Tigers Tripped Up By Dons in District Opener

By Marty Mayfield

KRTN Multi-Media

West Las Vegas traveled up I-25 once again to Raton’s Jungle Friday evening, October 5, after a two-year absence and took home a 60-21 win as Raton miscues and young mistakes gave the #5 ranked Dons four quick scores in the district opener for a 27-0 lead.

It was like old times as Raton returns to District 2AAA along with old rivals Robertson, West Las Vegas, St Mikes and Santa Fe Indian School after being assigned to another district by the NMAA classification process that occurs every couple of years.

Raton won the coin toss and took the out of bounds kick at their 35 but went backwards with a holding call and a play later Richie Acevedo lost the ball giving West possession at the Raton 25. A procedure call put West back five but that only delayed the inevitable when Austin Abeyta caught a John Balizan pass for six. The Antonio Bustamante PAT failed and it was a 6-0 game with only 1:06 off the first quarter clock.

Raton did a three and out giving West the ball on the 50 after the punt run back. A holding call put West back a few yards but Balizan found Estevan Gonzales for a 55-yard pass and run to pay dirt for six. The Bustamante extra Point was good and it was a 13-0 game with 7:50 on the first quarter clock.

Raton went four and out this time and West’s QB John Balizan started it off taking it 30 yards followed by Bustamante with 15 more. Darion Williams tied the bow on the drive with a six-yard romp to pay dirt. The PAT was good and it was a 20-0 game with 3:16 still left in the first quarter.

A block in the back penalty took Raton back to their own 10-yard line. Two plays later Estevan Gonzales intercepts a Vanderwater pass and gave West the ball on the 43. The Dons took it into the second quarter where a strong Raton defensive stand forced the Dons to give it up. A play later West recovers another Raton fumble. A couple of good 18 yard runs and a roughing the passer penalty puts West deep in the red zone where the Raton defense makes a goal line stand and prevents a TD giving Raton the ball on the 1-yard line. A procedure call backs it up and a fumble on the ensuing play is recovered by West in the end zone giving them that fourth TD. The Pat is good and it is 27-0 at 9:41 on the second quarter clock.

Raton gets the onside kick at the 49. A couple of runs and a personal foul penalty get Raton inside the red zone and 12-yard pass play to Isaiah Samora puts Raton on the board. Vanderwater’s extra point attempt was blocked leaving the score 27-6 at 8:59.

West takes the kickoff at the 33 and moves down the field. A sack, a blocked pass and an incomplete pass that was called intentional grounding gave Raton the ball at their 14. The Intentional grounding occurred at the end of the West series prior to Raton taking over the ball so it was not marked off which left Raton at their 14 according to the explanation by the referee.

A 25-yard pass to Ismael Tafoya puts Raton at their 45. Aden Vanderwater puts his legs to work again and scampers the 55 yards to pay dirt to put Raton on the board once again. This time Raton goes for two and makes it work leaving it a 27-14 score.

West however answers the TD with one of their own as a personal foul penalty puts them at the 33-yard line and a run and a 29-yard pass play to Bustamante gives them six. Bustamante’s PAT is good leaving the score 34-14 at 2:59 left in the first half.

Raton takes the onside kick at the west 45 but has to turn the ball over on downs. This time West takes the ball down to the red zone and a 20-yard pass play to Darion Williams gives West another six. Bustamante nails the PAT and it’s a 41-14 game. Raton goes into a hurry up offense only to run out of time to end the first half.

Coach Tory Giacomo said they talked about adjustments during the half time break and Raton made good on that as they recovered a West fumble but were unable to convert on the turnover. Raton gave up the ball on the West 15 where three plays later Ismael Tafoya picked off a Balizan pass. A holding call moved Raton back to the 34. A 28-yard pass play to Ismael Tafoya took the ball well inside the red zone and a holding penalty took it to the five. Vanderwater lost a yard on the next play and Tafoya plowed it in from the six for six. Vanderwater’s PAT was good and it was a 41-21 game with 2:40 on the clock.

West called a fair catch on the kickoff at their 40. Skylar Smith ended the West drive when he picked off a John Balizan pass at the Raton 30. Unable to move the ball very well and incomplete passes and two sacks forced Raton to give up the ball on downs. West took over on the their 33 and finished it off with a 65-yard pass play to Darion Williams. The Bustamante PAT was blocked leaving the score 47-21.

On Raton’s next series Isaiah Deane recovered a Raton fumble to end the drive. West put the ball in the air and took it 20 on a pass to Tenorio followed by three incompletes before Bustamante took a 30-yard pass and run play for six. There was an unsportsmanlike penalty on Raton which was assessed on the kickoff. The kickoff was a touchback and placed at the 25.

Raton however was forced to turn the ball over on downs and a 41-yard pass to Bustamante took the ball to the 6-yard line. Bustamante then took it five and on the next play plowed in from the one. His PAT was good and left the score 60-21.

The running clock forced Raton into a hurry up offense but they soon ran out of time as the West defense held on and allowed only small gains.

Raton’s season record is at 4-3 and 0-1 in district as they will now travel down I-25 to Las Vegas and take on the #3 ranked Robertson Cardinals on Friday October 12.

The game will be broadcast on KRTN FM 93.9 and streamed on Network1Sports.com