PREP FOOTBALL
Yodice: Mayfield-Organ Mountain scuffle tops wild Week 2
近距离内射合集 will review Las Cruces incident amid week of suspensions, unusual scores and an ABQ High-Eldorado tie
There is a great deal to unpack in Week 2 of the prep football season, so let鈥檚 get to it.
ORGAN MOUNTAIN-MAYFIELD: Many of you probably have already seen the video: a small, first-half skirmish between two players 鈥 one from the Knights, one from the Trojans 鈥 exploded into a disturbing scene in which at least two dozen Mayfield players left the sideline to run onto the field.
I spoke to Michelle Ronga, the Las Cruces district athletic director, who attended the game Friday night at the Field of Dreams.
Here you go. Keep an eye on the sidelines. I think everybody that was tossed was pretty much for leaving the sideline. Maybe the skirmish participant(s) were ejected, I鈥檓 not sure on that aspect.
— Jeff Matthews (@jeffmatthews22)
This is what I was told:
The New Mexico Activities Association is going to review the film of this incident no later than Monday.
As of Saturday, Ronga said, there were only two confirmed player ejections that she knew of.
Ronga also said that it was the game officials who told the teams, following the skirmish, that they would be allowed to keep 20 players apiece to finish the game. All other players were sent off the field.
Now, having seen just this bit of film myself and having watched it a few times, I would say Mayfield should have some concerns. Players leaving the sideline to run onto the field in such a situation is grounds for ejection, and there were, minimum, about two dozen Trojans who did exactly that.
The Organ Mountain coaches can clearly be seen on film ordering their players on the sideline to remain right where they are, and indeed those Knights players on the sideline are largely just standing there, watching. There likely will be multiple player ejections for Organ Mountain based on the actual incident 鈥 there were multiple Knights who were involved in this on the field 鈥 but my educated guess would be that the number of OM ejections is going to pale in comparison to Mayfield.
Now, this isn鈥檛 even the first major problem we鈥檝e had along these lines already this season.
Nine Socorro players were suspended for a Week 2 game versus Thoreau based on their conduct in the opener against Robertson.
Not only that, but both the Warriors as a team, as well as their fan base, were given Strike Ones by the 近距离内射合集 under their new policy which is meant to curb unruly behavior by both athletes and fan bases.
The fan base got a strike because, according to Socorro Consolidated Schools, a man and woman left the stands and went onto the field during what is described as an 鈥渁ltercation鈥 between the Warriors and the Cardinals.
Socorro coach Derek Smith was originally ejected, but that was overturned.
Robertson also had multiple players suspended due to this dust-up. Those players had to sit out Week 2鈥檚 28-26 Friday-night loss at Santa Rosa.
ON THE ROAD: It was a tough Friday for both La Cueva and St. Pius, who journeyed outside New Mexico鈥檚 borders for a Week 2 game.
The Bears gave up the first 22 points to Palmer Ridge, Colorado, and eventually lost 29-10 in Colorado Springs. (The game was played at the Colorado Rapids soccer facility.)
鈥淚 feel like there were a lot of things we did wrong that put us behind the chains,鈥 La Cueva coach Brandon Back said. 鈥淲e just kept shooting ourselves in the foot.鈥
Dropped passes, missed tackles and red-zone turnovers were all part of the narrative for the Bears (1-1), Back said.
鈥淚 thought it was a very good trip,鈥 Back continued. 鈥淭he best thing we got out of it is we were able to make adjustments.鈥
Palmer Ridge will return the visit in the 2027 season. La Cueva, Back said, wants to continue to play teams outside New Mexico.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity for our program and the state as a whole,鈥 he said.
St. Pius was in Holtville, California on Friday night, and the Sartans were roughed up in a 66-31 loss.
This game was reasonably close in the early going, with St. Pius trailing 24-18. But Holtville scored the next 20 points and it was never close again. Hershul Olloway Jr. of the Sartans rushed for four touchdowns, including a 65-yarder, and Isaiah Carpenter threw an 80-yard scoring pass to Ezra Ocampo. Olloway finished with 10 carries for 200 yards.
鈥淲e felt like our players played really well,鈥 St. Pius coach Curtis Flakes II said Saturday night from Dallas, where the Sartans were getting ready to take a connecting flight back home.
鈥淲e believe they could beat 85% of the teams in New Mexico,鈥 Flakes added. 鈥淭hat includes 6A.鈥
St. Pius is outside the state in Week 3, too, against Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
ODD DOINGS: There were several truly bizarre games out there in Week 2. Valencia beat Grants 6-2(?). St. Michael鈥檚 won 3-0 in overtime over Santa Fe to extend its winning streak to 35 games, now second overall in state history. And then there was the crazy 43-43 tie Thursday night between Albuquerque High and Eldorado at Wilson Stadium.
Santa Fe coach Adrian Gonzales called timeout in OT just before his Demons blocked a field-goal attempt by the Horsemen. Why? Because, he said, they hadn鈥檛 attempted a kick all night, despite repeated marches into the red zone. So he wanted to ice that kicker.
It backfired. Given a second chance, St. Mike鈥檚 kicked a 23-yard field goal 鈥 which didn鈥檛 get over the crossbar by much 鈥 for an extremely rare 3-0 win.
鈥淒amned if you do,鈥 Gonzales said Saturday of his decision, 鈥渄amned if you don鈥檛.鈥
The game was scoreless for 48 minutes. (Which got me thinking about a 0-0 tie I once covered, the 1987 Class 3A state final between Artesia and Lovington, a truly weird but memorable afternoon in Lovington. It was that game that eventually led to the decision to abolish ties in championship games.)
鈥淚鈥檝e never been a part of anything like that game,鈥 Gonzales said of a strange Friday night at Santa Fe鈥檚 home facility, Ivan Head Stadium.
As for AHS and Eldorado, will a tie impact the late-season playoff chances for either the Bulldogs or Eagles?
鈥淣o doubt,鈥 Eldorado coach Charlie Dotson said. 鈥淓specially because of the schedule we have.鈥
鈥淭he way I鈥檓 looking at it is, we have to win five games regardless,鈥 Bulldogs coach Desmond Anaya said.
Dotson said he would have preferred to wait it out; Anaya said he believed officials probably ended up making the right call to send everyone home.
The 48 minutes of regulation took approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes (without weather delays), which didn鈥檛 help. By the end of the first overtime, it was 43-43 but already around 10:45 p.m.
Then a lightning strike delayed things, and it was determined a few minutes after 11 p.m. to simply call this one a tie.
鈥淚t was just a good football game,鈥 he said. But he said the decision to leave the venue tied was 鈥渃ontroversial.鈥
One thought: maybe these Thursday games should be scheduled at 6 p.m., or maybe 6:30, in an effort to avoid future complexities.
STARS OF THE WEEK: A reminder, if you want to nominate someone for our Stars of the Week feature 鈥 which appears Monday in the AJ 鈥 I must have those nominations, with full stats, submitted to me by mid-afternoon Sunday. My contact information appears at the bottom of this column.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .