By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
It was a four play series that lead to Raton’s first score of the season and it was a big play, a 59-yard pass play from Dante Mileta to Martin Ortiz that put Raton on the scoreboard against the McCurdy Bobcats.
Oscar Arreola got just enough height to get the ball over the goal post to make it a 7-0 ball game. That one play seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game as Raton went on to win 30-16 giving the boys a big boost in moral.
Turnovers would complicate the plays in starting out the second quarter as Jayson Bustos picked off a Mileta pass at the McCurdy 35. A couple of plays later a Bobcat fumble would lead to a 7-play series and six more for Raton when Mileta again hit Ortiz for a 10 yard pass play for six. Arreola made good on the PAT.
Turnovers continued to plague both teams with the Bobcats fumbling and Raton throwing interceptions. Raton went into the refurbished locker rooms at Tiger Stadium with a 14-0 lead.
The Bobcats however came out of halftime and promptly went down the field and put the ball in the endzone on a 15-yard pass play from Alejandro Croff to Josh Waters for six. The Bobcats punched it in for the 2-point conversion to make a six-point game.
Raton then returned the favor with a 17-yard pass play to Oscar Arreola with 7:24 on the clock in the third. A end around run by Martin Ortiz added the 2-point conversion for a 22-8 ball game.
McCurdy took a short punt and six plays later Croff pounded the ball through the line to pay dirt and six more. Alfonso Arroyo, a big tall running back, ran it in for two and a 22-16 ball game at 9:27 in the fourth quarter.
The defenses went to work and held both offenses until Raton managed to run the ball down the field to the 15-yard line. Oscar Arreola then took it the 15-yards for six more insurance points as the clock showed 1:21 left in the game. A pass from Mileta to Arreola added the 2-point conversion making it a 30-16. Raton closed the lid on the game when Arreola captured a Croff pass with just enough time on the clock for Mileta to take a knee and let the buzzer sound.
Raton will take to the Jungle again Friday night against Escalante for a 7:00 p.m. game.
