By Billy Donati
KRTN Multi-Media
The Raton Tigers and the Pojoaque Elks engaged in a classic gridiron showdown on Friday night in the Jungle, with numerous lead an momentum changes, before the Elks prevailed 33-28.
Pojoaque scored on their first drive of the game on a pass to wideout Isaac Martinez. Raton’s defense then stiffened and the offense got rolling late in the first half as the Tigers went on a 60 yard march capped by a 2 yard Toby Henson run on third and goal to tie the game at 7 apiece with 5:40 to go in the half. That opened a flurry of scoring as the Elks answered with a 25 yard scoring pass on third and 23 to go up 13 – 7.
Raton returned the volley on its very next series, scoring quickly after a 67 yard screen pass going from Cam Baird to Luis Ruiz followed by another 2 yard plunge by Henson and Raton led 14-13. Then, with under two minutes left in the half, Raton’s defense got its offense the ball back and the Tigers moved quickly downfield. On a fourth and 2 from the Elks 10, Pojaq’s Chris Quintana picked off a pass and returned it to the Raton 33. After two incompletions, facing a 3rd and 10 with two seconds left, Elks qb John Ainsworth found Martinez again and he scored as time expired. Giving the Elks the momentum heading into the locker room ahead 19-14.
Raton made the pendulum swing the other way after taking the second half kickoff. Cam Baird found Caleb Wood on the right side and Wood did some fancy running on his way to a 66 yard score with Raton regaining the advantage 20-19 with less than a minute gone in the third.
Raton’s second fumble was recovered at their own 43. Pojaq converted a fourth and 4 for a first down after an offside Raton penalty and then made the Tigers pay for their mistakes as Juan Rios scampered 32 yards for the score and a 25 -20 Elk lead.
Lightning struck again for the Tigers in the form of senior Jacob Concha as he streaked down the left sideline catching a perfectly thrown ball by Cam Baird and after the two point conversion pass to Caleb Wood, Raton had a 28-25 lead with 7:03 left in the game.
On its next possession, Pojoaque was flagged for holding and unsporstmanlike conduct and faced a second and 35 from their own 35, only to convert on a long pass to the Raton 29. Five plays later Ainsworth snuck in for the score from the one and with the 2 point conversion, the Elks led 33-28 with 3:16 to go.
Showing no quit, Raton started at their own 25 and after a 45 yard completion, was inside the Elks 25 yard line. A dropped ball in the endzone on second and short and a stuffed running play, gave the Tigers a fourth and three from the Elks 19. A short completion came up just short of the first down and Pojoaque was able to run out the clock and celebrate their hard fought win.
Raton is now 4-5 on the season and 1-2 in District 2AAA and will end the regular season at district champ Taos next Friday, Nov. 8th.
