BLOOMFIELD – Week four of the high school football season looked quite similar to the first three weeks of the season for the defending Class 4A state champion Bloomfield Bobcats, who remained unbeaten Friday night after a 41-0 romp at home over Albuquerque Academy.
Farmington got back on the right track one week after losing for the first time this season, shutting out Cibola in a dominating 39-0 win on the road.
Meantime, Navajo Prep earned its first win of the season, topping Crownpoint in a thriller while Shiprock came up short in a road loss against Monument Valley, Utah.
Here’s a look at the weekend’s prep football scoreboard.
Quarterback Blake Spencer completed 19 of 23 passes for five touchdowns while running for a score – all in the first half – as Bloomfield rolled at home Friday night to beat Albuquerque Academy 41-0.
The victory not only keeps the defending Class 4A state champions with an unblemished record after four games this season, but the team has now won 10 straight games dating to last season.
“I think tonight was an important game for us, because the game plan worked well right from the start,” said Bloomfield head coach Mike Kovacs. “We saw things we wanted to take advantage of on both sides of the ball and we executed a lot of those things the right way.”
Spencer’s five touchdown passes now give him 16 on the season, while maintaining a 60% completion rate through four games this season.
Spencer had his first scoring play of the night on the Bobcats first play from scrimmage, when he connected on a 61-yard strike to Drew Perez.
After both teams traded possessions, Bloomfield took advantage of the first of three Chargers turnovers when Spencer again found Perez for a 36-yard touchdown pass with six minutes remaining in the first quarter.
“He’s worked really hard, and it shows in practice and in games,” said Perez. “He’s just been so awesome to work with this season.”
After a fumble recovery by Eli Snell-Martinez on the Chargers’ next drive, the Bobcats extended the lead to 20-0 when Spencer connected with George Rascon.
Spencer threw his fourth scoring pass of the night late in the first quarter, again finding Rascon, and again taking advantage of a Chargers turnover to make it a 28-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
Perez caught his third touchdown pass of the game midway through the second quarter, a 30-yard pass and catch in the back of the end zone that made the score 34-0 in a game that was really never in doubt.
Week 4 Prep Football Scores
Navajo Prep 28, Crownpoint 26
Durango 41, Aztec 7
Monument Valley (Utah) 48, Shiprock 42
Bloomfield 41, Albuquerque Academy 0
Eldorado 41, Piedra Vista 19
Montezuma-Cortez 54, Kirtland Central 40
Farmington 39, Cibola 0
The Bobcats closed out the half when Spencer scored on a QB keeper from 3 yards out.
Spencer, who threw for more than 240 yards in the contest, was pulled from the game on the Bobcats’ final possession of the half as the result of the game was never in doubt. The second half was played with a running clock.
Albuquerque Academy was its own worst enemy for much of the first half, committing multiple procedural penalties and earning only two first downs.
Chargers quarterback Gage Conway completed four of nine passes in the first half, was intercepted once, lost a fumble and was sacked twice.
“I can’t say enough of the work the defense did tonight,” Kovacs said. “The coaching staff saw what we needed to do, and the kids worked their tails off tonight in executing those plans.”
Bloomfield has now outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 192-27 and will get a week off before going on the road looking to extend its unbeaten season on Friday, Sept. 22 against Valencia.
Quarterback Trel Griego scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first half while the Farmington High School defense stifled Cibola on its way to a 39-0 win on the road Saturday afternoon at Nusenda Community Stadium.
For the Scorpions, playing outside their home stadium for the first time all season, the win was important, especially coming off a tough loss at home last week against Los Lunas in a battle of two of the top-ranked Class 6A teams in the state.
The Scorpions started the season playing as the designated road team at Hutchison Stadium in its annual crosstown rivalry game against Piedra Vista before beating Durango in week two of the season.
“We needed to go somewhere as a team and learn to come together more,” said Farmington head coach Jeff Dalton. “This was one of the cleanest games we’ve played all season and I think all of it just helped us control the game a bit better.”
The Scorpions offense was measured for much of the first half, getting consistent gains on the ground and with a bit more controlled passing game. Griego completed 17 of 32 passes in the first half, but also ran the ball effectively, getting a pair of rushing scores in the second quarter.
Farmington got on the board first with 4:26 left in the first quarter when Waylon Schake took an inside delayed handoff from Griego, broke a pair of tackles and scored from seven yards out. The score was the culmination of a 13-play, 65-yard drive that set the tone for much of the afternoon.
Cibola’s offense, or lack thereof, was evident throughout the first half. The team managed only three first downs in the opening half while quarterback Noah Carroll completed only three of 11 passes in that same time frame.
“That’s a credit to our defense, which has really been our go-to all this season,” Dalton said. “The offense still has a few wrinkles we need to work out, but our defense has given us chances and opportunities all along this season.”
The Scorpions added to the lead late in the third quarter when Cayden Haliburton broke free from his defenders and grabbed a 13-yard strike from Griego to give Farmington a 26-0 advantage.
Farmington added a pair of fourth quarter scores, including Griego’s third rushing touchdown of the day followed by Isaac Foutz scoring a touchdown in the waning moments of the contest.
Farmington improves to 3-1 with the win, and will be home Friday at 7 p.m. to face Albuquerque High. The Cougars loss drops their record to 0-4 on the season and mired in a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season. Cibola will get a week off before traveling to face Piedra Vista on Friday, Sept. 22.
The Navajo Prep football team earned its first win of the season, and the first coaching win of the season for Storm Tallbull as Navajo Prep held on for a 28-26 win at home Thursday night over Crownpoint.
Joshua Wells ran for a pair of touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 65-yard scamper which gave Navajo Prep the lead with under seven minutes to go in the contest.
The game was tied at 14 at the half as both Navajo Prep and Crownpoint had explosive plays on offense while both teams took advantage on turnovers and penalties.
Navajo Prep struck first when Wells scored the first of his two touchdowns on the night midway early in the opening quarter. After both teams turned the ball over, Crownpoint tied the game early in the second quarter when quarterback Jonathan Antonio ran it over the goal line from a yard out to tie the contest.
That touchdown was set up by a big passing play from Antonio to Tydon Tsosie which put Crownpoint deep inside Navajo Prep territory.
Again, both teams were victimized by turnovers and penalties until later in the quarter when Tsosie scored from 18 yards out to give Crownpoint its first lead of the game inside the final two minutes of the first half.
Navajo Prep struck right back with a touchdown pass with under a minute to go which sent both teams into the locker room tied at 14 each.
Shaun McKinley got Navajo Prep back on top early in the third quarter with a powerful 46-yard run after breaking tackles at the line of scrimmage for the score. The point after attempt was successful when Wells ran it over the goal line from a couple yards out to put Navajo Prep ahead 22-14.
Both teams surrendered possession of the ball midway through the period before Crownpoint answered back with another touchdown run from Antonio. The 2-point conversion attempt failed however, leaving Navajo Prep with a 22-20 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Crownpoint got the lead with eight minutes left in the game when Antonio scored his third rushing touchdown of the night, this one from two yards out. Once again, they failed to convert on the 2-point play, leaving them with a 26-22 advantage.
That set the stage for Wells, who ran for more than 200 yards in the contest. His 65-yard run gave Navajo Prep the lead, despite coming up short on the two-point conversion attempt.
Leading 28-26, Navajo Prep stiffened on defense as Crownpoint ran down the clock for what was intended to be a game-winning drive. With Crownpoint inside the Navajo Prep 25-yard line on second down, Antonio threw three straight incomplete passes, turning the ball over to Navajo Prep with less than 90 seconds on the clock.
Navajo Prep (1-3) will go on the road on Friday night to face Hozho Academy (1-2) in Gallup. Crownpoint (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season and will be home Friday night to tackle Newcomb.
The Monument Valley (Utah) High School football team earned its first win of the season, winning at home over Shiprock by a final of 48-41 in a battle of teams each trying to get the first win of the campaign.
Shiprock head coach Anthony Clah said that despite the loss, which drops the team’s record to 0-4 on the season, he was impressed with how the Chieftains played on the offensive side of the ball.
“We did some great things on offense, but also made some critical errors,” Clah said.
The Chieftains are also battling through injuries to many key players, having to use multiple players in different positions.
“We have a constant carousel of players available as we deal with the injuries,” Clah said. “If we could get all our skill players together for one game, we would look a whole lot better.”
The Chieftains will be home on Thursday at 7 p.m. to tackle Zuni. Monument Valley (1-3) snapped a seven-game losing streak dating back to last season and will be on the road Friday night to face Water Canyon (Utah).
