Spartans take care of business

BERNALILLO 37, CHAPARRAL 6

BERNALILLO (Nov.15, 2024) — Bernalillo is moving on to the semifinals as they continue to chase the 4A Football State Championship trophy. The 4-seed Spartans had a bye last week but came out of the gate with a dominating home win against the 12-seed Chaparral Lobos on Friday.

This time last year, the Spartans suffered a heartbreaking, season-ending, shutout loss to Portales. This year, they completely flipped the script and scored 28 in the first half.

It started off with a Castro-to-Castro connection as quarterback Uriel Castro threw a dot to standout tight end Ulisses Castro for six.

In the second quarter, Uriel scored on a quarterback scamper, which resulted in his seventh rushing touchdown of the season. Uriel would return on the ensuing possession to throw his second touchdown of the night to wide receiver Ivan Ruiz.

But the Spartans were not finished.

In the dwindling minutes of the second half, Uriel threw another touchdown to wide receiver Kenneth Saiz.

The Saiz touchdown provided a ton of separation for the “Goon Squad” Spartans to cruise in the second half.

Besides a late fourth-quarter score by Chaparral, the Spartan defense was near perfect as they played sticky in coverage and pressured the quarterback at ease. They also logged a safety for good measure, and Uriel — who also plays safety — intercepted a Chaparral pass.

Next, Bernalillo advances to the semifinals where they’ll face a rematch with district rivals, the top-seed Bloomfield Bobcats, Nov. 22. Bloomfield defeated 8-seed Valencia by mercy rule, 50-0 in the quarterfinal game on Nov.16 at the Bobcats home stadium. The Spartans clashed with the Bobcats in the regular season, a meeting that ended with a 20-7 Bobcat win.