Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Las Cruces sprints from Organ Mountain 49-14 in the regular season finale

LAS CRUCES – Las Cruces High head coach Mark Lopez has long raved about the importance of finding the “recipe for success” be it for a season, game, quarter or game.

Friday night against Organ Mountain, the Bulldawgs cooked with the entire spice rack.

Las Cruces blew in Organ Mountain’s regular season finale 49-14 to score his fifth win of the season and potentially bolster his New Mexico Activties Association playoff seeds, which will be announced at 9:30 p.m. tomorrow, second place in Class 6A District 3/4.

The Knights dropped to 4-6 over the course of the year and could miss the postseason for the fourth straight time. You now get into a three-way battle for the last playoff place with the high schools of Clovis and Santa Fe.

More:Trojans conquer the district title with a nerve-wracking 21:14 win in extra time against Deming

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How it happened

It took Las Cruces only one play to win 46 yards and break into the Organ Mountain red zone for the first time. It then took three more games to take the 7-0 lead after the first offensive possession and five more games to take the 14-0 lead after the second offensive possession. And two more games in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead with more than 11 minutes in the first half.

Isaiah Carreon (17) plays the ball as the Las Cruces Bulldawgs battle the Organ Mountain Knights at the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces on Friday October 29, 2021.

On the other sideline, the Knights couldn’t find a rhythm on either side of the ball. And as soon as they did, Las Cruces replied immediately.

Organ Mountain had only one drive in the first half that had more than one first down, and the Knights didn’t play a play in the Bulldawg area until after half time. Organ Mountain’s only brilliant moment in the first half, a 63-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Beto Garcia to senior receiver David Dorado, was instantly overshadowed by Las Cruces’ 52-yard touchdown drive on the next possession.

Las Cruces led 42-7 in the half, and the clock ran continuously through the third and fourth quarters. Senior receiver Berto Zamora scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldawgs a 49-7 lead, and Dorado scored too late to permanently score the 49-14 on a 40-yard touchdown pass to achieve.

Beto Garcia (11) plays the ball as the Organ Mountain Knights battle the Las Cruces Bulldawgs at the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces on Friday, October 29, 2021.

The stars of Friday

Las Cruces senior quarterback Dallas Boyd again had an aggregate performance of over 100 yards to lead the Bulldawgs on the overall offensive. Second receiver Zakye Hawkins grabbed an 18-yard touchdown pass and ran for another score, and senior receiver Richard Madrid grabbed a 23-yard touchdown pass towards the end of the first half. Senior running back Elijah Ogas also scored two touchdowns for the Bulldawgs, and senior receiver Berto Zamora ran a 10-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half of Las Cruces.

For Organ Mountain, Garcia’s 63- and 40-yard touchdown passes for Dorado were the longest games of the evening. Senior running back Zack Tarango was the Knights’ leading backwater.

What would be said

Lopez’s thoughts on the game: “I was really happy with the way we recovered (after losing 42:41 to Centennial). I had a great feeling last Wednesday about how these guys reacted to the last game. It really pissed them off excited, and they came back that Wednesday, their hair burned and we had a great week of training … It was so great to get all the seniors in at the end of that game in the fourth quarter, get them in there and get some playtime. That is much, much deserved for these guys. “

Lopez in the postseason: “It’s winning or going home, right? It’s winning or handing in your things. So either we hand in our things or they hand in their things. If you need more motivation, man, you are probably in the wrong program.”

Organ Mountain head coach Steve Castille on the knighting season: “Our kids played hard all season. I’m really proud of them. You know, we lacked depth all year and we only lost five linemen (through injury) in that game and that’s a killer, but (Las Cruces) is a really good football team and they will make some noise in the playoffs. … I’m proud of our kids. I love our boys we’ll see what happens (regarding the playoff setting) . “

Castille on the playoff dilemma of the knights: “The reality is there are three teams competing who don’t deserve to be in the playoffs for the 12 seeded spots, so we’re kind of here. They have three teams of 3-7, 4-6, they fought. It’s interesting. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I hope it won’t be our kids’ last game, but I’m proud of them for fighting for 48 minutes. I wish we could have sent them off better. “

Castille when asked what his pitch would be to get Organ Mountain into the playoffs: “Well the only easy game we have with either of these teams is Albuquerque High … we beat a good Deming team (too). Nobody else has high quality wins out there. The only easy opponent was Albuquerque High that we mastered more easily than the other the reality of it. “

What’s next

The two schools expect the NMAA playoff seeds tomorrow night. Las Cruces could drop anywhere from a seed in number 5 to a seed in number 9, while Organ Mountain is hoping to steal the last seed in number 12.

Stephen Wagner is a sports reporter for Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be found on Twitter at @ stephenwag22 and can be reached at [email protected].

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