Melrose stomps Cloudcroft

MELROSE - While the Melrose football team was going through pre-game warmups Friday night, its Buffalo mascot was bopping to some soft rock blaring on the loudspeakers at Melrose High School.

Soon after, the top-seeded Buffaloes rocked to the tune of a 58-0 win over Cloudcroft in the eight-man quarterfinals. They will host Tatum in next Friday's semifinal round.

Not surprisingly, everything clicked for the Buffs. Their offense moved the ball up and down the field almost at will; their defense bent a little here and there but never broke.

"Coach (Dickie Roybal) puts in a good game plan for us," Melrose senior quarterback/defensive back Sterling Sena said. "We practice our plays, get down every one, work on executing. And the results show."

"We just come out here and work hard every day," Buffaloes senior tight end/defensive end Jordan Jasso said. "We just do what we need to do."

Despite the dominant play, the convincing win, it was Roybal's job as head coach to notice what didn't go as well as planned, to also consider the glass-half-empty perspective.

"We were pretty rusty," he said. "We miscued on a lot of stuff, but that's from not being able to play for a month. There are some things we've got to work on. But I'm pleased. We advanced."

Despite Roybal's cautious outlook, the Buffaloes seem like they could be hard-charging toward another state title. Eight-man was invented in the 20th century so small-school athletes could play football. And boy, can these 21st-century Buffaloes play.

They got started on their first play from scrimmage, after their defense had forced Cloudcroft three-and-out. Following the punt, Melrose took over at the Bears' 40, and on first down, Sena took the snap from center, quickly rolled left and found room around the left outside. Following several blocks, he soared down the left sideline for a 40-yard score.

"I just read the play," Sena recalled. "The (Cloudcroft) guy was inside and I called an outside scoop for myself and scored a touchdown."

On the two-point conversion try, Sena rolled right and dashed into the end zone to make it an 8-0 game with just 1:58 gone by in the first quarter.

After another Cloudcroft three-and-out, Melrose went back to work at its own 46. This drive took a little bit longer, three plays longer to be exact, ending when senior Carson Fraze galloped left for a 32-yard touchdown. The two-point pass attempt was incomplete, but Melrose had a 14-0 lead with 7:31 still to play in the first.

"We were able to cue off their alignment," Roybal said. "The first two touchdowns were off their alignment."

Cloudcroft's next offensive series turned into Melrose's next touchdown, and was dominated by Jasso and his 6-foot-6 frame. On the possession's second play, Jasso gobbled up Bears eighth-grade quarterback Keygan Adams for a sack, and two plays later Jasso swallowed up an Adams pass, snaring the interception and taking it in for a 36-yard pick-six.

"I saw him kind of looking over to my side," Jasso said. "And I was going after it. Nobody else was going to get it."

Fraze's two-point run made it 22-0 with six minutes to go in the first quarter.

The Buffaloes' next offensive possession ended on downs, but the one after that finished with a crackle, as Sena passed to Jasso in the left flat and Jasso took off down the sideline for a 26-yard touchdown. Sena's two-point toss to senior Hunter Sorgen put Melrose up 30-0 with 2:34 left in the first quarter.

The Buffaloes weren't yet done with their first-quarter scoring, as Sterling Sena connected with sophomore Tristan Sena on a 68-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds left in the period. A conversion run failed, and it was 36-0 as the first quarter faded away.

Early in the second, Sterling Sena linked up with Fraze on a 59-yard scoring pass play, including roughly 55 yards after the catch. Another two-point pass to Sorgen made it 44-0 with 9:52 left in the half.

Less than three minutes later, Sterling Sena ran for a 22-yard touchdown, set up by Tristan Sena's interception and followed by an incomplete two-point pass attempt. And late in the second quarter, senior Kendal Burnett rushed seven yards for a score, followed by a two-point conversion pass from Sterling Sena to Jasso, who reached high to pull it down and give the Buffs a 58-0 lead.

At halftime, due to the 50-point mercy rule, the game ended and Melrose was moving forward.

"We're feeling pretty good about ourselves," Sterling Sena said, "but we can't get too big of a head. We've got to focus, execute, and hopefully things'll go good."

"You've got to work hard no matter what seed you are," Jasso said. "You've got to come out and do the best you can. That's all there is to that."