Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Suiting up only 17 players due to COVID-19 quarantines and injuries, Tucumcari found itself overwhelmed by a state-ranked Robertson squad during a 56-6 football loss Thursday at Las Vegas.
The game, rescheduled from Friday due to a lack of referees, ended due to mercy rule midway through the third quarter.
On paper, Tucumcari’s loss to Robertson didn’t look much different from its 55-0 loss the previous week against Santa Rosa. But Rattlers coach Wayne Ferguson said his team played better despite the daunting odds Thursday.
“We played better than we did against Santa Rosa,” he said. “We were just severely outmatched with all the players we have injured or quarantined. Out six starters on both sides of the ball, playing against a team that’s in the top five Class 3A, that doesn’t bode well.”
All told, Ferguson said he had 15 players sidelined due to injuries or coronavirus quarantines.
Robertson, ranked fifth in Class 3A in the latest coaches poll, improved to 5-1, with its only loss a 12-7 decision against Ruidoso. Tucumcari fell to 1-5.
Nate Griego scored the Rattlers’ only touchdown on a long pass reception early to briefly make it a close game, 14-6.
“We had some pretty good opportunities in the passing game had we taken advantage of, we could have scored a couple of more times,” Ferguson said. “But we couldn’t hit those, and we didn’t have much success running the football.”
Ferguson said Tucumcari’s defense also forced three turnovers — two by interception and one by fumble — against the Cardinals.
“I was pleased with that,” he said. “The kids we had out on the field, they played hard. We just had kids that shouldn’t be on a varsity football field right now.”
Ferguson expressed hope he’d have injured starters Johnathan Blea and Khobie Salvador — plus another who was suspended one game after a spat during the Santa Rosa game — returning this week for a 7 p.m. Friday game at Texico (1-4). Eunice defeated Texico 43-33 on Friday.
Ferguson was asked how Robertson stacked up against its District 2 rival Raton, which beat Tucumcari 44-6 two weeks ago.
“That district is going to be really, really stacked from top to bottom,” Ferguson said and pointed out that “we didn’t see Raton at full strength. They had a running back who was out of our game for getting in a fight the week before. But Raton, West Las Vegas, Robertson, St. Mike’s … they’re all ranked in the top five in the state right now.”