Area football preview: Melrose hopes to continue momentum

The weekend is closing in already and that means it’s almost time for more high school football games, with every local team in action.

Friday

Gateway Christian at Melrose, 7 p.m.

Winning their opener followed five straight losses for the Buffaloes, as the four-time defending Eight-Man state championship program was decimated by injuries. But the team got healthy and got back to winning last weekend at Dora, routing the Coyotes 56-8.

Now comes the challenge of keeping their momentum going against powerhouse Gateway Christian, ranked second in the state by Maxpreps. The Warriors are 6-0 overall, 3-0 district.

At least Melrose will take on those Warriors at home. After a three-week stretch of consecutive road games, the Buffaloes will play on their familiar field for the first time since Sept. 21.

“The kids are kind of worn out a little bit,” Melrose first-year head coach Caleb King said. “But they get to come home. The kids are excited. And getting to play a good opponent, that’s really exciting.”

They certainly won’t need motivation to take on Gateway.

“It’s a rivalry game. It’s like a Red River Shootout type for Eight-man football,” King said. “I’ve had people telling me they were going to drive in from places like Tatum and watch it because everybody knows it’s going to be a good game.”

Stopping a Gateway Christian offense that has churned out 254 points this season, 42.3 per game, could be difficult. The team out of Roswell may be launching a few IFOs — Identified Flying Objects.

“They throw the ball around a lot,” King said. “They run the spread. We’re going to have to play well in coverage.”

The Buffaloes are likely going to have to play well, period. Gateway Christian is solid on both sides of the ball.

“They play good defense,” King said. “We’re going to get our blocking assignments down so we can run our offense. The opportunities you get you want to make sure you capitalize on.”

Texico at Santa Rosa, 7 p.m.

The Wolverines are on a four-game losing streak, yet somehow it almost feels like they’re coming off a win.

And for good reason. When you play an undefeated Fort Sumner/House team — one of the state’s best in 2A — as tough as Texico did last week, there’s reason to be encouraged.

“I’m excited after (last Friday’s) performance by my squad,” Texico head coach Pat Crowley said.

While optimism abounds after the 24-8 loss, things aren’t getting much easier for the Wolverines, who will visit a Santa Rosa team that’s 7-1 overall, 1-0 in District 6/7-2A play. Another tall task for Texico (2-6, 0-1).

“Santa Rosa is a solid, well-coached football team,” Crowley said. “They’re senior-laden. They’re unique with that spinner/single-wing (offense). ... I think it works so well in high school.”

So how do the Wolverines defend against it?

“There are a few ways you can do it,” Crowley said. “We have to assign our defensive players keys and we have to read those keys and react to them. Lots of reading keys and keeping our eyes open in the backfield and tackling low. They’ve got an all-senior backfield.”

Farwell at Springlake-Earth, 7:30 p.m.

This Friday, the Steers will be landing at Earth.

That’s actually the west Texas town they’ll visit when they play Springlake-Earth.

Farwell will come into the game on the hottest streak of any local team, having won five straight since losing its season opener to Friona over Labor Day weekend.

Last Friday, the Steers won their Texas 2A Region I District 2 opener in convincing fashion, routing Seagraves 42-0 at Farwell High School. This Friday, they continue along their district path when battling Springlake-Earth (4-2, 0-1).

“We went and watched those guys (on Oct. 5 during Farwell’s bye week),” Steers head coach Danny Brittain said. “They’ve got a lot of team speed. They don’t have a lot of size, but they’ve got a lot of team speed. They spread it all out. ... So we’re going to have to work on it to prepare for them. I feel like our kids will be up for it.”

Hondo Valley at Elida, 2 p.m.

The Tigers still have a way to go, but they’re certainly playing like a team on the road to a six-man state title.

The numbers are downright scary, at least for Elida opponents. The Tigers are 7-1 overall, 4-0 in Six-Man District 1 play. They’re ranked fifth in the state by Maxpreps. They won their last two games against Springer/Maxwell and San Jon/Grady, respectively, by a combined score of 138-39.

Excluding a forfeit win against Roy/Mosquero, Elida has actually played seven times this season and averaged 51.7 points per game. In the six non-forfeit games won by the Tigers, they’ve scored 340 points, averaging 57 per contest.

Scary indeed.

Elida will close out its regular-season slate on Friday by hosting a Hondo Valley team with records that are deceptively so-so — 3-5 overall, 2-2 district — because the Eagles are on a two-game winning streak, during which they’ve rolled up 167 points, 83.5 per game.

Hondo Valley, though, has allowed a generous 370 points this season. That total, combined with Elida’s prolific offensive stats, could bode well for the Tigers.

Dora at Mesilla Valley, 7 p.m.

The Coyotes had a tough one against a revitalized Melrose team last weekend, falling 56-8.

And now comes the perfect antidote for a 48-point loss — a road trip to Las Cruces.

Well, maybe not. But it does seem like Dora has a good chance to rebound in this week’s game at Onate High School, facing a Mesilla Valley Christian School team that has yet to win at home (0-2) or in Eight-Man District 3 play (0-3). And Friday’s game falls into both categories for the SonBlazers.

Mesilla Valley is 1-6 overall, Dora 5-2, so the Coyotes need to take care of this one, having lost two of their last three.

San Jon/Grady at Floyd, 3 p.m.

Floyd and San Jon/Grady both absorbed difficult losses last weekend, though the latter team had a more difficult time of it, losing 67-20 at Elida. Floyd lost by a more reasonable 47-38 count at Springer/Maxwell.

The teams’ records are almost as similar as their names. The Floyd Broncos come it at 2-4 overall, 1-3 in Six-Man District 1 play. The San Jon/Grady Bronchos are 3-4 overall, 1-2 district.

The big difference is Floyd gets San Jon/Grady at an opportune time, as the Bronchos are reeling from a three-game losing streak after a 3-1 start.