Alamogordo’s Tiger football team scored 19 points against a potent Roswell team at halftime of its District 2-5A opener against Roswell, but still trailed by three field goals after spotting the Coyotes an early lead.
Roswell’s lead only increased in the second half, as the Tigers couldn’t keep up with the speed of the Coyote backfield in a 56-26 loss.
“They’re so good and so fast offensively, so they stress you in multiple ways,” said Alamogordo coach AJ Cisco of the Roswell attack. “They’ve always had good offensive schemes, and game the heck out of you making adjustments.”
Roswell (3-1, 1-0 district) got its first two touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the game, including a 59-yard ramble by Luis Rodriguez and an impressive 39-yard pass from quarterback Andruw Fuentes to Danny Castro for the 14-0 advantage.
Alamogordo (was able to answer when Qymani Patterson got a 36-yard run to the corner of the endzone at 1:12 left in the first quarter. From then on, the teams traded scores. The Tigers headed into the locker room with momentum as Tristan Bowman got stacked up on the line and found his way around for a touchdown with no time on the clock.
Then came the third quarter, as Roswell’s Zeke Barrientos scored on a 38-yard carry at 6:29, followed by Rodriguez with his second touchdown of the night three minutes later.
Alamogordo’s only score in the second half was a nine-yard rush by Qymani Patterson with 10:44 left in the fourth quarter.
“We knew we were going to have to play really well defensively, and we knew if we were going to win, it was probably going to be a shootout,” Cisco said. “We had three possessions where we didn’t get scores, and that really put us behind the eight ball trying to come back.”
Alamogordo (1-3, 0-1) continues its district schedule Friday with a game at Roswell’s Wool Bowl against Goddard.
Cisco said his team will need to tackle better to get out of there with a victory.
“We’ve got to get better at tackling. This was not a good way to start district,” Cisco said. “Our mindset is now to get ready for Goddard.”
The Goddard Rockets are 2-2 and 1-0 in district with a 47-0 thrashing of Chaparral last week. Cisco said Rocket coach Arturo Bolaños is getting the Rockets back to the same intensity and winning tradition of past Goddard teams.
“He’s done a great job of changing who they are,” Cisco said. “They’ve got a lot of good athletes and are huge up front. We’ve got our hands full.”
Todd Fuqua is Sports Editor for the Alamogordo News and can be reached at 575-937-0344.
