Curry County Cats defeat Alamogordo

ALAMOGORDO — The Curry County Cats pitched a second-half shutout Saturday, turning a close contest into a 27-12 victory over the Alamogordo Desert Dawgs.

The Cats (7-2) clinched a playoff berth with the win, and are in the driver's seat to win the Rio Puerto Division of the New Mexico Premier League. Curry County can clinch the division if the El Paso Raiders defeat the Las Cruces Kings Sunday, or if the Cats beat the Kings in next Saturday's 2 p.m. regular-season finale at Onate High School.

The Cats opened the scoring on a 67-yard touchdown pass from John Props to J.J. Gross in the first quarter, and added a 6-yard scoring run from Benny Madrid in the second stanza.

"We came out in the second half; the defense played all out," Cats coach Paul Lopez said. "Overall, we controlled the game. We just made some minor mistakes in the first half."

The Cats struck in the third period with a defensive touchdow as Jerrod Long returned an interception 22 yards.

Donyale Weaver closed the scoring with a 2-yard run in the final stanza.