Coyotes fall to Foothill

Staff report

DORA — Dora’s return to 8-man football came up a bit short on Saturday.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Dora sophomore Dylan Roberts barrels through a hole in the Foothill defense during Saturday’s season-opening contest against Foothill at Dora. Roberts caught a touchdown pass in the game, but the Falcons pulled away late to beat the Coyotes 51-32.

The Coyotes, trailing most of the game, rallied to take a 26-25 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Foothill used a fake punt to maintain possession and eventually score the go-ahead touchdown en route to a 51-32 victory in the season opener for both teams.

The Coyotes, who moved up from 6-man this year, took the lead on a 30-yard pass from senior Eddie Arzate to junior Levi Bickham, erasing the last of a 17-point deficit. The Falcons, though, used the fake punt to keep possession on their next series and retake the lead, eventually pulling away.

“We just gave up a ton of big plays,” Coyotes coach Mason McBee said. “We had them backed up several times.”

Arzate also ran for two touchdowns and threw a 5-yard TD pass to freshman Dylan Roberts. The other touchdown came on a 5-yard run by freshman Zack Dewbre.

FLOYD FOOTBALL: Senior Wyatt Chandler ran for 267 yards and three touchdowns, passed for 71 yards, caught three TD passes, had seven tackles and added an interception in the Broncos’ 55-18 win over Reserve on Saturday at Carrizozo.

Floyd trailed 18-6 at the quarter, but moved in front 28-18 at halftime and controlled the rest of the game.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Dora’s Zack Dewbre congratulates teammate Timothy Garcia after he scored a 2-point conversion during the first half of the Coyotes Saturday afternoon game against the Foothill Falcons.

“It was just mental intensity,” Broncos coach Steve Foust said of the turnaround. “It took us that long to get going. We haven’t gone 6-on-6 that much in practice, but I’m very proud of them.”

Sophomore Edgardo Chavez rushed for 113 yards and three scores and caught four passes for 38 yards, junior Mark McDonald had a team-high 11 tackles, rushed for 95 yards and a score and caught two passes for 35 yards.

Also, senior QB Jona Diaz went 4-for-7 passing for 127 yards and a touchdown and added an interception on defense. Junior Josue Gonzales had three PAT kicks, seven tackles and two fumble recoveries.

ELIDA VOLLEYBALL: The Elida Lady Tigers captured the eight-team Eunice Invitational volleyball tournament on Saturday, posting wins over the host Lady Cardinals 25-17, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13 in the semifinals and over Cloudcroft 23-25, 25-9, 25-16, 25-21 in the championship match.

“We played really well against Eunice,” Elida coach Darrell Chenault said. “We were kind of flat the first game against Cloudcroft, but after that we started to play better.”

FLOYD VOLLEYBALL: The Floyd Lady Broncos split a pair of matches on Saturday in the Logan Invitational volleyball tournament.

Floyd (1-2) notched a 25-16, 25-11, 25-12 win over the Tucumcari junior varsity in a consolation semifinal before falling to Grady 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 in the fifth-place matchup.