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Brad Cox/News-Sun
Lovington's Justin Bromley scores against Robertson on Friday. |
– Hobbs was the lone Lea County team to lose – losing to Class 4A power Artesia 57-13. First-year coach Charles Gleghorn is in game two of his rebuilding project with the Eagles and Hobbs looked just like that – a rebuilding team against an established winner. I mentioned this in my column in Sunday's News-Sun (which I'll post here Monday) that rebuilding a football team is sometimes like rebuilding the interior of a house – sometimes things are going to look a little worse before they get better. The Eagles have lost nine games in a row overall and try to get back on track next week against Roswell High – the last team Hobbs beat.
– Lovington got back on track after its week-one loss to Artesia with a 48-0 pounding of Robertson at Wildcat Stadium (fresh with its new scoreboard). The Wildcats' defense showed much improvement while the ground game was impressive. It was a great tuneup for Lovington before taking on St. Michael's Saturday in Santa Fe – a rematch of last season's Class 3A state title game the Wildcats won for their third straight state title.
– Eunice took care of business with ease for the second straight week with a 42-6 win over the Hobbs junior varsity Thursday in Eunice. The Cardinals' ground game shined with three players (Eric Leyva, Avi Sanchez, Dylan Frank) all topping the 100-yard mark. Eunice has outscored its two opponents 84-6 thus far, but things are going to get much tougher as a brutal four-game stretch begins Friday when the Cardinals host Tularosa. Eunice then follows with Texico on the road, Lovington at home and then Tucumcari on the road. We'll have a much better idea of where Eunice is at after that stretch.
– Jal looked like it may start the season 0-2 as it trailed on the road to Capitan 13-0 at the half following a 42-0 loss to Eunice in week one. But the Panthers rallied to take a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter only to see Capitan regain the lead at 19-14. With time for just one more drive, Jal behind sophomore quarterback Jaime Lujan drove the length of the field and Lujan hit senior Julio Camunez for a game-winning 20-yard touchdown pass with under a minute left for a 22-19 win. It may be the boost this young team needs as it heads into next week's game against Escalante.
– Tatum moved to 2-0 on the season with a 48-10 over Springer/Maxwell. The Coyotes rushed for an eye-popping 535 yards led by Timmy Pearce's 210 yards and three touchdowns on 15 attempts. Tatum is going to be a contender for the 8-man title behind its powerful running game and plays in its home opener Friday against Mountainair.
