Buffs, Foxes battle for district title

MELROSE - The stage is set for the 8-man District 3 football championship.

Melrose made sure of that on Friday night with a resounding 46-6 victory over Logan. The Buffaloes (6-3, 3-0 district), ranked second in 8-man behind Lordsburg, visit No. 3 Fort Sumner (7-0, 3-0) for all the district marbles on Friday night.

Sophomore quarterback Josiah Roybal threw for four touchdowns and ran for one as the Buffs opened a 30-6 halftime lead on the Longhorns (6-3, 1-2). He went in on a 1-yard sneak in the second quarter while firing TD passes of 30 yards to junior Michael Cardonita, 24 yards to sophomore Jaxon Odom, 75 yards to sophomore Cy Draper and 30 yards to junior Dathan Yeary.

Odom got the other two tallies on runs of 28 yards in the first period and 31 yards in the second. Roybal also connected with Draper for a pair of two-point conversions in the second half.

In other New Mexico area games from the weekend:

Grady 63, Carrizozo 8 (Friday) - At Carrizozo, junior quarterback/safety Zane Rush accounted for seven touchdowns - three passing, two rushing, one receiving and one on a punt return - and also intercepted a pass as the Bronchos (3-5) cruised to a non-district win over the Grizzlies (1-7).

Rush had TD runs of 10 yards in the first quarter and 1 yard in the fourth, and threw scoring passes of 8 yards to eighth-grader Hays Rush in the first period and 3 and 29 yards to eighth-grader Zander Ciancio in the second. He also caught a 21-yard scoring pass from eighth-grader Noah Stanfield in the opening canto and returned a third-quarter punt 63 yards for a TD.

Other tallies came on a 2-yard run by sophomore Deakin Ragland and a 61-yard pass from Ciancio to Stanfield. Grady also tallied a safety on a quarterback sack by freshman Lane Casey.

Grady wraps up its regular campaign on Friday at Mountainair.

Dora 51, Chesterton Academy 0 (Saturday) - At Albuquerque, the Coyotes blew out to a 45-0 halftime lead and ended the contest against the Saints (0-6) on the 50-point lead rule early in the final stanza.

Sophomore Aaron Combs caught a touchdown pass from senior Lane Faver, tossed a scoring pass to sophomore Ashton Davis and returned a free kick 45 yards to the house after senior Conner Rooney tackled the Chesterton Academy QB for a safety to start the scoring. Rooney also caught a touchdown pass from Faver, and junior Cole Kircher ran 40 yards for a TD and threw a 12-yard scoring pass to sophomore Mason Christensen.

The Coyotes (6-2) are ranked fourth in 6-man and end their district and regular-season slate on Friday at home against top-ranked Gateway Christian (7-0).

Elida 62, Floyd 21 (Friday) - The teams played 5-on-5 much for much of the 6-man District 2 tilt because the Broncos, with only eight players on their roster, were shorthanded due to injury. The game was called late in the third period when a couple more players got hurt.

Elida (6-2, 3-1 district) got three touchdowns each from seniors Mason Pritchett and Dalyn Taylor, two from junior Seth Jimenez and one from freshman Cason Norman, all coming on the ground.

Junior Daegan East threw three TD passes for the Broncos (1-5, 1-3). The first was to junior Benton Cain and gave Floyd an 8-0 lead after junior Richard Garcia's 2-point conversion kick.

The others were to Isaias Nieto late in the half and to Garcia in the third stanza.

The Tigers close the regular year at home on Saturday against Animas in non-district play, while the Broncos have finished their season.

In area Texas games on Friday night:

Bovina 63, Crosbyton 21 - The Mustangs pulled away in the second half of a District 3-2A matchup at Crosbyton, outscoring the Chiefs 35-8.

Junior quarterback Daniel Herrera threw for three scores - 15 yards to junior Miguel Lopez in the second quarter, 35 and 39 yards to senior Ceasar Amaya in the third - and added early touchdown runs of 2 and 9 yards for the Mustangs (2-5, 1-1 district). Senior Darian De La Rosa notched TD runs of 79 yards in the opening period and 5 yards in the third, while junior Gauge Causas went in from 11 and 9 yards in the final segment.

Crosbyton (0-6, 0-2) got a pair of touchdown passes from junior Dylan Doss to sophomore Kevin Cruz-Coleman and a 5-yard TD run by Cruz-Coleman.

Farwell 46, Sanford-Fritch 3 - At Farwell, the Steers bounced back from their first loss of the campaign at Stratford, rolling to a 37-3 halftime lead over Sanford-Fritch in District 1-2A Division I action.

Junior Corey Stancell carried only six times but finished with 140 yards for Farwell (6-1, 1-1 district), including scoring runs of 44, 51 and 39 yards. Also, senior Zander Schilling got the game's first tally on a 9-yard run, sophomore Ryder McElroy returned a fumble for a touchdown and senior quarterback Alec Actkinson tossed a 13-yard TD pass to junior Jackson Wilbourn.

The Steers' other points came on two safeties. Sanford-Fritch (1-6, 1-1) netted its only points on a 30-yard field goal in the second period.

Farwell's next outing is on Friday in district play at Amarillo Highland Park.