Patriots rally past Vikings, 36-35, in homecoming nail-biter

By Truman Begaye
Special to the Times

GALLUP

The Miyamura Patriots (3-2) earned a hard-fought, bittersweet homecoming victory on Friday night at Gallup Public School Stadium, slipping past the Valley Vikings (1-4) in a 36-35 nail-biter.

After trailing by two touchdowns at halftime, the Patriots rallied with a big third quarter and scraped by thanks to a late blocked punt that set up the winning score. Senior quarterback Salid Rashid led the way, throwing for 141 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for 96 more, and finishing the night without an interception.

“He’s probably completed about 45 percent of his throws this year, but tonight I think he did better than that,” said Miyamura head coach David Foley. “He had some drops, but he was more accurate and had no interceptions. In our losses, we’ve had a bunch of interceptions, so I’m glad how they responded—especially on our homecoming.”

Miyamura struck first behind Rashid’s passing. After a series of long completions to Sean Torres, Rashid found sophomore wideout Quincy Tsosie for a 27-yard strike to open the scoring.

Valley quickly answered. Junior running back Zachary Perez-Verdeja punched in a 5-yard score, and after the PAT, the Vikings held a 7-6 edge. Rashid countered with a 32-yard read-option run to set up a 2nd-and-goal. He then connected with senior Gage Sellers, who broke a tackle to reclaim the lead at 14-7.

From there, Perez-Verdeja took over. He tied the game late in the first quarter with another 5-yard run, then scored twice more in the second quarter—rushing from four yards out on each occasion. Valley controlled the half and carried a 28-14 lead into the break.

The tide turned after halftime. Valley quarterback Jonah Marez

threw an interception to Miyamura’s Angelo Zepeda, who returned it to the Viking 37. Rashid capped the short drive with a keeper from the one, though the PAT failed, cutting the deficit to 28-20.

On Valley’s next series, Perez fumbled at midfield, and senior defensive tackle Josh Hughbanks pounced on it. Rashid then lofted a 32-yard touchdown to Benjamin Vidales, tying the game at 28-28 as the Patriots rode their defense and short fields back into contention.

The Vikings retook the lead early in the fourth when Marez found Zaid Al-Omari deep downfield for a 68-yard touchdown, making it 35-28. But the game’s pivotal moment came with under five minutes to play. With Valley punting from its own 9-yard line, Miyamura’s Carlos Garcia broke through to block the kick. Senior David Lujan scooped up the loose ball at the 13, and moments later Torres powered in for a 2-yard touchdown. He also converted the two-point try to put Miyamura ahead 36-35.

Valley had one last chance but failed to convert on fourth down, allowing the Patriots to kneel out the clock and secure the one-point win.

“I feel fantastic,” Foley said. “Obviously, in the first half we had too many mistakes, and Valley has great receivers they took advantage of. But we came out, played our hearts out, and executed our plays. We still had too many penalties, but I’m proud of the kids and the effort they gave. We had some guys go down with injuries, and some subs came in and gritted it out.”

The Patriots hit the road next week, traveling to Belen to face the Eagles on Friday night at 7 p.m.

Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.

 

---