Prep Football Poundup

Moriarty

Despite a strong 21-13 win over Grants last week, the Pintos (4-0) a dropped a spot in the coaches poll to fifth.

The team continued its strong ground game against the Pirates, compiling 210 yards, with Caedon Kamplain, Isaiah Quintana and Lincoln Page all going for 55 yards or more. And the Pintos defense caused three turnovers with two fumble recoveries and an Isaiah Quintana interception.

On the down side, the offense turned it over three times, helping keep the game closer than it really should have been.

This sets up a huge game tonight at No. 6 Bernalillo (4-0). The Spartans have not exactly been dominating a series of powerhouse squads, but quarterback Uriel Castro has been solid with 10 touchdown passes, half of which have gone to Mason McChriston, who has 16 catches for 315 yards.

Estancia

The Bears (1-3) finally got in the win column, but it certainly was not easy with a 40-37 win at Escalante.

Estancia, now ranked sixth, again delivered a punishing rushing attack with Joshua Calhoon putting up 223 yards and four TDs, and Pablo Regalado hitting the century mark for the first time in his career with 105. Calhoon also topped 100 yards passing for the first time this season, with all four of his completions going to Justin Rubio.

The offensive versatility is something the Bears have been seeking all season.

“We’ve been trying to develop some offensive variety to take some pressure off of Josh,” coach Stewart Burnett said. “We’re seeing those things come to fruition. Pablo keeps improving every single week. He’s a converted offensive tackle. He just keeps getting better and better.”

Up next is a home game tonight against a Hagerman (1-3) squad that is struggling to score points, with just 36 on the season – all of those coming in a season-opening 36-0 win over Class 2A Capitan.

“They’re an interesting team because, we played them last year and they had a bunch of really good looking kids, We beat them, but they were very physical l through we came out on the worse end of it in terms of wear and tear. They’re kind of an enigma, kind of difficult to figure out. They’ve got a kid in their backfield, he is a speedster and is certainly somebody that we can’t let get loose. We have to keep him bottled up.”

Mountainair

The Mustangs (2-1) put the hammer down against Animas in a 75-31 win.

“Our boys played well,” coach Robert Zamora said. “They improved from the week before. They did a good job overall.”

The defense had a bit of trouble with the Panthers passing attack, but No. 6Mountainair stifled the ground game, limiting them to 38 total yards.

“A lot of kids contributed,” Zamora said. “I think we had five different people score. It was a district game so it was important. It went back and forth for a little while. We made some adjustments and our kids did a really good of adjusting. We mixed it up. We got the young guys involved and we opened up things for Ohmani Nieto. They couldn’t stop him.”

Now the Mustangs go to No. 3 Grady (2-2) for another tough test.

“They are one of the toughest teams in the league,” he said. “They have a group of 20-plus kids and they’re all back from last year. They like to throw. They spread it out and like to throw the ball downfield.”

To combat that, Zamora has been working on getting his best athletes into pass coverage situations.

“We’ve been working on a lot of covering drills and corner drills,” he said. “We’re adjusting what we do on defense, changing it up some. I think we’re pretty well rounded, all the way. This team throws more than normal, more than other teams, so we’re really focusing on that this week.”