Carlsbad runs past Rams, Cavemen end RR's season 35-13

RIO RANCHO — One week, you are playing for a district title, the next week, your season comes to a close.

It’s reality in the world of high school athletics, and for Rio Rancho football, it’s the cold, hard truth.

In the biggest upset of the 6A playoffs so far, 11-seed Carlsbad (6-5) took down 6-seed Rio Rancho (6-5) 35-13 on the road.

"End of the season is never easy," Rio Rancho Head Coach Nate Pino said. "Our kids played hard and fought through a lot."

What started as an underdog upset quickly turned into road domination. The runaway victory shocked many, but in the Cavemen’s eyes, they didn’t see it that way.

“For us, it was not much of an upset, even though it looks like it on paper,” Carlsbad senior Robert Castaneda said. “We were happy to get matched up against Rio Rancho; our mentality going in there was to play physical and fast.”

Carlsbad running back Brock Wright and quarterback Marley Munoz were at the forefront of Saturday afternoon's win, combining for over 100 yards rushing and multiple scores. The Cavemen had a plan and stuck to it.

“Just to seal off 35 (Rio Rancho defensive end Jacari Smith), he's good, he's a great athlete,” Wright said. “Number one (Rio Rancho defensive back Quintenn McKinley) also, he’s pretty fast. But I feel like we stopped them both.”

Munoz, originally the backup heading into the season, delivered against a solid Rams defense. Along with the run game, Munoz threw for two touchdowns in a clean game from the junior.

“(The win) means a lot to this team, especially since it’s been 15 years since we’ve won a playoff game,” Munoz said. “We just never backed down.”

“We (Wright and Munoz) just worked together really well,” Wright said. “In our second game of the season, our starting quarterback got hurt, and he stepped up, and it's been a blessing for him to do what he's doing.”

Through one quarter, it felt as if the Rams would evade the “trap game.” Backup quarterback Crew Victor, the eighth-grade fill-in for the injured Micah Takahashi, found receiver Parker Miller on a great ball to make it 6-0.

That is where the positives would end.

Victor suffered a leg injury, making it hard to plant and throw. Already down a quarterback, the Rams were now in panic mode.

Takahashi was available as a wide receiver, getting some action with a few catches and designed runs. Toward the end of the game, you even saw McKinley playing some offensive snaps. It was do or die, and Rio Rancho was scrambling for answers.

"Crew hurt his knee, but stayed in and battled, even though he couldn’t run or drive the ball the way he normally does," Pino said. "Micah also played through a shoulder issue and kept competing. Parker made plays all game and was a bright spot for us. "

Carlsbad capitalized on the Rams' dire situation, picking off Victor three times, one of them being an 80-yard pick-six by Castaneda.

Castaneda’s house call, after scoring a 60-yard receiving touchdown earlier amid his day of two-way play, was the cherry on top of Carlsbad’s drought-ending victory.

The whistle blew, Gatorade showers were delivered and the Cavemen celebrated. Now, it is onto a familiar foe in Hobbs, an Eagles team that knocked off Carlsbad a week ago on Halloween night.

“We just gotta keep on winning. We already faced them, so we know what they're going to do,” Wright said. “We know what we've got to do. So we just have to capitalize on what we did wrong last week, to do it again this week.”

Carlsbad and Hobbs are set for a quarterfinal matchup at 7 p.m. Nov. 14. For Rio Rancho, the offseason questions will start to pop up. What is next for this program?

"At the end of the day, I needed to do a better job preparing our guys; that’s on me," Pino said. "Credit to Carlsbad — they played tough. We had a good season, and although it didn’t end the way we wanted, I’m proud of our players and the way they competed all year."

No matter what Rio Rancho's path is, this is the last time we will see a handful of these Rams. Seniors Matthew Stagman and McKinley soaked in the moment, pausing before heading to the locker room. The two came together for one last look out at the Ram Stadium turf as the sun lowered on the afternoon, their season and their high school football careers.