Wolverines turn back Steers 32-19

TEXICO – Senior Alex Fuentes scored four touchdowns and threw for one on Friday night, and Texico held on for a 32-19 victory over Farwell.

Fuentes' last touchdown came on a scoop-and-score with under two minutes left after a sack on Steers senior quarterback Jonathan Armstrong, clinching the win for the Wolverines (3-0). Texico led 20-0 in the second stanza, but Armstrong threw touchdown passes of 9 yards to junior Hudson Agee and 17 yards to senior Ryder McElroy and scored on a 2-yard run to help rally the Steers (0-2) to within 26-19 with about three minutes left in the final frame.

The Steers then forced a punt, but the sack and fumble and Fuentes' subsequent TD return salted the contest away.

Fuentes threw a 5-yard TD pass to freshman Dexter Chapman for the game's first points, then added an 80-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 after the first quarter. He added scoring runs of 7 and 15 yards in the second frame.

In other area games on Friday night:

Melrose 52, Alamo Navajo 0 – The defending 8-man state champion Buffaloes, who opened the season with wins over two of Colorado's top teams, began the New Mexico portion of their schedule with as easy victory over the Cougars (0-3) at Magdalena in a game called at halftime on the 50-point rule.

Five players had rushing touchdowns for the Buffs, including senior Josiah Roybal with an 80-yard run for the game's first score and a 51-yard sprint for the final tally as time expired in the half.

Junior Jaxon Odom returned a punt 45 yards for a TD, while other touchdown runs came from senior Brayden Eldridge (46 yards), junior Carson Jones (32) and sophomores Trevin Yeary (21) and Zaiden Saucedo (8). The Buffs went 5-for-6 on 2-point conversions, including passes from Roybal to Eldridge and Odom and runs by Eldridge, Saucedo and freshman Aiden Aucutt.

Dora 51, Floyd 0 – At Dora, with the score 45-0, Coyotes senior Gunnar Tipton returned a fumble 2 yards for a score on the third play of the second half to end the 6-man District 1 contest against the Broncos (0-2, 0-2 district).

Senior Aaron Combs rushed for three touchdowns for Dora (2-0, 1-0), including a 39-yarder on the first play from scrimmage. Then senior Ashton Davis returned an interception 25 yards for a score on Floyd's first play to make it 13-0 after less than a minute.

Tipton also had a 6-yard touchdown run for the Coyotes, while senior Roddy Neal added a 35-yard punt return for a score and caught a 40-yard TD strike from sophomore Carson Kircher.

Amarillo Highland Park 21, Bovina 16 – At Amarillo, the Hornets opened 21-0, second-quarter lead and held off the Mustangs despite a 14-10 advantage in first downs and a 238-190 margin in total yardage for the Mustangs.

Marier, who finished 10-of-17 through the air for 105 yards, tossed TD passes of 40 and 27 yards to Tristan Kovar and also scored on a 6-yard run for Highland Park (1-1). Bovina (0-2 pulled to 21-8 at halftime with a 70-yard kickoff return from senior Angel Lara, and Lara's 27-yard run cut the margin to five points in the third stanza.

Senior QB Matthew Espinoza threw 2-point conversion passes to senior Elijah Rocha and Isaac Tavara for the Mustangs (0-2). Lara accounted for 137 yards rushing on 17 totes and also caught two passes for 25 yards.

In another 6-man District 1 matchup on Friday at Grady, Logan (3-0, 1-0) posted a 32-26 triumph over the Bronchos (2-1, 0-1).

On Thursday night:

Elida 72, New Mexico School for the Deaf 26 – At Elida, the Roadrunners (1-1) pulled even 20-20 early in the third quarter on a touchdown and a 2-point conversion kick by junior Alex Gonzalez, but it was all Tigers after that.

Junior Cason Norman ran for seven of Elida's 11 touchdowns, ranging in distance from five to 68 yards. His scoring runs went 5, 28, 5, 68, 41, 40 and 36 yards, accounting for 223 yards.

Senior Hardy Fraze threw scoring passes of 40 yards to senior Dylan Dobbins and 6 yards to junior Hayden Rubio for the Tigers (3-0). Elida's other TDs came on runs of 40 and 30 yards by Dobbins.

All four NMSD touchdowns came on passes to from junior Tyler Todorovic to Gonzalez-Lopez.