Thoreau extends winning streak, starts district at 1-0

THOREAU, N.M. – Thoreau coach Erik Loera believes his football club has been overlooked.

The Hawks went through a brutal nondistrict schedule as they went 4-3 going into last Thursday’s District 1-3A opener against Cuba.

After giving up the initial touchdown, Thoreau (5-3 overall, and 1-0 in district) kept the visiting Rams at bay for a 24-6 win to extend its winning streak to three games.

“We played really well tonight,” Loera said. “Cuba put together a hell of a football team this year. They had a 6-1 record coming into this game, but they hadn’t played anybody like we had so a lot of people have overlooked us.

“We’re still here,” Loera added. “We aren’t going nowhere. You know, we’re the best team around this area and we proved it again tonight.”

In that initial drive, Cuba went 64 yards with seven running plays. Sophomore quarterback Richard Lovato and sophomore slot back Marcos Casaus carried most of the load with the latter carrying the ball two times for 22 yards.

Lovato, meanwhile, had one gain for 21 yards and his quarterback keeper from 5 yards out put the visiting team up 6-0 with just over nine minutes left in the opening quarter.

It didn’t take long for the Hawks to respond as they covered 72 yards with senior quarterback Isaac Bear Eagle hitting receiver Elijah Trickey for a 25-yard reception that set them up at Cuba’s 28-yard line.

Three plays later, Bear Eagle converted a fourth-and-7 for a 25-yard rushing TD at the 5:58 mark.

The Rams were ready to strike again on its next series, but they had a costly fumble at Thoreau’s 8-yard line early in the second stanza.

Cuba got the ball back on a three-and-out but they were unable to convert a fourth down situation deep in Thoreau’s territory.

Bear Eagle then orchestrated a 64-yard TD drive that took two plays to develop. The Thoreau QB found sophomore receiver Jordan Calladitto for a 62-yard reception and on the very next play junior running back Ty Gaddy ran in the final two yards for a 12-6 cushion with 2:45 left in the contest.

Thoreau scored its next TD late in the third when Bear Eagle connected with Calladitto on a 14-yard scoring reception that completed a 70-yard drive as the Hawks upped its lead to 18-6 with 2:36 left in the game.

For its last score, Thoreau got a key interception from senior cornerback Taven Tahe, his second of the night, as he returned it for 37 yards that set up the Hawks at Cuba’s 28-yard line.

Four plays later, Bear Eagle hooked up with Trickery again as they combined on a 16-yard TD reception with 1:58 left in the contest.

Bear Eagle completed 6-of-13 passes for 141 yards and two TD receptions. The Thoreau senior added 34 yards on the ground and one rushing TD.

“When he has time to throw, he’s pretty accurate,” Loera said of his QB. “Last year he was kind of maturing and growing into himself, so he wasn’t as accurate. This year we’re more 50/50 with the passes, which I wanted last year.

“We’re able to do it this year, which gives us more options now that we’re able to pass the ball,” he added.

The Loera-coached team chalked up 161 rushing yards with sophomore Saige Westmoreland gaining more than half of those yards. He had 11 carries for 87 yards.

“We ran the ball with Saige Westmoreland and they couldn’t stop him,” Loera said. “Toward the end they started to crowd the inside, so we had to make a few dump passes.”

Despite some missed opportunities in the opening half, Cuba coach Isaac Montoya was quite pleased with how his kids played.

“We’ve been playing with adversity all season,” he said. “We haven’t been 100% and we were out three starters in this game with the flu.”

One of those players was his best cornerback as the Thoreau QB exploited that position with some long passes.

“They’ve seen our weaknesses and a good coach will take advantage of that,” Montoya said. “Kudos to him for noticing that we didn’t have our starting cornerback and he capitalized on that.”

The first-year coach said he was down to his fourth-string corner and although they gave up some big passing plays he was ecstatic with their play.

“All of my corners played well,” he said. “I mean, you just can’t expect them to fill in the role last minute and pick it up.”

Despite falling to 6-2 overall and 0-1 in district play, Montoya was tickled to death about how far his team has come.

“This is a huge turnaround,” he said. “You know, coming out 6-0 beginning of the season that was huge for us. I give it to these kids. You know, they have confidence and they’re more motivated. Our numbers came up, so we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Cuba will close out the regular season hosting Wingate on Friday before playing at Crownpoint next week. Montoya said his team could play well beyond the regular season with a possible playoff bid.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” he said. “We definitely would have made the playoffs winning this game, but if we win out and go 8-2 we might sneak in there at the bottom.”

The Hawks also have two games left as they will travel to Crownpoint on Friday before taking on Wingate on the road next week.

“I think Cuba was the team to beat in our district, but we’re not going to overlook Crownpoint and we’re not going to overlook Wingate,” Thoreau coach Loera said. “We’re going to take it to them, but I don’t think it’s going to be as close as this one.”

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