Rattlers clobber Capitan 41-0

Tucumcari ended its football season on a strong note with a 41-0 victory Saturday at Capitan, but it wasn’t enough for the Rattlers to earn a playoff spot.

The Rattlers (3-7 overall, 2-3 in district) just missed nabbing one of the 12 postseason berths in Class 2A. THS had been ranked 13th by MaxPreps.com going into Saturday’s game, and its victory didn’t budge that rating. Laguna Acoma nabbed the 12th and final seed.

Texico (9-0) landed the top seed, and Santa Rosa (7-3) was second.

Against a winless Capitan squad, Tucumcari racked up more than 300 yards of offense.

Quarterback Nick Goen completed 13 of 19 passes for 243 yards and five touchdowns. Daymion Urioste caught eight passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Luis Archuleta caught five passes for 85 yards and three TDs.

Robert Rice was Tucumcari’s top rusher, amassing 50 yards on five carries.

Meanwhile, the Rattlers defense stifled the Tigers (0-9) to 75 yards of offense and forced three turnovers. Capitan scored just 21 points all season.

Tucumcari led 35-0 at halftime.

“We could have 50-pointed them in the third quarter, but I decided to put other people in,” Tucumcari first-year head coach Doug South said. “I wanted to get the other players who hadn’t had an opportunity to play much this season into the game.

“Capitan was not very good,” he added. “I’d heard they had to bring up some eighth-graders to fill out their team.”

Due to a penalty during the opening kickoff return, Tucumcari started its first possession way back at its 13-yard line. But the Rattlers needed just seven plays to score.

Rice started it with a 23-yard run, and Urioste’s 35-yard reception from Goen put Tucumcari in the red zone. Archuleta then caught a 14-yard pass for the touchdown.

A Capitan fumble at its 10-yard line gave Tucumcari a short field later in the first quarter. Urioste caught a 10-yard touchdown pass on the next play, and Archuleta caught a two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.

Archuleta then caught a 35-yard pass from Goen for paydirt. Goen kicked the extra point for a 21-0 lead.

Tucumcari made it 28-0 when Urioste caught a 25-yard Goen pass for a score and Goen kicked the PAT.

Archuleta caught a 12-yard TD pass from Goen as time expired in the second quarter. Goen’s kick made it 35-0.

In the fourth quarter, Jase Aughtman caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Michael Crouch for the final margin.

South said he was pleased with his team’s strong finish. He also reiterated his goal to coach four years at Tucumcari, bring stability to the program and then retire again.

“When you look at where we came from and where we got, I’m really happy with that,” South said. “My heart goes out to the seniors because they had four different coaches with different philosophies, and they had to adjust to that.

“But the good thing in my mind is the team coming back next year will have the same coach. This is my last stop. This isn’t a stepping stone to somewhere else. I want to get to know the kids and community and develop the program. That’s what I came here for.”

In addition to the potent passing attack of juniors Goen, Archuleta and Urioste, Tucumcari will return Rice, an eighth-grader, and sophomore Eric Acosta in the backfield.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys coming back next year,” South said.