Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Melrose senior running back Carson Fraze finds some daylight after the handoff in the first quarter of the Buffaloes' 58-0 eight-man quarterfinal rout of Cloudcroft on Nov. 10. Melrose goes for its fourth consecutive title Saturday at Mountainair.
MELROSE — Melrose High's football team is an undefeated No. 1 state playoff seed.
State rules, though, are state rules, and because the Buffaloes last played a postseason game against Mountainair at home, they will have to stampede their way up to Mountainair for Saturday's 1 p.m. eight-man state championship game.
Fair? That, perhaps, is a matter of opinion. The Buffaloes' opinion is, they're playing for a fourth consecutive state title, exactly where they expect to be this time of year. If they had to play on the moon, so be it, as long as a state crown was at stake.
"We played last year's state championship on the road, too (at Gateway Christian)," Melrose head coach Dickie Roybal said. "Obviously, we'd love to play at home. That's just the way it works. As long as you're playing for a state championship, I think these guys would travel wherever."
Long ride and road field aside, top-ranked Melrose (10-0) should be formidable in Saturday's game. The Buffaloes have outscored their opponents 517-34 this season. They outscored their quarterfinal and semifinal opponents by a combined 114-6 count, blanking Cloudcroft 58-0 and thrashing Tatum 56-6.
Offensively, the Buffaloes have it cranking in fifth gear, where it needs to be at this climactic point of the season. Led by quarterback Sterling Sena, running back Tristan Sena and tight end Jordan Jasso, the Buffs are as explosive as they come in eight-man, pretty explosive period.
"If it's not broke don't fix it," Roybal said. "That's what got us here. We're going to continue doing what we do. Just execute, throw the ball well. I'm not concerned about our offense.
"Defensively, we've got to do a good job of stopping them."
Third-ranked Mountainair (9-1) is not easily stopped. Though they allowed 62 combined points in their two state playoff games, the Mustangs have actually scored more (116) in those games than the Buffaloes have scored in their own two playoff games. Overall, Mountainair has churned out 473 points this season, 47.3 per game.
"They've got probably one of the best backs in the state in Kaysey Reese," Roybal said. "And they've got a very shifty quarterback (Amador Brazil), and that's what we've talked about all week long. Those two kids are the ones that can hurt us.
"Chandler Roberts, he's a great weapon as well," Roybal added. "They run several different sets on offense, which makes it tough. They do a lot of shifts. You've got to be prepared defensively for them."
Melrose faces that challenge with all of its resources. Like Roybal noted about the offense, the team's health is 'not broke', either.
"That's one thing that's helped us all year long," he said. "We haven't had any injuries. That's definitely been a blessing for us."
Melrose's players are revved up for the opportunity Saturday provides them. No matter how many titles they rack up, winning it all never gets old.
"Oh yeah, they're excited," Roybal said. "When you have a veteran team ... you don't have to coach 'em up on that."
One more win, just one more, and another trophy comes to Melrose High. It would seem that if the Buffaloes play their game, their chances to succeed are good. That is, of course, if they take nothing for granted.
"That's one thing I've preached to them," Roybal said. "There've been times when (the Mustangs) were favored going into our games and we upset them. So we know it can happen. We're just going to take one game at a time and see what happens. That's what we do best, and hopefully, we come out on top."
