Alfred Lujan, a 1998 Albuquerque High graduate, created four trophies for AHS football rivalry matches. The trophies, from left to right: the Rio Grande River Trophy (Rio Grande), the Fourth Quarter Trophy (Del Norte), the Heritage Trophy (Highland) and the Divided Trophy (Valley). The trophies go to the winner of the head-to-head games, and AHS currently owns all four. (Courtesy of Alfred Lujan)
Albuquerque has had some longstanding high school football rivalries. Many of them naturally revolve around the campus in the middle of the city.
Alfred Lujan, an Albuquerque High graduate, thought it might be time to add some flavor to the Bulldogs’ four main rivalry matches.
To that end, he created four trophies – one for each of AHS ‘rivalry games with Highland, Valley, Rio Grande and Del Norte. (A photo of the four trophies accompanies this column.)
“These teams are having problems right now and I was just trying to give these guys an extra incentive,” said Lujan. “Not only our boys, but also the other teams.”
There’s the Heritage Trophy for the game against Highland, with a Conquistador-style helmet (full of feathers) that goes to the winning school.
The Rio Grande River Trophy was created for games against Rio Grande High. It’s a piece of wood carved into the shape of the state of New Mexico. The Rio Grande separates the two schools.
There’s a shared trophy when AHS competes against Valley. The title comes from a time when AHS was building a new school and the district boundaries were changing, which, according to Lujan, meant that many children from AHS went to the Valley and vice versa.
Finally, there’s the fourth-quarter trophy for games against Del Norte – a rivalry I’ve noticed many times is one of my favorites in New Mexico.
The Divided Trophy and Fourth Quarter Trophy are both football helmets, with the AHS logo and colors on one side and the Valley / Del Norte logos and colors on the other.
After Albuquerque High defeated Del Norte the other day, AHS is home to all four trophies. And the winning school gets to keep this trophy for a year.
This is a new creation as the four trophies were only made two years ago. AHS is looking for a dedicated trophy case when it comes to accommodating some or all of them.
“It made something special among the kids,” said AHS trainer Tim Johnson. “It gave a sense of urgency and excitement to play for something against these schools. (Thursday) night (when we defeated Del Norte) you would have thought we had won the national championship. “
MEETING NO. 3: There are three undefeated teams in class 6A. Two of them are in the city of Rio Rancho.
The third are the Santa Fe demons.
After a 19-7 win over St. Michael’s on Friday night – the first time Santa Fe has defeated the Horsemen since 2008 – the Demons are 3-0.
And Santa Fe High hasn’t been 3-0 since 1985, at a time when the Demons were a huge school power in football.
“It’s good to be 3-0 at this point,” said Demons coach Andrew Martinez. “We have 19 seniors in our squad and that helps. A lot of them were freshmen playing so they saw a lot of battles. … They have a really strong bond and have some high goals for this football season. “
In two weeks Santa Fe opens the game of District 2-5 at Wilson Stadium against Eldorado. The Demons conclude their non-district game plan against their other City Different rival, Capital, this Friday.
Martinez took over in its fifth season at a time when Santa Fe was probably reaching its lowest point in the program’s history. But this senior group and this quick start make him believe the demons, led by senior running back Martell Mora, might be able to make some noise in their district.
“I think we have enough depth and strength in the skill positions and on the line that we can go to the district and compete,” said Martinez.
RATON UPDATE: Raton’s Tigers are also 3-0, although the Tigers’ last win turned out to be extremely ugly.
Their home game on Friday against Trinidad, Colorado, which was a 49-16 win for Raton, ended in the middle of the third quarter due to a bankroom brawl, according to Raton High’s Twitter page.
Tigers head coach Tory Giacomo told the Journal that three Trinidad players and two of his own players have been banned. He said the officials decided it was best and safer to end the game at this point. Giacomo declined to comment directly on the incident on Saturday night.
The executive director of the New Mexico Activities Association, Sally Marquez, also declined to comment. She said she had to see the feature film “and get all the information”. This also includes the written report of the reigning crew of the game.
THIS AND THAT: Perhaps the most dramatic end of week three was Lovington’s 22-21 victory at Alamogordo on Friday night with a touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion, 13 seconds behind. … Bernalillo has overtaken his opponents with 139-0 in his three wins this season. The most recent win was a 35-0 triumph against the visit to Los Alamos on Friday. … Valencia, who are 2-1, have won 36-6 games in a row, against Del Norte and Rio Grande.
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