Texico falls in rain-shortened tilt at Eunice

EUNICE – In a battle of No. 1 against No. 2 in Class 2A, top-ranked Texico had just put itself in position to make a run with a late second-quarter touchdown against Eunice.

Then the weather took over. After a lengthy delay for rain and lightning, the game was called before the start of the second half and the homestanding Cardinals were awarded a 21-14 victory in the District 6-2A opener for both teams.

Last week, Texico also played in bad weather against the Carlsbad junior varsity and was awarded a 32-0 win when that game reached halftime.

Senior Kyle Gonser took a 30-yard pass from senior Cade Figg, and junior Alex Fuentes ran in a 2-point conversion to stake the Wolverines (5-2 overall) to an 8-7 lead at the quarter. But the Cardinals (5-2), playing their third consecutive top-2 opponent in three different classes, took advantage of an interception and a long touchdown run to lead 21-8 late in the half.

With under a minute to go, Fuentes pulled Texico to within seven with a 1-yard run.

Texico has an open date this week, then hosts Hagerman in its District 4-2A opener on Oct. 13.

In other Friday night action:

Muleshoe 48, Brownfield 21 – Junior quarterback Nathan Martens completed 14-of-19 passes for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the Mules stayed perfect at 6-0 by thumping the homestanding Cubs.

Seniors Ramzee Martinez and Sebastian Kirven each caught a touchdown pass. Martinez finished with four catches for 111 yards and Kirven four for 46.

Also, senior Daniel Sianez and sophomore Josue Sigala each ran for a pair of TDs. Sianez tallied 148 yards rushing on 17 carries for the Mules, who piled up 412 total yards.

Muleshoe, which has scored at least 47 points in every game so far, begins District 2-3A action at home on Friday night against Bushland (5-1).

Grady 62, Dora 29 – In 6-man District 2 at Grady, senior Zane Rush threw for eight touchdowns, ran for a 10th and, for good measure, kicked a 2-point conversion to lift the Bronchos (4-2, 2-1 district) past the homestandings Coyotes (2-4, 1-2).

Rush had scoring passes of 35, 20, 25 and 36 yards to junior Deakin Ragland and 8 and 3 yards to junior Chevy Dickson. He also had TD tosses of 3 yards to freshman Madden Flood, 38 yards to freshman Gavin West and 17 yards to his brother, freshman Hays Rush, before running in from 31 yards for the team’s final tally.

For the Coyotes, senior Mason Christensen scored on a 46-yard pass from junior Aaron Combs and on a 5-yard run, while senior Cole Kircher had TD runs of 2 yards and 1 yard. Senior Caden Smith caught a 1-point conversion pass from Combs and also kicked a pair of 2-point PATs.

Grady returns to action on Friday at home against Floyd, while the Coyotes next outing is also on Friday at Elida, both in district play.

Melrose 72, Dulce 6 – The Buffaloes, playing at home for the first time this season, literally made short work of the Hawks, cruising into halftime with the 50-point rule in place. Melrose (6-1) led at the quarter 50-0.

The Buffs got punt returns for touchdowns of 39 yards by sophomore Jaxon Odom and 34 yards by sophomore Carson Jones, and a 21-yard pick-6 from junior Brayden Eldridge.

Junior Josiah Roybal tossed scoring passes of 44 yards to Eldridge and 34 yards to junior Josiah Roybal. On the ground, senior Michael Cardonita scored from 60 yards out, senior Dathan Yeary added a 9-yard TD run, freshman Trevin Yeary tallied on a 29-yard run, Jones ran one in from 22 yards and freshman Ayden Vancleave scored on a 70-yard run.

The Buffs added five 2-point conversions.

Melrose returns to 8-man District 3 action next Friday at home against Clayton.

Gateway Christian 66, Floyd 13 – Leading 8-6, the top-ranked Warriors (6-0, 4-0) scored the final 30 points over the last 17 minutes of the first half and eventually ended the 6-man District 2 contest at Floyd on the 50-point rule in the final canto.

For the Broncos (2-3, 0-2), senior Isaias Nieto had both touchdowns on runs in the first and third frames.

In another game, Elida (3-3) went on the road to post a 33-6 victory over Ramah (2-2).