Rattlers notch first victory

One decision change late in the first half of Tucumcari's game against Cuba proved critical in the Rattlers' 29-14 victory on Friday.

THS coach Doug South thought he would let his quarterback take a knee with one second left in the half and go into the locker room at Rattler Stadium with a 14-14 tie.

"My coaching staff talked me out of it," South said after the game. "'What does it hurt if we just throw it up and the clock runs out?' And it worked."

Quarterback Nick Goen found Luis Archuleta open down the left sideline, who skipped around one defender and galloped into the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown pass as time expired. That and Daymion Urioste's reception for a two-point conversion gave the Rattlers a 22-14 lead - one they wouldn't relinquish.

Jermy Jones assured Tucumcari's victory when he returned a punt 35 yards for a score with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Rattlers a two-touchdown lead.

The victory gave South his first as Rattlers coach. Cuba fell to 0-5.

Archuleta compiled another big game receiving, catching five passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to throwing those TD passes, Goen was Tucumcari's top player in its ground game, with 36 yards rushing.

While conceding its share of mistakes (including 80 yards in penalties), South said his team is slowly but surely adapting to his coaching style.

"We're making small steps," he said. "My way of doing things is old-school. They've just been around a different style of coach than I. So they're learning small things. We're learning when we're in a close football game, you don't do stupid things. We're learning that, and we're learning to keep our cool."

Both teams lost three turnovers and fumbled several other times, partially because of intermittent rain causing a slick football.

Though the Rams were winless, they didn't act like it early. They used 12 plays to go 70 yards on their opening possession, punctuated by Dylan Sandoval's 10-yard touchdown reception on a fourth-down pass from quarterback Richard Lovato.

Tucumcari didn't get on the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter, when Eric Acosta intercepted Lovato's pass near Cuba's 25-yard line and returned into the end zone to tie it 6-6.

The Rattlers took the lead less than two minutes later when Archuleta caught a midrange pass from Goen and streaked down the left sideline for a 61-yard touchdown. He also caught the two-point conversion for a 14-6 advantage.

Cuba used 11 plays to score a touchdown with nine seconds left in the half. Sandoval caught the TD pass again, this time a 13-yarder. Cuba running back Kalub Cayaditto ran in the two-point conversion to tie it 14-14.

After Tucumcari returned its kickoff to its 42-yard line, it had one second left on the halftime clock. Nudged by his assistants to run one more play, South let Goen make the fateful pass to Archuleta for the 58-yard score.

"Luis is a good athlete," South said. "They even knew what was coming, and he still beat them."

Cuba coach Isaac Montoya said his team had three defensive secondary players sidelined due to injuries, and Tucumcari exploited that.

"I had to make some adjustments to hide my coverages because my best corners were out," he said. "That's why we couldn't really play man-to-man today. I had one of my slow linebackers trying to cover him."

Tucumcari's defense shut out Cuba in the second half. South gave part of the credit to THS athletic director and former Rattlers football coach Wayne Ferguson.

"We made an adjustment on our defensive front," South said. "We saw something that was going on. Coach Ferguson said our ends were not doing what they needed to do. So we made that adjustment.

"After that, I think (Cuba) got a little winded. They were using a lot of two-way starters."

Acosta's game-clinching kick return midway through the fourth quarter was set up by the Rattlers sacking Lovato near his team's 3-yard line on third down.

With Cuba forced to punt from its end zone, Tucumcari would have had good field position regardless. But on the return, Jones picked his way through the Rams defense and his blockers to score a 35-yard TD.

Acosta ended the Rams' chances for good when he made his second interception with 3:23 left.

After that, all the Rattlers had to do was milk the clock to zero.

About the time the final horn sounded, Rattlers players picked up a cooler full of ice water, sneaked behind South and dumped it on him to celebrate the season's first win.

"I just wish it was hot water," South said after the dousing, laughing.

Tucumcari has a bye this week. Its next game will be at home at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 against its first district foe, Estancia. Hope Christian blasted Estancia (0-5) 62-12 on Friday.