By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Wow! What a nail biter ending to one heck of a defensive game Friday night in the Jungle, as Raton hosted the annual Coal Bucket game with Trinidad. When the buzzer sounded ending the game the scoreboard showed a 15-15-tie game, into overtime it went.
Raton won the overtime coin toss and elected to defer giving the ball to Trinidad first. To the south end of the field the teams went with Trinidad starting their series off with a procedure call. The Raton defense held strong allowing a 1-yard run and two incomplete passes before Eric Lopez kicked a 30-yard field goal to take the lead 18-15.
Raton didn’t start their series any better, with a holding call on the first play. A defensive hold or pass interference call on the next pass play moved the ball back to the 10-yard line and its still first down. Two more incomplete passes and a procedure call before Toby Henson takes the toss from Cam Baird and launches it deep into the end zone, to a well covered Caleb Wood, who makes the catch in the corner of the end zone to end OT play.
The score is now 21-18 Raton and a penalty call after the play moved the ball back to the 20 where Henson kicked the extra point and just makes it over the bar as the officials raise their arms good on the 30-yard kick. The scoreboard showed 22-18 yet the New Mexico Activities Association Facebook page shows the score to be 21-18. Throwing in the question, was the PAT necessary?
Now for the details of what brought this game to such a nail biter finish, as both teams went three and out on the first three series plays. Then on Raton’s third try Cam Baird hits Toby Henson for a 38-yard pass play. Three plays later Henson found Caleb Wood for a 27 yard pass play to pay dirt. Raton goes for the 2-point and succeeds making it 8-0 with 2:37 left in the first quarter.
Both teams had a hard time holding on to the ball in the next few series of plays as Trinidad fumbled first and Raton recovered only to make a backward incomplete pass that was ruled a fumble and picked up by Trinidad. Trinidad’s Alan Ruiz then tossed one up that Henson times perfectly and intercepted. Raton’s Jordan Mendez then fumbles the ball and Miner Antono Rivera picked up the ball and scampers the 20 plus yards to pay dirt. Eric Lopez splits the uprights and it’s an 8-7 ball game with 2.1 seconds on the first quarter clock.
Second quarter action was all defense, with both teams going up and down the field, turning it over on downs or having to punt the ball away. That continued into the third quarter until Toby Henson picked off an Alan Ruiz pass and took it from the 40 to the 2-yard line. Jordan Mendez plowed through the line for six and Henson’s PAT split the uprights, it was a 15-7 ball game.
Again the defenses played their parts until Amilio Arguello came down with a Cam Baird pass and carried it to the 12-yard line very early in the fourth quarter. Two plays later Alan Ruiz carried the ball over the line for six. He then takes it in for the 2-point conversion and it’s a tie game at 15 with 10:40 left on the clock.
It was another defensive battle that was riddled with penalties, sacks and missed passes. Both teams showed the signs of a long hard game as many players played both sides of the ball. The buzzer sounded ending the game in a tie at 15.
Raton will host Aztec Friday night in the Jungle while Trinidad travels to Dolores Huerta.
