Lions maul Rattlers 54-0

Tucumcari's football faced a tall order Friday in slowing a Santa Rosa team that was beginning to click with its offense amid its flurry of fakes and misdirection plays.

That tough task was made in impossible by penalties, bad snaps and other mistakes during a 54-0 non-district loss at Rattler Stadium. The game was halted early in the fourth quarter by the mercy rule.

The Lions (3-2), who struggled early in the season, racked up almost 500 yards of offense against an often bewildered Rattler defense. Andres Madrid led Santa Rosa with 143 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He was hardly alone - a total of 10 Lions rushed the ball successfully.

Santa Rosa coach David Chavez said that after successive losses to Dexter and Robertson, he saw signs of a turnaround during a 60-14 win the previous week against Tularosa.

"We've been working really hard on our deception and our line blocking, as well," he said. "Before last week, we were having trouble with both. But starting last week and this week, we're finally doing the things we need to do."

Meanwhile, Tucumcari (0-5) totaled negative rushing yardage - mostly from big losses due to two high snaps to the punter.

The Rattlers offense also was hampered by 60 yards in penalties.

Rattlers freshman quarterback Kameron Apodaca showed flashes of positive moments, completing seven of 13 passes for 45 yards. Antonio Gonzales made four receptions for 28 yards.

But the mistakes frustrated coach Donnie Garcia.

"We just have to stand up and play," he said. "We show moments where we know what we're doing and run our plays like we're supposed to, then we turn around and shoot ourselves in the foot. We can't do that."

Garcia, who has noted the youth and inexperience of his squad, has tried to be patient. But he voiced a growing impatience Friday.

"We are young, but we're already into the season," he said. "That can't be an excuse anymore. We have to start playing as a team, leave the individual stuff at home and come out here and play ball. We've just got to grow."

The tone of the game was set by the opening kickoff to the Rattlers. Santa Rosa's kick went almost straight up. Tucumcari players hesitated, and the alert Lions players pounced on the bouncing ball for what essentially was an onside kick recovery.

Santa Rosa lost a fumble shortly after - one of two turnovers for the Lions. But the Rattlers seldom moved the ball past midfield, and several drives were short-circuited by penalties or fumbles in the backfield. A high snap to Tucumcari's punter also gave the Lions prime field position on the Rattlers' 21-yard line.

The Lions led 21-0 after one quarter, 34-0 at halftime and 48-0 after three quarters. Santa Rosa scored on eight of 10 possessions and averaged over 10 yards per rushing attempt.

Santa Rosa ended the game with a 36-yard touchdown run with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter, putting the Lions over the required 50-point margin for the mercy rule.

Garcia said a lack of belief by his players is holding many back during games.

"We are making progress, but it's not what you can see," he said. "It's what we can see behind the scenes. And right now, we're frustrated. The majority of the time, the effort is there. We make a mistake, and that's what's holding us back. We'll keep working on it, but we've got to figure it out."

Before the game, Tucumcari and Santa Rosa players gathered at the center of the field and kneeled as the public address announcer asked for a moment of silence for Yahir Cancino, a sophomore on the junior varsity football team at Dalhart High School in Texas who suffered a fatal head injury during a game on Sept. 1.

Rattlers players also wore a decal of Cancino's No. 22 on the back of their helmets, which they will wear the rest of the season in his memory.

Tucumcari's next home game at 7 p.m. Friday is part of its Homecoming festivities. The Rattlers' opponent will be Robertson (2-2), which lost 21-13 on Friday to Ruidoso.