North beats South in 3A football classic

Until the most recent season, every Class 3A football state championship game since 2000 always included either Lovington or Portales.

Neither, however, made it to the finale in 2007, but both schools were well represented at the North/South game.

In fact, players from the two southeast New Mexico schools comprised exactly one-third of the 27-man South roster Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Chance for redemption for the former Wildcats and Rams went by the boards, however, as the North took a 27-7 victory at Highlands University.

The loss didn’t dampen enthusiasm for the event, at least in the eyes of some South representatives.

“It’s been a great week and a great experience for the kids,” said Lovington’s Jamie Quinones, selected to coach the South squad. “You have the Lovington/Portales rivalry, the Hatch (Valley) and Hot Springs rivalry — highly contested rivalries, but they’ve all become friends and it’s been a good week to get to know each other.”

Representing Portales on the South squad was Toby Garcia, Sammy Martinez, Chris Mosier and Jacob Brady. Former Ram Ricky Lovato was also selected to the event but was unable to attend.

Mosier, who rushed for 35 yards to lead his team, was named the South’s MVP at the end of the game.

“We all got along pretty good. We joke around, cut up and have a good time,” said Brady, who plans on walking on to the Eastern New Mexico University football squad in the fall. “Really, we just kind of bonded I guess and became a pretty good team.”

It was the North though that took control of the all-star contest, particularly with a couple of touchdowns late in the first half.

The victors initially got on the board when Robertson’s Jesse Estrada plunged in from the one — a play set up by a 35-yard pass from St. Michael’s Mark Manning to Raton’s Gabe Olivas. Estrada’s TD was the second play of the second quarter and the North went up 7-0.

Late in the second period, Robertson’s Adrian Martinez stepped in front of a pass by Hatch Valley’s Alex Carson, the South quarterback, to set up the second touchdown — a 14-yard strike from Manning to Bloomfield with 1:59 left in the half.

The North got to paydirt one last time thanks to a quick 80-yard drive that took only 55 seconds. As time ran out in the first half, Manning lofted a nine-yard touchdown pass to Olivas for a 21-0 advantage.

In state North/South football contests, it’s customary for teammates to exchange helmet decals as the week goes on.

Quinones pointed out that a pair of former rivals took the ritual a step further — one that carried into Saturday night’s game.

“It’s fun because Lovington and Portales is such a vicious rivalry. There’s no love lost there. When they play each other, they want to win that game,” Quinones said. “But here it’s been great. They kid each other all the time and, as a matter of fact, on (Friday) Orlando Sanchez and Chris Mosier switched helmets.

“These kids, whether they’ve been Portales or Hatch, have all come together very nicely. It’s been a very easy transition,” he added. “Sometimes you have kids who want to be a prima donna, but we didn’t have anything like that. We had 27 players who worked well together and accepted their roles.”