Buffs bounce back big against Magdalena

MELROSE - In what looked early on like it might be a tight tussle, it didn't take the Melrose Buffaloes long to turn the game into a runaway.

Melrose broke the scoring ice in the final minute of the first quarter, then erupted for 40 points in the second stanza in thumping Magdalena 58-8 on Friday night.

Sophomore quarterback Josiah Roybal completed 19-of-24 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns as the Buffaloes (2-1) bounced back from a 46-8 neutral-field pasting the previous week against Colorado 8-man power Mangos.

"You've got a chance in a lot of games when you've got a quarterback, and we've got a quarterback," first-year Melrose coach Drew Hatley said. "I just think he wants to win."

The game ended about two minutes into the final period on the 50-point lead rule.

Freshman Jaxon Odom ran for two scores, including a 4-yard run with 26 seconds left in the opening period to put the Buffs in front 6-0. Then, on the first play of the second period, senior defensive end Asher Lunsford sacked Steers QB Joshua Baca, forcing a fumble that senior Nash Martin scooped up and returned 31 yards to the end zone.

Suffice it to say, the rout was on.

"I'm proud of our kids," Hatley said. "You can learn a lot from a loss like that, and I'm proud of how our kids responded this week."

Meantime, Roybal was on fire, completing 12 of his first 14 passes.

"We knew we were going to come back hard after last week," he said. "Taking a loss like that is hard, but I knew we'd come in and work harder."

Essentially, each team had one possession in the opening frame. The Steers (2-1) mounted a 12-play drive following the opening kickoff, only to have it end on downs at the Buffs' 13.

Then Melrose went to work, covering 87 yards in 15 plays to take the lead.

"At first I was a little scared," Roybal said. "But then we got ahead, and we started to get a little more comfortable."

Six players caught two or more passes from Roybal. Sophomore tight end Cy Draper grabbed five for 72 yards and a pair of second-half TDs, while Odom also had five catches.

Meantime, junior Dathan Yeary had three receptions for 106, including a 40-yarder on the Buffs' first scoring march and a 62-yard TD pass in the second period.

Defensively, the Buffs limited Magdalena to 192 yards, including only 39 net yards rushing. That included sacks by Lunsford and Draper against Baca.

Melrose gets another tough Colorado foe on Friday when it takes on Dove Creek at Menaul H.S. in Albuquerque. Hatley said his team has already looked at the Bulldogs (2-0), who've outscored their first two opponents 114-2, on film.

"We worked on Dove Creek a little bit," he said. "They're probably not quite as good at Mangos, but they have a lot of well-coached, tough kids."

In other area New Mexico games on Friday night, Texico defeated New Mexico Military 43-21, Elida posted an 87-37 victory at Grady and Dora won at Floyd 54-8. On the Texas side, Farwell edged Vega 7-6, Bovina won at Seagraves 26-20 and Muleshoe notched a 41-14 road win against Lamesa.

More on those games will appear online later and in Wednesday's newspaper.