Aug. 21—The most bizarre scene in New Mexico prep football on Friday night was a stadium full of fans in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, two eager football teams in uniform, perfect weather … and everyone in the joint sitting idly and quietly by at 7 p.m., wondering if there would even be a game.
There was — although from an optics standpoint, this was a less than ideal way to open the fall season.
Mayfield’s 40-13 victory over Manzano didn’t move the needle a whole lot. The Trojans — in their first full season as a Class 5A program — scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the game and never trailed in a season opener under a nearly full moon at Wilson Stadium.
The game ended four minutes before 11 p.m.
Of course, by the time of the opening kickoff, it was already dark. And that was not by design.
A snafu of embarrassing proportions postponed the start of this game 71 minutes because no officiating crew was assigned.
Eventually, five men were located to race to Wilson Stadium and work the contest. They walked down onto the field at 8 p.m. The game kicked off at 8:11 p.m., an hour and 11 minutes later than scheduled. At least one of the five men on the crew told the Journal he had retired from calling games two years ago, although he is still certified to officiate. He was there simply to watch the game and was in street clothes, before getting a phone call asking him to chip in with this emergency. He went home to get his gear and returned, serving as the back judge.
The New Mexico Activities Association was still trying to put together the pieces of this mystery late into the evening Friday.
Sally Marquez, the executive director of the NMAA, said the game had not been entered in the computer system that compiles games around the state each week. That electronic list is the one that is used for assignors in each of the state’s five regions as they schedule crews around the state to work games.
“We don’t know why it wasn’t in there,” Marquez said at about 9:30 p.m., adding that the NMAA was actively investigating. “But I assure you, it won’t happen again.”
Players were sitting around the tiny locker rooms at Wilson Stadium, while most of the coaches of both teams lingered outside the locker rooms. As 7 p.m. came and went, nobody was quite certain about what was going on, why it happened, or if they’d get a chance to play.
At about 7:15 p.m., Mayfield coach Mike Bradley was visibly agitated at the situation as he stood outside his team’s locker room. But around 7:25 p.m., it was announced that the game would begin at 8 p.m.
This proved to be an odd (to say the least) debut for new Manzano coach Stephen Johnston, who arrived in Albuquerque having previously been an assistant coach at Artesia.
Once the game began, Mayfield got out to a quick start, with two touchdown drives with relatively short fields.
The first drive went 55 yards, and Jose Montoya’s 17-yard touchdown run put the Trojans in front 7-0. Mayfield got the ball at the 50 on its next drive.
A dozen plays later, Calvin Cox scored from the 4, and a 14-0 lead.
A long kickoff return by Manzano’s Isaiah Garcia, which led to the Monarchs starting a drive from the Mayfield 16, helped get the Monarchs on the board moments later. QB Jared Melfi, on fourth-and-5 from the 11, threw a TD pass to Alejandro Alvarado.
Cox’s 58-yard touchdown reception stopped Manzano’s momentum, and it was 21-7 at halftime.
It was 28-13 headed into the fourth quarter. Mayfield QB Anthony Carrillo tossed two TD passes to Felix Saenz in the final 12 minutes.
Week 1 concludes on Saturday, with the featured game in Albuquerque being Cibola against La Cueva at Wilson Stadium at 1 p.m.
PREP FOOTBALL SCORES
Alamogordo 45, Valencia 6
Atrisco Heritage 2, Del Norte 0
Bernalillo 50, Gallup 0
Bloomfield 29, St. Pius X 26
Capital 55, Grants 20
Carlsbad 31, Artesia 6
Cobre 39, Chaparral 0
Deming 44, Gadsden 6
Dexter 45, Santa Rosa 12
Estancia 14, Hatch Valley 6
Farmington 42, Roswell 6
Hobbs 21, Clovis 0
Jal 63, Texico 56
Las Cruces 27, Volcano Vista 20
Los Alamos 57, Espanola Valley 42
Los Lunas 42, Piedra Vista 0
NMMI 28, Mescalero Apache 0
Organ Mountain 35, Albuquerque High 14
Pojoaque 52, Shiprock 0
Ramah 58, Clovis Christian 8
Raton 35, Eunice 0
Santa Fe 34, Robertson 8
Santa Fe Indian 32, Cuba 18
St. Michael’s 30, Taos 3
Tularosa 48, Hot Springs 0