Second Half Troubles Tigers

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

It was a back and forth first half that ended in a tie game going into the locker room but the second half of the game was a totally different story as Pojoaque ran off with their homecoming game 40-21.

A pass interception by Caleb Wood ended the first Pojoaque drive but Raton was unable to convert the drive into points and turned the ball over on the Pojoaque 15 yard line. From there Pojoaque took the ball down to the 20 where a pass from John Answorth to Vidal Gonzales found the end zone for six. Mario Urquidi made the PAT and it was a 7-0 ball game with 53 seconds left in the first quarter.

Raton took the ball into the second quarter and the end zone with a 10 yard run by Tyler Vertovec, Toby Henson stuck the PAT and tied the game at seven, the clock read 9:08 left in the second quarter. Then the fireworks began and with less than three minutes to play both teams found the end zone and not just once either.

The next Pojoaque drive went 10 quick plays and ended on a five-yard pass play to Arsenio Cole. The PAT failed and left it 13-7 with 2:49 on the clock.

Luis Ruiz made the magic happen and took the kickoff 64 yards to the Pojo 25. Three plays later Seth Parker scrambled 13 long yards for six. The PAT was blocked and it was a tie game again at 13 with 1:34 left in the half.

                  Pojoaque made a 59-yard pass play to Juan Rios on their third play from scrimmage for six. Mario Urquidl took it in for the 2-point conversion and it was a 21-13 ball game with 1:04 on the clock.

                  Three plays later Mark Hightree, all alone, takes a Toby Henson 27 yard pass play for six with 25 seconds left in the half. Caleb Wood ended the Pojoaque drive with another pass interception to end the half and leave it a 21-tie game.

                  Raton's first series of the second half ended with a punt after two holding calls. The Punt gave Pojoaque the ball on the 42. After seven plays Isaac Martinez took a 5-yard pass play for six. The PAT was good and that started the Pojoaque scoring for the second half with 6:44 on the clock.

                  Adam Duran picked off a Toby Henson pass and went about 35 yards for the TD. Urquidi's PAT was good and its 34-21 score. That one play really seemed to take the air out of the balloon for Raton and they never were able to recover.

                  Raton again suffering from the yellow flag is faced with a 4th and 22. Toby Henson fakes the punt and heads up field only to turn it over on downs at the 50-yard line.

                  Five plays later Jesse Gomez takes it five yards for six more Pojoaque points. A bad snap doomed the PAT and left the score 40-21.

                  Raton takes it into the fourth quarter and ended the drive in five plays when an Elk player got a hand up and batted down the fourth down pass play. Caleb Wood having a great game ended the next Pojoaque drive with another pass interception. Raton however unable to do anything had to punt it away.

                  The remainder of the game went back and forth and Pojoaque ended it with a knee for the win and a fine finish for a homecoming game.

                  Raton will now look forward to this week and homecoming on Friday. The girls will host West Las Vegas Lady Dons Thursday evening for their portion of the homecoming week. 

Isaac Martinez (21) and Adam Moore (23) break up a pass to Tyler Vertovec on the goal line early in the game Friday night in Pojoaque.

Mark Hightree makes one of several catches Friday night in Pojoaque as Jesus Urquidi bears down.

Its a foot race as Luis Ruiz scampers 64 yards down the field before Juan Rios finally catches him with a shoestring tackle at the Pojoaque 25. Raton would capitalize on the return when Seth Parker would take it in from the 13 yard line.

The frustration began to set in as coach Hunker Main looked on from the sidelines after Pojoaque had scored twice more.

Jordan Mendez takes the hand off from QB Toby Henson. Mendez would make several runs late in the game for Raton.

Jordan Mendez (5) and Mario Urquidi (24) go for the loose ball as a bad snap to John Ainsworth (7) on the PAT, gets loose.

Raton's Tyler Vertovec breaks up this pass from John Ainsworth to Paul Tafoya late in the game Friday night in Pojoaque.

There he goes again, Caleb Wood makes another pass interception early in the fourth quarter. Mistakes plague Raton on the series and they go three and out.