By Ed Nuñez
Enchantment Sports Staff Writer
To say the Los Lunas Tigers have been road warriors would be an understatement.
Los Lunas opened the season by playing its first four games on the road because of a scheduling conflict. The results have been mixed.
The Tigers opened the season by beating Piedra Vista Panthers 28-0, lost to Clovis 30-15 then they defeated Sandia 28-3. Then, in a rematch of last year’s 5A championship game, lost to Roswell 56-33.
“We’re ready for a home game,” said Los Lunas coach Jeremy Maupin, whose team plays host to Cibola on Friday at 7 p.m. “Three of those games (Farmington, Clovis and Roswell) were long trips.
The score against Roswell was a tad misleading, according to Maupin.
“The score was 21-to-21 right before the half; they got a hail Mary on us and had the momentum going into the half, leading 28-21,” he said. “We didn’t respond well in the second half. we knew it was going to be a tight game and Roswell made the plays.”
Cibola comes into Friday night’s game at 3-1, after losing last week to the La Cueva 31-10 in a game the Cougars led at the half 10-9.
The Cougars are ranked eighth in this week’s 6A poll and have a lot of offensive weapons, a fact not lost on Maupin.
“Cibola has a ton of good athletes and they run a ton of screens,” Maupin said. “We’ll have to take what they give us and play good football.”
Cibola head coach Rod Williams said “Los Lunas plays well at home. The town is really behind them; they are tougher when they play at home. The losses they have are a little deceptive.”
“Their defensive ends (junior Tyler Kiehne and senior Bryce Santana) are very good, similar to last year,” Williams said. “We hope to come out on top.”
The Tigers beat the Cougars 38-35 last year at Nusenda Community Stadium.
Despite their first loss this season, Williams said he feels great about his team.
“I love this team and I love these guys,” Williams said.”It’s one loss, and we’ll learn from it. The character of this team has been just incredible.
Elsewhere in 5A, Highland continues to surprise.
The Hornets are 3-1 and ranked No. 7 in 5A. They’ll take on the 1-3 Del Norte Knights and junior running back Isaiah Ortiz today (Sept. 19) at 7 p.m. Milne Stadium.
Ortiz has rushed for 643 yards and averages 160.8 yards per game.
“Ortiz is a heck of a player, we hope to slow him down and contain him and put some long drives together to minimize his touches,” said Highland head coach, Phil Lovato.
Ed Nuñez is a play-by-play announcer for ProView Networks and a staff writer with Enchantment Sports. If you have information, tips or questions for Ed, please send to EnchantmentSportsNM@gmail.com.
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