Socorro Warriors Spear Raton Tigers

Warriors spear the Tigers

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

            They struck early and quick with just over 3:00 minutes gone off the clock Friday night as third ranked Socorro Warriors came to the Jungle and simply man handled the Tigers.

            Raton took the opening kickoff and went three and out, then Socorro only took five plays and went 54 yards when Zeb Esquivel scampered 40 yards for the first score of the game.

            Raton’s next series ended with a pass interception when Ray Valza picked off a Matt Ortiz pass. That resulted in a eight play 65 yard drive ending with Gary Lam plowing over the goal line. Zack Binger again put the ball through the uprights and what a leg Binger has as he put the ball in the end zone on the ensuing kickoff starting Raton off at the 20.

            Raton has moved the ball well in the game, but unfortunately a mistake costs them putting them in long yardage situations that they cant get out of. Coach Brock Walton said after the game “last year we could get out of these situations, this year we can’t” He also noted Raton is a young team with mostly sophomores.

            Second quarter action continued with Socorro finding pay dirt this time when quarterback Ibrahim Maiga scampered 27 yards and six.

            It looked like Raton was on the way when they converted a fourth and five into a first down in Socorro territory but a sack set them back 14 yards and forced a punt. The Warriors took the ball on the 11 yard line and with the help of a couple of penalties ended up at their two. Lightning struck though and Ibrahim Maiga playing in the running back slot broke free and sprinted 98 yards for six. Troy Hall got some measure of revenge when he blocked Binger’s PAT leaving the score 0-27.

            A Raton fumble ended their next drive and 36 yard pass play that Zeb Esquivel picked out of thin air under great coverage by Toby Henson resulted in Six.

            Raton again started down the field moving the ball until Ray Valza ended the drive when he picked off another Matt Ortiz pass ending the half with a 34-0 score.

            Socorro took the third period kickoff and promptly headed north on 10 plays and 91 yards ending the drive with a 33 yard run by Adam Paz. The PAT was good leaving the score 0-41 and a running clock due to the mercy rule.

            In the fourth quarter Binger put up a 34 yard field goal at 9:54 left in the game. Proving full well that Socorro has many weapons for scoring in a game.

            Raton finally found pay dirt after moving the ball with short eight and nine yard pass plays and feeding JonMarc Atwater the ball up the middle to seal the deal and a first down. Raton QB Matt Ortiz finally had some breathing room and he struck with a 35 yard pass play to Mark Hightree for six.

            Maiga took the kickoff to the Raton 47 and the Warriors went on from there ending the scoreing drive when Adam Paz fumbled the ball inside the 10 and it bounced right into the hands of Ignacio Chavez when took it the rest of the way for six.

            Coach Walton later said he felt Socorro was better than Raton but not 50-6 better. Raton will travel to Portales this week to take on the seventh ranked Rams.

Great defense as Toby Henson and Dylan Aragon break up this pass play late in the game against Socorro Friday night in the Jungle

Great defense as Toby Henson and Dylan Aragon break up this pass play late in the game against Socorro Friday night in the Jungle

Zeb Esquivel pulls the ball out of thin air despite the efforts and coverage by Toby Henson during the game against Socorro Friday night.

Zeb Esquivel pulls the ball out of thin air despite the efforts and coverage by Toby Henson during the game against Socorro Friday night.

Zeb Esquivel pulls the ball out of thin air despite the efforts and coverage by Toby Henson during the game against Socorro Friday night.

Zeb Esquivel pulls the ball out of thin air despite the efforts and coverage by Toby Henson during the game against Socorro Friday night.

Kim    10 24 11

Raton 25 26 25

Mustangs stumble in Three

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

It was a repeat of Tuesday night in game one as the Lady tigers took an early and commanding lead over the Kim Lady Mustangs.

It was a quick and commanding lead that quickly spread to 10-2 and later to 13-4. The Lady Tigers were playing a great game at the net and defensively all over the court. By the end of game one Raton made it look easy with a 15 point win at 25-10

Game two was looking like it would be the same until Kim pulled the ball out of the hat and scored five to tie the game at five. The Lady Mustangs had jelled and were making the plays at the net as well as in the backcourt. Raton was also suffering from blazing hits that sailed over the back out of bounds line.

Game two also found the score tied several times and switched leads before the final tie at 24 and Raton’s Makayla Mondragon managed to get the right spin on the ball to keep the Lady Mustangs from making the play and end the game at 26-24.

Game three saw another strong start by Raton with a 4-0 lead. Then the Lady Mustangs found the rhythm if only for a short time as they tied the score at 6 and 7 before Raton simply drove away pulling out 9-7 and then opened it out 18-11 and finally 25-11 for the win. Arrissa Maldonado has the hot hand at the service line as she put it over the net 12 times in a row for the win.

Lady Tigers Mikala Vertovec and Shania Dorrance go for the block as Tai Ann Dittler tries to get it over the ball however seems to be rolling the net

Lady Tigers Mikala Vertovec and Shania Dorrance go for the block as Tai Ann Dittler tries to get it over the ball however seems to be rolling the net

ts a reach as Makayla Mondragon reaches for the ball and the save Thursday evening in Tiger Gym

ts a reach as Makayla Mondragon reaches for the ball and the save Thursday evening in Tiger Gym

Raton v Trinidad volleyball Sept-6-2011 It took five games for Trinidad to finally win it.

C-team

Raton 14        10

Trinidad 25   25      

JV

Raton 25       19       15

Trinidad 22   25       11

Varsity

Raton 26       25       21       11       10

Trinidad 24   21       25       25       15      

It was a long night for the varsity Lady Tigers as they hosted the Trinidad Lady Miners for the first home game of the 2011 season.

            The Lady Tigers took an early lead in both of the first two games with good serves and strong play at the net making several blocks as well as good shots over the net. Yet by the time they hit 20 points in the game the Lady Miners were close on their heels and tied the first game at 20 and each point thereafter until 24 when Raton took a lead and went on to win 26-24 in game one.

            Game too saw the Lady tigers take a quick lead then come up tied at six. Raton pulled out again going 12-8 but allowed the Lady Miners to tie again at 13, 14, 15 and 16 before pulling out to a 21-17 lead and on to the win.

            Again Raton pulled out in front 5-1 in game three but allowed Trinidad to tie and later take a short lead 9-8. The game was back and forth with several ties up to 18 when the Lady Miners took the lead and went on to win 25-21.

            Many times the point fell at the net with great play by Lady Miners Molly Roth and Vanessa Gonzales. Roth the tall girl made several blocks and went head to head with Lady Tiger Mikala Vertovec on several occasions at the net either making a block or making the hit.

            Game four saw a totally different story in play.  Somewhere some how the Lady Tigers just seem to fall apart missing spikes and miscommunicating and allowing the ball to find an open spot in the defense. The game was tied at four but Trinidad took a 9-4 lead and simply spread it out. Going up by seven then nine and ten points ending the game at a dismal for the Lady Tigers 23-11.

            The momentum continued for the Lady Miners going on into the tie breaker game where they pulled out in front with strong serves and net play making it 10-5 at one point in the game. They went on to stretch it on out to 12-6 then finished the game allowing the Lady Tigers to wrangle out four more points before ending the game 15-10 and winning the match 3-2.

Lady Miner Vanessa Gonzales puts it up and over just out of the reach of Lady Tiger Jordan Valdez Tuesday night in the Jungle.

Lady Miner Vanessa Gonzales puts it up and over just out of the reach of Lady Tiger Jordan Valdez Tuesday night in the Jungle.

As happened countless times Tuesday night Lady Miner Molly Roth goes head to head with Lady Tiger Makayla Vertovec, this time getting the block

As happened countless times Tuesday night Lady Miner Molly Roth goes head to head with Lady Tiger Makayla Vertovec, this time getting the block

As happened countless times Tuesday night Lady Miner Molly Roth goes head to head with Lady Tiger Makayla Vertovec in Tiger Gym

As happened countless times Tuesday night Lady Miner Molly Roth goes head to head with Lady Tiger Makayla Vertovec in Tiger Gym

Game Photos by Marty Mayfield

Tigers keep Coal Bucket

Tigers keep Coal bucket

By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media

Raton and Trinidad fans gathered in the Jungle as the Coal Bucket rivalry continues for the sixth year to see if the Miners could wrangle the bucket away from Raton who has won the bucket the last three years.
The Miners took the opening kickoff and sputtered as did Raton early in the game. Trinidad struck first late in the first quarter when Trenton Gomez scored with a 2-yard run for six. Jaydin Waln barely cleared the cross arm for the PAT putting the Miners on top 7-0 with 2:07 left in the quarter.

Raton’s Devon Casias recovered a fumble in the end zone and scampered 105 yards for six with 10:26 on the clock in the second quarter. Casias shanked the PAT and left Raton down by one 6-7.

Raton put together a 73 yard drive in the second quarter that ended with a 1-yard end around by George Marquez for six and a 2-point conversion pass to Tyler Vertovec from Tiger quarterback Matt Ortiz leaving Raton on top 14-7 with 2:38 left in the half.

Luis Ruiz picked off a Dante Begano pass to end a Trinidad drive and Matt Ortiz took a knee to end the half.
With 7:01 in the third quarter Trenton Gomez scampers the three yards for another Trinidad TD. The Raton defense however held tough and thwarted the 2-point conversion try leaving the Miners down by one 14-13. Try as they may neither team could get to paydirt the remainder of the game. Either a fumble or a tough stand ended a drive on downs and penalties on key downs didn’t help either as both teams put themselves in long yardage third and fourth down situations.

Coach Brock Walton said we are a young team without a lot of experience and we can only get better as the season goes on and we gain more experience.

Raton will face a tough Socorro team this Friday and as coach Walton put it we will really see where we are in class 3A as Socorro was ranked third in class 3A by coaches in the state.
2 of 3 Miner Devon Payne gets a hand on Devon Casias as he makes the fingertip catch for good yardage.