The Raton Tigers and the Robertson Cardinals met in the Jungle for the final regular season game for the Tigers and in anticipation of a District showdown, the Cardinals were able to make the plays and seize momentum in the second half to pull away for a 37 – 14 win.
Played on a mild fall night, Raton took the opening kickoff and was able to make a first down before having to punt. Robertson was flagged for unnecessary roughness and was pinned back inside their own ten. The Cardinals then marched 93 yards with QB Jesse Gonzales passing and running for a 12-play drive capped by an 18-yard TD pass to Mateo Contreras and after the PAT, Robertson had the lead after using up most of the first quarter clock with 2:35.
The defenses traded 3 and outs into the second quarter before Raton would take over on their own 37. A Wildcat Formation run for WD Hyer to get the first down and then a 33 yard connection to Wyatt Berry, before Jacob Mattorano connected with Mario Alvarez for an 11 yard TD and with Logan Elliott’s PAT the score was knotted at 7 all with 8:13 left in the half.
The Cardinals Jesse James Gonzales is adept at improvising when the play breaks down and he showed his ability with the first half winding down, Raton’s defense had bottled up the Cardinal offense which was left with a 4th and 22 at the Raton 32, but Gonzales scrambled and found Mateo Contreras in the back of the endzone as Contreras made a good catch to give the visitors a 14 -7 advantage with 2:16 left in the half. At that point is when the tide started turning Cardinal Red as Raton was held to a 3 and out and WD Hyer launched a great punt to shift the field, but Raton was flagged for holding and Hyer’s next punt was partially blocked to give LVR the ball on the Raton 34. It appeared the teams would go into the locker room with Raton trailing by 7. But with :01 left, Cardinal kicker Aaron Doss boomed a fifty-yard field goal as time expired leaving Raton trailing by 10.
In the third period, the Cardinals received and it didn’t take long for Gonzales to use his legs around the left side didn’t stop until a 47-yard TD and PAT made it 24-7 with just over a minute gone in the second half.
Raton and Las Vegas Defenses again stymied each other’s offense and after a sack by Raton’s Isaiah Gracia, Raton was ready to try and get back into the game, until a recovery of a muffed punt, gave the Cardinals a short field to work with taking over on the Raton 28 and in short order, Gonzales got his second rushing TD of the third quarter, a 9-yard run and a 30 – 7 lead with 6:21 left in the third.
The Cardinals would get a third TD in the third quarter as they overcame a first and 20 on their own 15 to march down the field and score with :13 left in the period when Gonazales found Nathaniel Gonzales with a 27-yard strike to make it 37 – 7.
Raton’s Matthew Munoz was one of ten Seniors playing their last regular season home game on Friday and he got the fourth quarter rolling Raton’s way with a good kickoff return and then bookended the drive with a two-yard run at the end of a seven-minute possession to make the final score 37 – 14.
The other Raton Senior players included WD Hyer, Jacob Mattorano, Mario Alvarez, Eric Burgos, Kaleb Salazar, Isaac Garcia, Carson Chatterly, Isaiah Garcia and Joseph Arguello.
Raton will have a bye week next week, before the seeding is announced for the playoffs for 3A, which are set to begin the first weekend in November.
