Cowbell Day 4  Friday Night basketball

Girls
Game 13
Des Moines 51
Questa 28

Boys
Game 14
Springer 69
Des Moines 45

Girls
Game 15
Springer 53
Raton 65

Boys
Game 16
Questa 43
Wagon Mound 58

Day 3 of the Cowbell Tourney

Girls
Game 9
Raton JV 42
Mosquero/Roy 41

Boys
Game 10
Raton 54
Cimarron 48

Girls
Game 11
Cimarron 7
WLV JV 48

Boys
Game 12
Maxwell 43
Mosquero 67

Cowbell game scores for Wednesday Dec 7, 2011

Girls
Game 5
Mosquero 28
Questa 40

Boys
Game 6
Questa 56
Maxwell 48

Girls
Game 7
Raton 51
West Las Vegas JV 33

Boys
Game 8
Wagon Mound 68
Mosquero 38

Cowbell Game scores for Tuesday Dec 6, 2011

Girls

Game 1

Des Moines 58

Raton JV 44

Boys

Game 2

Raton 44

Des Moines 50

Girls

Game 3

Springer 57

Cimarron 11

Boys

Game 4

Springer 82

Cimarron 42

JV

Raton 25  17  20

West   17  25 18

Varsity

Raton  25  25  25

West    17  18  18

Raton brings home district Championship

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

            It’s been a long long time since the Lady Tigers of fall have brought home a district championship, actually it’s been since 1977. Yet Saturday night in West Las Vegas they not only did they did it in style taking the match in three games as did the JV team as well.     

            The JV Lady Tigers swapped scores in games one and two with West but in the tie breaker oh wow what a different story that one was as the lead swapped and the score saw ties several times during the game. It was tied at 14 and 15 and on until at 18 Raton managed to get a break and take the lead 19-18. Then it was on the wire and West had a bad hit and the score was 20-18 Raton JV bring it on home a district title as well.

            The stage was now set for the varsity. Again the Lady Tigers as they have in past matches played it tough at the net until the coaches adjusted and the vollies and passes went deeper in the court.

            Raton took an early lead in all three games and managed to create and maintain at least a three to five point lead throughout the remainder of the game. Early on though the girls had to work to break it out but it didn’t take long as they pulled out in front while still in the single digits scores.

            While Raton looked like the winning team West seemed flat and while they had some strong play at the net with great blocks yet the spikes often went wide or long.

            As game three moved along the Ladies hit a slump and were up by 12 with West making a rally. A rally that fell short for West and allowed Raton to end the game by seven.

Raton will now travel on to Albuquerque for state tourney play this week. 

Its official the winning circle on the floor after the Lady Tigers won the 2AAA district title.

The 2011 2AAA District Championship Team
Kalista Dorrance, Breannon Trujillo, Mikala Vertovec, Makayla Mondragon, Shania Dorrance,Brittni Garcia, Arissa Maldonado, Maggie Honeyfield, Jordan Valdez, Sarandon Walton

RHS Seniors Arissa Maldonado, Brittni Garcia, Maggie Honeyfield, Jordan Valdez.

            

Wild Finish to Regular Season Game

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

            Great defense in the first half kept the score in the single digits as the Tigers hosted undefeated rivals St. Mike’s Horseman Friday night in the Jungle. Second half play was a wild and raucous game.

            The Raton defense came on strong and held the Horseman’s first drive to a few plays. The Horseman faked the punt to no avail and turned the ball over on downs at the 50-yard line. Five plays later Matt Ortiz scrambled, zigged and zagged his way 32 yards for six. The 2-point failed and Raton lead 6-0.

            An offside penalty on the kickoff forced Raton back five and kind of set a tone of different for the rest of the game. St. Mikes went three and out on their next series and Raton took the punt at the 21. From there they chewed up ground on a penalty plagued drive that saw both teams commit the infractions. Raton a procedure and holding call and St Mikes a pass interference and offside call. Yet the drive ended in the end zone when Josh Carrasco picked off a Matt Ortiz pass and carried it to the 14.

            St. Mikes ended the quarter and three plays later ended their drive when Luis Ruiz snatched a Louis Montoya pass at the 1-yard line and facemask penalty took it out to the 16. But its not over yet as Raton drives the field and breaks into the red zone only to see their hopes dashed when Alexander Saiz picks off a Matt Ortiz pass in the end zone.

            The Raton defense however holds up and forces St Mikes to punt and Raton starts at the 38. Raton unfortunately becomes their worst enemy when a 25-yard pass play is called back on a hold and an 18-yard pass play is called back on an illegal block forcing Raton to punt.

            St Mikes takes advantage of the situation and drives down inside the red zone but the Raton defense holds tough and St Mikes Santo Coppola boots one high and straight kick for a 27-yard field goal. Its now a 6-3 ball game and 26 seconds left in the half and to the surprise of many as St Mikes comes into the game not only undefeated but allowing their opponents very few points.

            Second half action continues with different as Luis Ruiz gets smacked  hard and looses the ball out near the 50 on the kickoff. St Mikes turns right around and Mark Hightree grabs a Louis Montoya pass at the Raton 33. Unable to do much Raton turns it over on downs at the 41.

St Mikes keeps it to the ground and chews up the yardage. A stubborn Raton defense holds St Mikes at the 2-yardline and turns it over on downs. To the dismay of Raton fans the Tigers fumble on the 8-yard line and St Mikes capitalizes when Salamon Montoya crosses the goal line for six. The Coppola PAT was good and it was now a 10-6 game with 2:35 left in the third.

            Two plays later Josh Carrosco pulls in an Ortiz pass and rambles the 30 yards for another Horseman TD (6-17). The PAT is good and St Mikes has scored twice in less than a minute with 1:42 left on the clock in the third.

            Raton carries the ball into the fourth quarter and another pass interception by Salamon Martinez at the Horseman 16 yard line dashes Tiger hopes of another score.

            St Mikes drive again chews up ground and then the fireworks go off with a team brawl that occurred when Mackenzie Main sees movement and plows through the St Mikes line, seconds later both teams were being pulled apart by officials and coaches. When it is all said and done, after about a 10-minute break as officials conferred, two players are ejected George Marquez and #68 (not on the Roster) from St Mikes. The ball is now on the Raton 25 and St Mikes completes the drive with a Daniel Ortega run from the three. Coppola’s PAT is good and it’s a 24-6 score.

            Raton goes three and out and St Mikes takes it the distance and finishes it off with an18 yard run by Salamon Martinez. PAT is good and it’s 6-31 with 4:25 on the clock.

            Raton drives it down the field with purpose and bang Joaquin Garcia picks off an Ortiz pass at the 10 and an open field in front of him. 90 yards later it’s six more points for the Horseman. Coppola’s PAT is good and it’s a 6-38 game with only 1:28 left on the clock.

            Game over the coaches try to pump up the boys telling them they played one heck of a game and the numbers on the scoreboard don’t tell the whole story at how close the game really was. Coach Walton felt the defense played one of their best games. It was the big plays that really hurt Raton like the two pass interceptions that resulted in touchdowns.

            Raton will now wait to see if they will be on the 12 team bracket for the state tourney.

to see more game photos follow the link below

http://www.martymayfieldphoto.smugmug.com/

Salamon Martinez hurdles Dylan Aragon Friday night in the Jungle

Salamon Martinez hurdles Dylan Aragon with Tyler Vertovec in hot pursuit

Whoops there goes the ball 

Alexander Saiz picks off a Matt Ortiz pass intended for Mark Hightree in the end zone.