Big rally for Rattlers

The Bears kept scoring points. The Rattlers kept coming back.

Tucumcari quarterback Nick Goen scored the game-tying touchdown on a 14-yard run with 1:02 left, then kicked the go-ahead extra point to power the Rattlers to a thrilling 48-47 comeback victory over winless district foe Estancia on Friday at Rattler Stadium.

In a career day, Goen went 17-for-35 passing for 352 yards and six touchdowns and one interception. In addition to his rushing TD, he recovered two of his own onside kicks that set up Tucumcari touchdowns and kicked six extra points.

Wide receiver Luis Archuleta caught eight passes for 199 yards and four touchdowns and made a late interception that sealed the Rattlers' victory. Teammate Daymion Urioste caught six passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Tucumcari head coach Doug South, who's been coaching football for about 40 years, said he'd never experienced a game like Friday's.

"Not like this," he said as his players roared in celebration in the locker room. "But we can. We have the athletes. We can score in no time at all. It was amazing.

"We're just getting better," South added. "They're getting used to me. Nick, he understands my system as far as throwing the ball. And the system I run is very quarterback-friendly. They can make adjustments as long as they're within the routes they worked with during the week. And that's what he did."

Tucumcari's district victory - and its second in a row - vaulted it into playoff contention with a 2-4 mark.

Estancia, which led by as many as three touchdowns after it piled up more than 400 yards rushing, fell to 0-6. The loss spoiled huge efforts by running backs Jose Chaparro (32 rushes, 192 yards, 3 TDs) and Justin Rubio (12 rushes, 138 yards, 2 TDs).

But Estancia hurt its chances for its first victory of the season with three turnovers in the fourth quarter.

"The truth of the matter is we are a godawful, abysmal football team," Bears coach Stewart Burnett said. "It is unlike anything I've ever seen in my life.

"But Tucumcari did a good job battling back and being resilient. And their quarterback did a great job extending plays, letting 22 (Urioste) and 21 (Archuleta) get open when coverages break down."

Despite the Bears being winless, they didn't look like it in the first half. Seizing the initiative behind its offensive line, Estancia powered to leads of 14-0 in the first quarter and 33-19 at intermission. The Bears didn't attempt a single pass until the second half.

The Bears also recovered three of four onside kicks, keeping the ball away from Tucumcari and its potent air attack.

Tucumcari finally got on the board early in the second period on a 50-yard scoring drive, punctuated by Archuleta's 9-yard touchdown reception in the right corner of the end zone.

Goen tried an onside kick during the subsequent kickoff to Estancia, and he recovered it.

On the next play, Archuleta caught Goen's short pass, juked several defenders and raced down the right side for a 52-yard TD.

Tucumcari tried the onside kick again, and Goen recovered again.

On the subsequent play, Urioste caught a 40-yard pass for a TD to give the Rattlers a 19-14 lead.

That lead was short-lived. Estancia scored on its next three possessions - including after recovering two onside kicks - to grab a 33-19 lead late in the second period.

Goen said he told his teammates the game wasn't over.

"I told them, 'Let's get this. Let's win this. Let's just go out there, show them why they shouldn't have come to our turf,'" he recalled after the game. "And then we came out and showed them why we're why we're the Rattlers."

South credited his assistant coaches for making needed adjustments at halftime to set up a possible comeback.

"They worked out the defense and decided what we needed to do," he said. "Coach (Gary) Hittson adjusted our kickoff return team to make sure we didn't keep giving up the onside kicks. My coaching staff, they stepped in at halftime and and did a fantastic job."

But in the third quarter, the Bears continued to dominate with its ground attack, using nine plays and 67 yards for a touchdown to take a 40-19 lead.

The Rattlers answered when Archuleta again faked out defenders after a short pass for a 50-yard touchdown with 2:56 left in the quarter. Jermy Jones caught a two-point conversion pass to cut the Bears' lead to 40-27.

Tucumcari seemed to have made a defensive stop against Estancia on fourth-and-8, but a roughing-the-passer penalty extended the drive. The Bears scored a TD with 9:51 left in the game for a 47-27 lead.

Tucumcari needed less than a minute to cut the deficit when Urioste caught a 40-yard TD pass. Goen's kick made it 47-34.

The Bears marched to Tucumcari's 13-yard line on their next possession but lost it on a fumble.

The turnover set up Goen's pass to Archuleta, who beat his defender deep for a 40-yard touchdown with 1:42 left. Goen's PAT kick made it 47-41.

The Bears fumbled again on their next possession, giving the Rattlers the ball at Estancia's 28-yard line with 1:25 left.

With Estancia's defense wary of a pass play, Goen scrambled for 17 yards, then ran for 14 yards on the next play, bulling through two defenders near the goal line for the game-tying TD with 1:02 left.

"I just decided to run because I saw an opening and I was like, 'I have to help my team out,'" Goen said.

Goen then kicked the PAT through the uprights to give Tucumcari a 48-47 lead.

Needing more than 60 yards to score, Estancia faced the prospect of having to pass with not much time left.

"They couldn't pass," South said. "We saw that on film."

Sparked by the noise from the rejuvenated Tucumcari fan base, the Rattlers stepped up its intensity on defense.

Defensive lineman Shane Jaggers played a sizable role in stopping the Bears' last-gasp attempt. He sacked quarterback Quintin Barela for a 4-yard loss and pressured him to throw hurried passes two other times.

One of those hurried passes was picked off by Archuleta at Tucumcari's 39-yard line with 14 seconds left, sealing the victory.

"Kudos to them digging back," Burnett said. "They were down three scores and they came back. That's something to be proud of."

Tucumcari travels to Raton for its next district game at 7 p.m. Friday. Raton (2-4) dropped its district opener 34-0 to Legacy Academy.