It’s St. Michael’s-Santa Fe High Week, so let’s cover the basics.
This is the first time since 1970 that the two teams have entered the competition unbeaten when they both started the game 1-0. It is also the first time the two teams have been unbeaten at Ivan Head Stadium, which was built in 1980 and replaced Majors Field as the venue.
The Demons have not beaten the Horsemen since 2008 when they won 27-10 at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex. This was also the last time the rivals played outside of Ivan Head Stadium as St. Michael refused to pay the Santa Fe Public Schools rental fees as they were the home team that year.
Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the two schools stopped playing against each other in the shortened spring season for the first time since 1994. The 1995 game, won by the Demons 66-23, marked the first time the rivals played after a decade of “cooling off” because school officials felt the atmosphere around the game was getting too intense.
While Santa Fe High leads the series 49-36-3, St. Michael’s has won the last 11 games and is 16-4 since 2000. In fact, the Horsemen have been 32-4 in city rivalries (including Saturday’s 60-8 drubbbing of Capital) since head coach Joey Fernandez took over the program in 2002. Santa Fe High has three of these victories.
Friday’s winner could be Mother Nature, whether you choose Zozobra or the Horsemen Demons game (sorry Capital fans. We know there’s a Pintos Jaguar game that night). The National Weather Service predicts a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms this day, so dress in layers and bring an umbrella. Maybe even some snacks.
It could be a long night.
It’s a rare sight when opposing volleyball teams decide to warm up together before a game, but that’s exactly what happened between Monte del Sol and McCurdy on Saturday. The two teams faced each other in the game for third place in the Santa Fe Waldorf’s Wolf Tournament, and a chance conversation resulted in the two teams warming up together.
Lady Dragons head coach Chela Butler said her team was playing pepper (a warm-up exercise) while McCurdy battled an assistant coach when a couple of Lady Bobcats offered to invite the Monte del Sol players to join the action.
At first the offer was turned down, Butler said, but soon four Lady Dragons were working with the Lady Bobcats on their digs.
“I was like, ‘Man, that’s pretty cool,'” said Butler. “It’s a bit of sportiness. McCurdy had a young man who was beating, so our girls were like, ‘Hey, I want to fight this.’ It was nice to see that kind of sportsmanship. “
It’s a girls’ world when it comes to the kick game in northern New Mexico. St. Michael has Milena Keene, who is the goalkeeper of the girls’ soccer team, as her field kicker and she is 8-for-12 for extra points and 1-for-2 for field goals.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe High counters with the duo Molly Wissman and Jazzi Gonzalez, who share the tasks. They combined to get three out of four extra point kicks in a 27-13 win over Moriarty in their first action with the Demons. Wissman is the goalkeeper for the girls’ team while Gonzalez is a striker tied with three goals for the team leadership.
The football season is only a few weeks old, but Santa Fe High junior striker Alex Wagoner is way superior to the rest of the state when it comes to goals. Wagoner, a transfer from Taos, leads all players with 27 points thanks to 11 goals (which leads the state) and five assists.
Third on that list is Trevor Erickson, the senior of St. Michael, who does it differently. He has only three goals but he has spent eight assists for a total of 14 points.
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