By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
Over the hill and through the woods the Tigers travelled to Lobo country for a Friday (Sept 16) night game in Escalante where the Tigers began the game with a 50-yard romp for a Raton TD.
Mario Alverez misses the PAT as Raton’s Cole Hopper is out for the game with an unknown knee injury. Raton leads 6-0 with less than a minute off the first quarter clock at 11:11. The Lobos did a three and out giving Raton the ball on the Lobo 36.
Raton with great field position gets a hold and goes back to the 25. Escalante then commits an offside penalty moving it back to the 20. Cayden Walton breaks tackles and drives the 12 yards to pay dirt at 5:52 on the clock. Alverez misses the PAT leaving the score 12-0.
Escalante takes the KO at the 25 and takes it to the Raton 47. Unable to move the ball the Lobos punt it away and Raton takes it on the 22-yard line. Adrian Romero then takes a Mattorano pass for 27. Walton then adds 12 and on the next play he scrambles 50 yards for a TD that gets called back by a holding penalty. Raton however gets a first down to continue the series at the 40. After 10 plays Raton unable to complete a pass turns the ball over on downs at the 10. Escalante’s biggest gain of the quarter comes on a Face Mask penalty. The Lobo drive ends with a pass interception by Cayden Walton and a holding penalty gives Raton the ball at the 35. Walton takes the ball to the 10 but Raton has three more incomplete passes and turns it over on downs at the Escalante 10.
Escalante goes three and out as the Raton defense has done the job of keeping Lobo QB Trey Archuleta contained. Archuleta is a leading rusher in the state. Cayden Walton does it again and picks off an Archuleta pass and goes 39 yards for six. Alverez just misses the PAT leaving the score 18-0 at 5:28 in the second quarter.
Escalante takes the KO at the 31 and takes it out to the Lobo 37-yard line. After a wild series of plays with a holding penalty and pass interference Escalante turns the ball over on downs at the Raton 26. Escalante ends the Raton drive with a pass interception by #10 who take it 25 yards to the Raton 25. Losing five yards Escalante’s Luca Torrez throws a 30-yard pass play to Tomas Atencio for six. The 2-point try fails leaving the score 18-6 with no time on the clock to end the half.
Third quarter action begins with a wobbly Raton kick that goes out of bounds to give Escalante at their 35. With Archuleta out of the game Luca Torrez takes over the QB duties for the Lobos. Escalante goes three and out with a punt that’s returned to the Escalante 46 by Cayden Walton. Raton works the ball inside the 20. Raton makes it to the three-yard line for a 4th and two. Raton turns it over on downs at the Escalante two. Unable to move the ball very far Escalante is forced to punt the ball away and it’s blocked by Raton’s Adrian Romero and downed at the 10. A personal foul penalty however moves the ball back to the Escalante 25.
Cayden Walton takes a Mattorano pass and scrambles the 25 yards for the six. Alverez once again misses the PAT for a 24-6 score at 3:38 left in the third.
Escalante takes the KO to the Raton 49-yard line. They start the series with a fumble recovered by Tayshaun Toya. The next play is a pass that is intercepted by Cayden Walton. Walton takes it 21 yards for a first down at the 25. Raton drives it inside the red zone to end the third quarter.
Walton takes the ball to the one-yard line and then on the next play dives into the endzone for six more. Alverez makes the PAT for a 31-6 score.
Escalante takes the ball at their 35. Unable to move the ball the Lobos turn it over on downs at the 42. Raton works the ball down the field and finishes off the drive with a 16-yard Cayden Walton run. PAT is wide right leaving the score 37-6 at 6:10 left in the game.
The Lobos take the KO at their 40. Escalante drives the ball down the field however in no hurry they make it down to the 25 and faulter as the clock winds down. Luca Torrez ends the game with a pass that is intercepted by Zack Lose near the endzone.
Walton once again has a 240+ yards rushing game even though Raton handed the ball over four times inside the 10-yard line. Raton will be in the Jungle next Friday night against the Socorro Warriors for Homecoming.
