden Madrid. 

And one probably wouldn’t have guessed incorrectly. 

But when the visitors – who arrived at IHS Field having not faced opposition since crushing Center 79-0 on October 4 – needed a supreme lift in a key 1A Southern Peaks clash, they sought out Azariah Hurtado. 

Directly responsible for 22 of MVHS’ 32 points, the junior hauled in touchdown receptions of 49 (with 7:47 left in the first quarter), 42 (7:32 left in the third) and 50 (2:19 left in the third) yards, caught a two-point conversion and carried in another, and also intercepted Bobcat junior QB Zane Pontine three times. The last pick came with 0:02.7 remaining and for all practical purposes ended not only IHS’ 2024 season, but Alfonso ‘Ponch’ Garcia’s last actual game after being named head coach in 2015. 

“I only even played football because he was the coach; that was the only reason I really started playing – I wanted to play for him,” said D.J. Hendren, who played much of the third quarter with an injured right forearm but who still wanted to fight to the finish (though insisting, he was denied). “So him leaving … it’s kind of sad.” 

“I mean, he brought me into this. Nurtured me and helped me grow,” senior Kendrick Nossaman said. “It’s really awesome, especially, to ‘graduate’ with him. And in track I’ll still have him coaching me.” 

“Four years with him,” said senior Charley Pargin, “and I call him a friend, you know? It’s been a good run.” 

Good on-field running ultimately produced IHS’ shutout-snapping score early in the fourth and final frame. Beginning the drive – which followed Hurtado’s longest TD catch and subsequent two-point tote, increasing Monte Vista’s lead to 32-0 – at their own 41-yard line after junior Gabe Archuleta returned Madrid’s kickoff 23 yards, the Garcia and the Bobcat staff called Lincoln deKay’s number five times (four runs, one reception) in six plays, and the junior fullback sewed up the surge following sophomore lineman Tyce Nossaman’s blocking for a 7-yard score. 

Pontine – whose 19-yard scamper and rhino-like placement of his helmet into his trampled tackler’s midsection highlighted the possession, which consumed just 2:34 worth of clock – then threw to Archuleta for the two-point bonus, cutting the Pirates’ lead down to 24 points with 11:45 left in regulation. 

“I thought we probably could have executed a lot better; some things weren’t really clicking. I mean, Monte Vista was a tough team, but we were up for the challenge,” Archuleta said. “It’s Ponch’s last season at the high school and all of us are pretty sad about it, but we still tried to … ball out for the seniors’ last game.” 

All four saluted seniors – Pargin, Kendrick Nossaman, Marquis Cibrian and ’24 addition Cole Wagner – anchored Ignacio’s offensive line and helped deKay rush for 103 yards on 18 no-frills carries. Pontine ended up with 30 yards on five carries but Hendren was held to minus-4 on three. 

Aerially, sophomore Cayson Burcham caught four passes for 75 yards, while deKay and junior Aven Bourriague each ended up with one grab for seven. Intercepted by Hurtado on his very first throw (Hurtado actually fumbled during the return, with Hendren alertly recovering at the Bobcats’ 4 and gaining a fresh set of downs despite IHS losing 13 yards of field position), Pontine finished – unofficially – with six completions in 25 attempts. He also intercepted Madrid once, with 3:46 left in the first quarter and the ’Cats trailing by an 8-0 margin. 

Pacheco, who rumbled for a 17-yard touchdown with 9:50 left in the second, had already exceeded 100 yards rushing by halftime and ended up with game-highs of 19 carries and 148 yards for MVHS (6-2 overall, 4-0 conference). Madrid completed nine passes for a devastating 259 yards, and flipped a two-pointer to senior Jeremiah Baumgardner – after Hurtado’s first of two third-quarter TD grabs – in helping prepare the Pirates to host Centauri a week later with the SPC title at stake. 

The Falcons stood 7-0 (3-0 conference) prior to a slated 10/26 trip to Trinidad (2-4, 1-2), but with THS having forfeited on the 18th to Monte Vista, CHS may not have even needed to travel out to historic Miners Stadium. 

“It shocked us,” Hurtado (6-217 receiving) said of Trinidad’s unplanned, bloodless surrender. “We were expecting to have a good home game, so we were sad. But we had to keep working because we still had games coming up that are huge.” 

Kickoff time Friday evening, Nov. 1, versus Centauri at MVHS’ Harvey Sullivan Field is set for 6 p.m. 

“Yeah, I think we’re ready,” Hurtado continued. “After not playing for a couple weeks – almost a month – I think this got us back into our groove. We’re going to go out and grind in practice, then go play our game.” 

Ignacio dipped to 3-5 overall, 2-2 SPC, but those figures will improve to and be finalized at 4-5 and 3-2, respectively, when their 11/1 forfeit win over Del Norte becomes official. 

“Could have done a little better but we all tried the hardest we could. It didn’t end in our favor but we’re going to keep our heads up,” said Pargin. “The boys’ll do good next year; I’ve got faith in them.”