Socorro County Football-Home fields were busy all last week

Friday, Sept. 26, saw two of the Socorro County football teams win big.

The Alamo Cougars and the Magdalena Steers both won by mercy rule in their first district games of the season. For the Steers, it was an especially sweet victory because it was also their homecoming game.

The Socorro team lost at home against the New Mexico Military Institute Colts out of Roswell, but the Warriors kept battling until the very end of the fourth quarter.

Magdalena Steers celebrate Homecoming with a district victory

The Magdalena football program is on a roll, and they celebrated their homecoming week in style. On Thursday, Sept. 25, the Steers JV team traveled to Reserve and won 34-15 over the Mountaineers. The next day, the varsity team crushed the Animas Panthers for their fourth consecutive mercy rule victory.

Friday’s game got off to an uncertain start. A storm had just passed and the possibility of more rain was looming. The game was able to start on time, and the Steers struck first with a touchdown to put them up 6-0. However, the Panthers countered quickly with a touchdown and extra point to take the lead 7-6. For a brief moment, it looked like the Steers might be in for a tough battle, but within two minutes the Steers scored another touchdown. In the light rain, the Steers dominated the rest of the first half, and that was all they needed. The final score was 58-7, with the game ending by mercy rule at halftime.

“Today, we started off the game a little slow, but by the middle of the first quarter we were getting hot. We played a very good game. Our defense was very locked in today. Very proud of the boys, and we are finally bringing it all together, all around.” senior Matthew Lopez said.

“Played a good game. It’s homecoming. Could be frustrating a little bit because you got all kinds of activities going on during the week. Then you have a game afterwards, and we’re supposed to be focused on the game. But I feel like the boys played well. We did a great job and got a homecoming win, and got our first district win.” Head Coach Danny Daniels said.

There is some room for improvement though, especially looking forward to next week’s game.

“Yeah, we kind of weren’t ourselves that first little part, fumbling the ball, and then our kicking game. We never really got around to our kicking game.” Daniels said.

The 4-1 Steers play at home again on Friday, Oct. 3, against the 3-2 Mountainair Mustangs. This district match-up is looking to be a very competitive game. Last year, the Mustangs beat the Steers 66-30.

Alamo Cougars get a mercy rule win in their first district match

After being on the receiving end of mercy rule losses the last few games, the Alamo Cougars turned it around last week at home and delivered a mercy rule victory over the Dulce Hawks.

“I’s been a rough few games, but the team was hungry for the first win. And there was no better way to get that win than in our first district game. The team stayed motivated through the entire game. Almost every play was executed with positivity. We have momentum now to push our way through for our first district championship.” Head Coach Wyatt Billy said.

The final score was 61-8. The game ended with seven minutes on the clock in the fourth quarter once the Cougars passed that 50-point advantage mark. While the Cougars are only 1-5 overall for the season, they are now 1-0 in their district.

Alamo currently only has one more game scheduled for the season. That game will be against the Navajo Pine Warriors on Friday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.

Socorro Warriors find ways to have fun despite the loss

The Socorro Warriors hosted the NMMI Colts on Friday night of last week. The Colts took control right away and put up 35 points in the first half. The Socorro Warriors offense was making plays and moving the ball, but the Colts defense kept them off the scoreboard. The Warriors really stepped it up on defense in the second half, holding NMMI to only six more points and preventing an early ending by mercy rule. The final score was 41-0.

The Socorro team turned a corner for the season, even though they didn’t get the W. The Warriors were laughing, joking, and having fun playing the game they love. They made big plays on offense and defense, they mixed it up and tried out moving players into different positions, and they cheered like crazy when their lineman got a chance to run the ball.

“Good. I mean, it was fun. I had fun,” junior Vyncynt Gonzales said.

Gonzales was excited about getting some rushing yards, a couple of big first downs, and especially about his solid stiff-arm to throw off one defender. Other players and Head Coach Derek Smith were in a positive mood following the game as well.

“Yeah, that’s what I told Coach. I said, ‘Just give it to me. Let me try to get it started right off the bat.’ And he trusts me, so I just had to do what I had to do right there,” junior Nazario Silva said about his big catch for a first down on the first play of their first offensive drive.

“We’re trying our best, keeping that Warrior mentality, and fighting strong. Once a Warrior, always a Warrior. Never give up,” junior Josiah Barba said.

“Well, we held on, we hung in there. We need to get these players playing time and some experience. So they’re going to fight, and I’m going to fight with them.” Smith said.

Smith went on to say that his quarterback really stepped up and probably had his best game of the season.

“He’s going out there, and he’s taking some time to settle down, to relax, to get his vision in the pocket, to do things that he needs to do as a quarterback to be successful in all aspects of the game.” Smith said.

“Yeah, this game was definitely my confidence boost,” sophomore and starting quarterback Carlos Jacquez said.

The 0-6 Warriors play another district game in Truth or Consequences versus the 3-3 Hot Springs Tigers on Thursday, Oct. 2. Socorro is now 0-2 in its district, and the four remaining regular season games for the Warriors are district games.