Buffs gear up for Logan in 8-man finals

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Melrose has been the only team to give Logan any trouble this season, but coach Dickie Roybal says the Buffaloes will have to be much-improved if they want to beat the Longhorns in today’s 2 p.m. 8-man state football championship game at Melrose.

link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Melrose’s freshman Cade Barnard races pass a pair of Magdalena defenders on his way to an 84-yard the second quarter of Saturday play-off game, on his way to a 84 yards touchdown reception from junior Wyatt Williams in the Buffaloes’ 38-16 win over the Steers last Saturday in the 8-man state semifinals at Melrose. Today, the Buffs host rival Logan in a 2 p.m. kickoff for the state championship.

That’s the only blemish on the record for the Buffaloes (9-1), who’ve dominated most opponents in their own right. Meantime, the Longhorns (11-0) haven’t had a game closer than 25 points other than their come-from-behind, 47-38 home win over the Buffs on Sept. 19.

“We’ve got to play a lot better,” said Roybal, seeking his sixth state title in 18 years at the school. “We’ve made a lot of adjustments since that time.”

The key will be containing senior quarterback Wyatt Strand, who leads 8-man football nationally this season in total offense. Strand threw a 96-yard TD pass to senior Laramie Roberts to erase a five-point deficit with under two minutes left in the first meeting, then added a 25-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion run for the final score.

Strand ran for three scores and threw a pair of TD passes to Roberts and junior Brinton Roach in that contest. Meantime, junior Wyatt Williams ran for one touchdown, threw for another and caught a pair of scoring tosses from freshman Cade Barnard for Melrose.

“The first time we played, it pretty much came down to one play in the fourth quarter,” fourth-year Longhorns coach Kene Terry said. “Both teams have played a lot of games since then, and things are different for each team.”

The Buffs, seeded third, are coming off an impressive 38-16 win over second-seeded and previously unbeaten Magdalena in the semifinals. Melrose has had just one close win, a 30-26 District 4 victory at Tatum in the District 4 finale before clobbering the Coyotes 52-14 in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Meantime, the Longhorns walloped three-time defending champion Gateway Christian 62-12 in the semifinals.

“They’re a good football team,” Roybal said. “Their quarterback could play for any (Class) 6A school in the state.”

Melrose won 6-man titles in 1999 and 2004 and three consecutive 8-man crowns from 2008-10 under Roybal.

Terry said the Longhorns’ other weapons will have to step up, but he believes defense may be the key to who wins.

“Defense could decide it,” he said. “Both teams can score and both teams can play great defense.

“We’ve got a lot of really talented skill players. The goal is to get these guys out in open space and let them go to work.”