Texico routs Tucumcari in battle of top-ranked teams

TUCUMCARI — Playing its first five games on the road hasn’t bothered Texico as Johnny Serrano rushed for 110 yards and four touchdowns Friday in a 40-0 rout of Tucumcari that featured a pair of top-ranked teams.

Scoring early and often, Texico (5-0) lived up to its No. 1 ranking in Class 1A as the Wolverines pummeled the Rattlers.

Tucumcari (4-2) came into the game as the top-rated team in 2A. But the Texico offensive and defensive lines quickly established dominance.

Serrano scored on runs of 25 and 5 yards and Mark Peabody added a 47-yard jaunt as Texico jumped out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead.

“I was expecting a tough game, because they were 2A state champions last year,” said Serrano, who would also scored on runs of 8 and 32 yards. “Our line was just getting on it and I was just running through those holes as fast as I could.”

Senior Corey Bell set up Serrano’s third score in the opening moments of the second period when he blocked a Tucumcari punt and the Wolverines took over at the Rattlers 8. Serrano scored on the next play to make it 28-0.

“It was a great first half. Our kids came ready to play and just got after it,” Texico coach Mike Prokop said. “We’ve been on the road for five weeks and, to come out and play a great team like Tucumcari like this, is great.”

The Rattlers finished with 45 yards and three first downs in the surprisingly lopsided affair.

“There’s no excuses, we just didn’t play good football. We told our team that they (Texico) were real aggressive ballclub on the line of scrimmage — on both sides of the football,” Tucumcari coach Dub Smith said. “When you play a real aggressive team, you have to be real aggressive, too.”