The Raton Tigers ended their 2015 football season on the road with a great effort that fell just short as the Tucumcari Rattlers did enough to take a 36-26 win on Friday night, November 6th. The Tigers closing flurry had the offense scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes and was poised at the Tucumcari four yard line before an interception ended the threat and the season for the Tigers.
The District 5AAA game had both teams looking for their first district win and a third place finish in district standings. With a possible playoff berth at stake, Tucumcari struck first with the aid of a Raton personal foul penalty scored on a Tyler Ferguson 1 yard dive and with a 2 point after conversion led 8-0 with 5:49 left in the first quarter. On Raton’s next possession, QB Dustin Segura attempted to throw the ball away and avoid a sack, but it was ruled a fumble and Tucumcari was given the ball on the Raton 48. The Raton defense aided by a Cole Medina sack, forced Tucumcari to punt. An attempted fake punt was thwarted and it resulted in Raton’s first score following an 11 play drive that included a 25 yard touchdown pass to #25 Jonathon Cabriales. Cabriales also scored the 2 point conversion and the score was tied at 8 apiece with 9:03 left in the half.
On the Rattler’s next possession, Raton’s Keeyan Gertler intercepted Ferguson in the end zone and Raton didn’t take long to take the lead, with Cabriales taking a short pass from Segura and turning it into a 68 yard gain to the two yard line. Richie Acevedo then hauled in the Segura two yard scoring strike and with an unsuccessful two point conversion, Raton led 14-8. However, Tucumcari responded in-kind with a quick 56 yard drive and a 16 yard payoff run by Zach Martinez to tie it at 14 apiece at halftime.
Tucumcari scored on their first possession in the third quarter and led 22-14 going into the fourth. The final period started out a defensive battle, when Tucumcari’s Zach Martinez intercepted a pass to give the Rattlers the short field, they then converted on a fourth and 9 from the Raton 18 en route to the second touchdown run for running back Kyle Lopez to take a 30 -14 lead with only 3:36 left.
Raton’s quick strike capability,was aided by two personal fouls on the Rattlers and a 22 yard completion to Cabriales. QB Segura snuck in from the one to cut the lead to 30-20 with just over 3:00 to go. An unsuccessful on-side kick gave Tucumcari possession at the 50 yard line and it took them only 3 plays to make it 36-20 with an 11 yard Zach Martinez payoff run. Raton’s Tyler Hightower blocked the extra point to keep the game within two scores and Raton would respond by scoring 45 seconds later as Cabriales plucked a touchdown pass out of the air with three defenders gathered round him. Raton’s Nathaniel Tarbox successfully recovered the onside kick, and the Tigers were on the Rattler four yard line when an interception killed the drive and the Raton season.
Raton ends the season with a 2-8 record, but it ends on a positive note. It’s been a year of feast or famine for the Tigers who have either won big or lost big, and while the Tigers showed flashes of brilliance, they had turnover problems and showed youthful inconsistency, but were never lacking in effort.
We at KRTN are proud of our team and want to thank the warriors who went to battle every week. Thanks also to the coaching staff, including Coach Giacomo who spend countless hours trying to teach football and real-life lessons to these young men. Thanks to the fans for remaining loyal, no-matter-what, and thanks to both Marty Mayfield and Abe Elliott for helping add color to the coverage of Tiger Football on KRTN and krtnradio.com
