Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Steers trounce Tatum

T.S. Last El Defensor Chieftain General Manager, tslast@dchieftain.com

In a turnaround from their 54-14 home loss to Melrose in the eight-man football season opener, the Magdalena Steers scored a 53-16 victory on the road at Tatum.

"It was almost a flip flop from the first game," noted Magdalena head coach Marvin Martin. "I'm proud of the way our guys came back. That first week really woke us up."

Although groggy in the loss to third-ranked Melrose, the Steers were full of vim and vigor in a quality win over fifth-ranked Tatum, even after a four-hour bus ride.

Don McKinley led the Magdalena rushing attack with 160 yards and three touchdowns.

Briar Billa ran for 109 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Brandon Harding added 107 yards rushing. Freshman Daniel Hand contributed 37 yards and two scores.

But Martin said the offensive line of Nathan Apache, William Guinn, Bryce Milligan and Nathan Padilla were the real stars.

"It's said that it all starts with the offensive line, and that's true," said the coach.

Martin said the offensive line did a better job in pass protection, allowing Harding complete 3-of-10 passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

Martin also credited Eric Pino, Taran Rogers and Geraldo Romero who blocked on successful extra-point kicks by Soiky Casanga.

The coach said his team also turned things around on the other side of the ball.

"On defense we worked with the corners, safeties and linebackers," he said. "We can't be standing there waiting to be blocked. We were much more aggressive."

Not only did McKinley have a good game running the ball, he excelled on defense. The senior made seven tackles, caused a fumble, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

The Steers are 1-1 after facing two of the top five teams in the rankings. Now they'll travel to top-ranked Mountainair on Friday night.

"The next game with Mountainair will tell us a lot," Martin said. "We look forward to playing that game and then having three games at home."

Friday's game (Sept. 12) will be played under the lights at 7 p.m.

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