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Cleveland manhandles Centennial at the Field of Dreams
LAS CRUCES – Perfect? It was pretty darn close, let’s put it that way.
The Cleveland Storm were in full flight on Friday night at the Field of Dreams. They scored on all seven of their possessions, they manhandled undefeated Centennial on both sides of the ball, and the No. 3 seed bulldozed its way into the Class 6A state football final with an emphatic 56-20 semifinal victory over the second-seeded Hawks.
“I felt like we played our best football game all year,” Cleveland coach Robert Garza said. “We put it together and the guys were motivated.”
The Storm (11-1) won their 11th straight following a 35-28 Week 1 loss at home to this same Hawks team that Cleveland shoved around Friday night.
“Their physicality, we just couldn’t match,” Centennial coach Aaron Ocampo said. “I didn’t get our team ready to match that, and I don’t know that we can.”
Cleveland imposed its will pretty much from the first play, when the Storm tackled Centennial’s dangerous running quarterback, Zaiden Davis, for a 3-yard loss.
When Cleveland got the ball moments later, the Storm went 76 yards on three running plays. Juan Muñoz, who finished with 255 yards on 23 carries — in just over 2½ quarters of work — went 59 yards up the middle for a touchdown 2 minutes and 17 seconds into the game. It was dominance pretty much all the way.
The total yardage — 408 for Cleveland, 363 for Centennial, and a good chunk of that for the Hawks came in a meaningless fourth quarter — hardly does justice to how one-sided this game truly was.
Cleveland running back Juan Munoz had a huge night for the Storm on Friday, with 255 yards on 23 carries — in about 2 1/2 quarters of work — and three touchdowns, two of them on long runs, in the Storm’s 56-20 win over Centennial at the FOD. pic.twitter.com/2BjpmuO6wE
— James Yodice (@JamesDYodice) November 23, 2024
“I would not have imagined (winning by a score like that),” Garza said. “Once we got our motors running, I looked up and the clock was running. Wow.”
The Storm rushed for 288 yards in pretty much three quarters; they ran only two plays in the fourth quarter.
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Compare this to Week 1, when Cleveland was limited to just 68 rushing yards.
“Everyone doubted us but us,” said Muñoz. “We knew we were a different team now than we were in Week 1. Our linemen were getting after it.”
“That offensive line,” Garza said, “was fabulous.”
They were indeed. Muñoz sprinted through some enormous holes.
“We knew what we had to do,” said Moses Sparks, the Storm’s giant junior offensive tackle, who already has five Division I offers. “We knew we had to execute and we did that. We’re cooking now.”
There was sizzle on both sides of the ball for Cleveland, although the Hawks (11-1) did have a couple of openings that were quickly closed by the Storm.
Cleveland quarterback Jordan Hatch’s 5-yard keeper for a score early in the second quarter gave the Storm a 14-0 lead. Centennial was marching on the next drive.
But Cleveland forced a Davis fumble, recovered it, and then went the other way, 79 yards in four plays, for a commanding 21-0 lead. Muñoz scored on a 62-yard run.
Davis scored with 2:43 left before halftime for a 21-6 game, but the Storm added a 1-yard touchdown by seldom-utilized Elijah Richards with 10 seconds left in the half. Richards prior to Friday had one carry for one yard in the Storm’s previous 11 games.
On the first possession of the third quarter, Hatch tossed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Angel Gallegos, who did plenty of RAC. Muñoz added an 8-yard TD run moments later, and he simply ran over a Centennial defender on his way into the end zone. By then, it was 42-6.
“Juan’s the best running back in the state. I can stand on that. He’s amazing,” Sparks said.
Added Muñoz, “We had a chip on our shoulder. We knew we could run it.”
On the first play of the fourth quarter, it became 49-6, as Michael Haynes went 99 yards on a pick six.
Cleveland improved to 15-0 all-time at the Field of Dreams. They have repeatedly spoken this year about atoning for how they played in the Week 1 setback.
“We know realistically that no team should have beat us,” said Psalmon Kegler, Cleveland’s outstanding defensive lineman. “The way we beat ourselves in that first game was unnecessary.”
The Storm will face top-seeded La Cueva (12-0) for the state title next Saturday at Wilson Stadium.The Bears defeated Las Cruces in the other state semifinal.
“It’s a blessing to be back (in the final),” Kegler said. “Especially with this team.”
