Rattlers top Albuquerque Academy 44-0

Tucumcari's speed in the backfield and on defense overwhelmed a young Albuquerque Academy team 44-0 on Friday night during the Rattlers' home football opener.

The Rattlers (1-1) passed the ball only twice - mostly because they didn't need to amid 359 yards rushing. Seth Martinez led Tucumcari with 159 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 10 carries. Robbie Hartmann ran for 95 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

"We lost to a clearly superior team," longtime Academy coach Kevin Carroll said. "They could just run between the tackles against us all night."

Defensively, the Rattlers stifled the Chargers (1-1), who started eight freshmen, to just 38 yards rushing, 31 yards passing and six first downs. Tucumcari forced three interceptions, including a 62-yard return for a touchdown by Rod Dunlap.

"Their linemen were a little bigger than they looked on film," Carroll said of the Rattlers. "They beat us up pretty good up front."

Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson wasn't bashful about using his team's plentiful team speed and said he was looking ahead to seeing how it fares against next week's foe, defending state champ Fort Sumner.

"We do have speed, and we have to utilize it," he said. "And we're going to have to use it next week again because they're a tough, tough team, and they're gong to have two weeks to prepare for us" because of a bye week.

Aided by two penalties and a couple of good rushing plays, Academy on its first possession moved the ball to the Tucumcari 32-yard line.

"We had some jitters and didn't play some assignments right," Ferguson said of the early part of the game. "I took a time out, and we woke them up a bit. We played all right after that."

The Chargers' drive stalled, and Tucumcari defensive lineman Kaleb Hays blocked the punt to give the Rattlers possession on the Chargers' 40.

Two plays later, Martinez outran defenders during a play to the right side for a 35-yard touchdown. The kick failed, giving Tucumcari a 6-0 lead.

Extra-point attempts after touchdowns continued to be a problem Friday for the Rattlers, going 2-for-7. Jesus Ramos kicked two extra points.

"We'll practice every week to get better with it," Ferguson said.

Tucumcari broke open the game with 25 points in the second quarter. Jonathan Clark started the barrage with a 6-yard touchdown run. Martinez followed four minutes later with a 33-yard TD run.

Martinez scored again on a 68-yard scamper with 4:09 left in the half, and Dunlap returned an interception for a TD barely a minute later for a 31-0 lead.

The third quarter barely had started when Hartmann scored on a 54-yard touchdown run. Ramos' kick made it 38-0.

Tucumcari nearly added another score in the second quarter when Hartmann apparently returned an interception about 50 yards for a touchdown. The score was nullified by a clipping penalty during the return.

Ferguson began using second-stringers in the backfield, enabling TJ Lampkin to score on a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left. That score was set up by a 27-yard run deep into Academy territory by Caleb White.

Tucumcari's game at Fort Sumner is scheduled for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff.