Belen’s defense dominated the Cibola South offense on Saturday, enabling the Belen Rookie YAFL team to defeat the Cougars 12-0. The Eagles held Cibola South to negative 28 yards of total offense.
The Eagle defensive effort was led by Patrick Tafoya with 12 tackles, Steve Contreras with 10 tackles and Trevor Armijo ,who made an interception in the fourth quarter.
Contreras also contributed to the Eagle offense, scoring the team’s second touchdown on a 35-yard run in the third quarter. Kevin Castillo scored the Eagles first touchdown at the end of the first quarter.
The exceptional play of Derek Bailey, Brandon Garcia and Christopher Saitta was also key to the Belen victory.
The Eagle rookies are now 3-1.
Varsity
The Los Lunas varsity YAFL team improved its record to 4-0 with a 44-13 win over the Rio Rancho Rams on Saturday.
Quarterback Cooper Bowman led the Tiger offense by completing eight of 12 passes for 190 yards. Split end Ricky Johnson had four catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Buddy Dillow Jr. had another impressive day, rushing for 172 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.
Coach Buddy Dillow was impressed with the play of the offensive line.
“The linemen gave us an outstanding effort today,” he said. “Cooper had time to throw, and the holes were there for our backs.”
The Tiger offense was also boosted by the play of Alex Cabaday, who had two catches for 16 yards, and Anthony Gallegos, who collected 49 yards on five carries.
The Tiger defense was led by Johnny Sanchez, who had two interceptions, and Isaiah Pena, who was replaced by Angel Elizondo after sustaining a neck injury in the second quarter.
Freshmen
The Belen freshmen YAFL team defeated Rio Rancho North, 40-8, on Saturday. Derrick Perez rushed for 165 yards and scored three of the team’s five touchdowns. Zeke Gonzales and Sean Willis contributed Belen’s other two touchdowns.
“This was a big game for us. We were without our starting tailback and linebacker, Pasqual Armijo,” said coach Dwayne Tafoya. “But, as you can see, our other backs stepped up in a big way.”
Armijo, who was wearing a splint on his fractured right hand, still contributed to the Eagle offense by kicking in four 2-point PATs.
Tafoya credited the Eagle offensive line for the team’s ability to rush for 298 yards.
He said the defense was also outstanding, holding Rio Rancho’s first half offense to a negative 12 yards.
Junior
Despite a solid defensive effort, the Los Lunas junior YAFL Wildcats could not overcome a 28-0 halftime deficit to beat the Albuquerque Bulldogs on Saturday. The score remained unchanged during the second half, and the Bulldogs defeated Los Lunas, 28-0.
The Wildcats were able to shut out the Bulldogs in the second half, thanks to defensive play by Marcus Cortez, who had nine solo tackles, Lorenzo Herrera and Waylon Clark who each had seven solo tackles, and Lyle Martinez who had six. Jacob Sambrano recovered a fumble.
Though held scoreless, the Wildcat offense was highlighted by Clayton Roggy’s 20-yard passes to Michael Contratto and Christopher Montoya.
The Wildcats will face the Valley Vikings on Saturday.
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April 25, 2024
