Dora, Elida, Melrose win playoff tilts

ELIDA — It was second verse, pretty much the same as the first for the Elida Tigers and Animas Panthers on Saturday.

Senior Mason Pritchett ran for seven touchdowns and the third-seeded Tigers outscored Animas 41-0 in the second half en route to a 71-22 victory in the 6-man playoff quarterfinals.

On Friday night, Dora also reached the 6-man semifinals with a 61-6 thumping of Ramah, while Melrose earned a rematch with rival Fort Sumner in the 8-man semis by blitzing Logan 46-0.

All three teams have stiff challenges ahead on Friday night, each facing unbeaten opponents on the road. Elida (8-2) plays at second-seeded Mountainair (10-0) while the fourth-seeded Coyotes (7-3) are in Roswell to take on top-seeded Gateway Christian (9-0), a 61-6 victory over New Mexico School for the Deaf in the quarterfinals.

Meantime, Melrose will battle district rival and second-seeded Fort Sumner (9-0) for the second time in three weeks. The Foxes, who blanked Clayton 50-0 in Friday’s quarters, erased an 18-point, first-half deficit to deal the Buffaloes a 34-24 setback in the regular-season finale at Fort Sumner on Oct. 21.

Pritchett scored on runs of 3, 8 and 7 yards in the first quarter of Saturday’s tilt with the Panthers (5-5). He added another 7-yarder in the second period, which ended with the Tigers leading just 30-22, before going in from 50 yards twice and 30 yards once in the second half.

Elida was coming off an 81-29 thrashing of the Panthers the week before, also in Elida.

Other Elida TDs came on a 42-yard run by freshman Cason Norman in the second segment, an 8-yard run by junior Clayton Griffith in the third frame and fourth-quarter passes by sophomore James Dobbins of 33 yards to junior Seth Jimenez and 8 yards to junior Teagan Norman.

The Panthers got scoring runs of 42 and 55 yards from junior Edel Molinar, and a 5-yard pass from senior Johnny Johannes to junior Lem McDonald.

At Dora, senior Conner Rooney rushed for two touchdowns, recovered a bad Ramah snap in the end zone for a score and caught a 3-yard TD pass from senior Kegan Rodriguez, the latter coming with three seconds left in the half and boosting the Coyotes (7-3) over the 50-point margin needed to end the game at halftime.

Junior Cole Kircher tallied on runs of 36 and 50 yards, sophomore Aaron Combs ran 19 and 20 yards for TDs and senior Lane Favor added a 43-yard run to paydirt. The Coyotes outscored the Mustangs (6-4) 40-0 in the second period.

Melrose (7-4) was also facing a recent rematch and again made short work of Logan (6-5) at Melrose. The Buffs won the first meeting, also at home, by a 46-6 count on Oct. 14.

Freshman Jaxon Odom scored three times for Melrose on runs of 6 and 10 yards and on a 35-yard pass from sophomore Josiah Roybal.

Roybal also had a 30-yard TD run and tossed a 46-yard scoring strike to sophomore Cy Draper, while sophomore Brayden Eldridge and junior Michael Cardonita each chipped in a touchdown run.

Melrose’s other losses this season have been to top-ranked Lordsburg and Colorado powers Mancos and Dove Creek. The Buffs are seeking an eighth consecutive trip to the 8-man finals and a sixth title in that span.

In other area games on Friday:

Texico 36, Eunice 35 — The host Wolverines claimed second place in District 4-2A behind top-ranked Jal and earned the No. 2 seed behind the Panthers in the eight-team Class 2A playoffs. Texico hosts seventh-seeded Tularosa (4-6) on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Junior quarterback Cade Figg scored three touchdowns and sophomore running back Alex Fuentes added two more as the Wolverines (7-3, 3-1 district) outlasted the Cardinals (6-3, 2-2). They clinched the game when junior linebacker Kyle Gonser sacked and stripped the ball from the Eunice QB in the final minute, with sophomore Taye Smith recovering the fumble.

Sudan 25, Bovina 23 — In District 3-2A Division II at Sudan, junior wide receiver Salvador Juarez caught a pair of touchdown passes from junior QB Trent Wilson, the latter coming with 1:53 left to boost the district-leading Hornets (8-1, 4-0) to a narrow win over the Mustangs.

Senior Nathan Guevara returned a fumble 39 yards for a touchdown just over a minute into the contest for Bovina (3-6, 2-2). After falling behind 12-7, the Mustangs closed the difference to three points with a safety late in the half.

Bovina took the lead early in the third quarter on senior running back Darian DeLaRosa’s 3-yard run, then regained the advantage again as junior quarterback Daniel Herrera went in from 2 yards out and DeLaRosa added a 2PAT run with 9:11 left in the game.

Bovina hosts Hale Center (4-5, 2-2) in a battle for the No. 3 playoff seed in the district in Friday’s regular-season finale.

Farwell 68, West Texas 0 — At Farwell, the Steers made short work of the overmatched Comanches, blowing out to a startling 62-0 halftime lead In District 1-2A Division I.

Farwell (8-1, 3-1 district) closes out the regular season on Friday at Panhandle (7-2, 3-1) in a battle for second place behind Stratford (9-0, 4-0).

The Steers ran only 23 plays from scrimmage, with senior quarterback Alec Actkinson, senior running back Xander Schilling and junior running back Corey Stancell all rushing for a pair of tallies. Meantime, the Farwell defense held West Texas (3-6, 0-4) to no first downs, no completions and a net of minus-32 yards on the ground.

Actkinson’s three completions all went for TDs — 65 and 28 yards to sophomore Ryder McElroy and 68 yards to junior Cesar Snyder — while sophomore Jonathan Armstrong finished the scoring with a 7-yard run in the final stanza. Steers junior Jackson Wilbourn was 8-for-9 on PAT kicks.

Shallowater 48, Muleshoe 20 — Coming off a big District 2-3A Division I win the previous week over undefeated Bushland, the host Mustangs showed no letup in rolling to a 34-0 halftime lead against the Mules.

Junior Kouper Boyd scored six times for Shallowater (8-1. 4-0 district), which clinched the top seed from the district in the upcoming playoffs. His runs covered 2, 3, 3, 21, 37 and 7 yards.

Muleshoe (6-3, 1-2) bounced back for three second-half scores. Junior Daniel Sianez went in from 3 yards out while sophomore quarterback Nathan Martens scored on a 19-yards run and tossed a 14-yard TD pass to junior Sebastian Kirven.

The Mules host Dalhart (4-4, 1-2) in a battle for the district’s No. 3 playoff seed in Friday’s regular-season finale.