Bernalillo stifles Valley to claim victory on opening night

Milne Stadium was nearly empty Thursday night. A small handful of fans. A few stadium workers. That’s it.

And just then, as Bernalillo High School football coach John Cobos began his long walk back from the north end zone to a noisy locker room at the other end of the stadium, he could be heard in all corners of the facility.

“Wooooooooooooo!!!” Cobos screamed ecstatically.

It was a grinding and frequently ugly opening night to the 2023 football season. The Spartans and Valley started 30 minutes late due to lightning. And for the over 2½ hours they clashed, the highlights were few and far between.

It was Bernalillo’s stellar defense that ultimately ruled, and the Class 4A Spartans, with a 12-6 upset of the 5A Vikings (who lost their starting quarterback to injury in the first half), in essence pitched a shutout against the Valley offense.

“Nobody was giving us a chance to win this game,” said Cobos, whose uncle, Billy Cobos, is Valley’s head coach. “But I’ve got some great assistant coaches, we knew the game plan we wanted to come out with, and we executed.”

All the points occurred in the first half.

Bernalillo’s defense, which already had authored a near goal-line stand earlier in the first quarter — “I think that gave us an all-time high,” John Cobos said later — forced Valley quarterback Julian Butkivich to fumble inside his own 5 late in the period.

Bernalillo recovered at the 2. Two plays later, junior quarterback Uriel Castro lofted a 2-yard TD pass in the far corner to big Mason Espinda-McChriston (who is 6-foot-3) with 48 seconds left in the quarter. The PAT was blocked.

Valley’s Daniel Garcia returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score. The Vikings went for 2 and failed.

It was another forced fumble against Butkivich that led to the go-ahead, and game-winning, TD for Bernalillo.

The Spartans started at the Valley 40, and were aided immensely by a 15-yard pass interference penalty against the Vikings on a third-and-11.

Four plays later, Diego Molinar went over from the 1 with just 23 seconds to go before halftime. Bernalillo tried for 2, but a pass was incomplete.

In the second half, Bernalillo was held to minus-29 yards rushing, three yards total and five punts.

And the Spartans still emerged with a win on opening night.

“We kicked butt out there, and I’m just happy. I love those guys,” said junior outside linebacker Gabriel Trujillo, who was part of a sensational effort on defense with 2½ sacks and a fumble recovery.

“We watched a lot of film,” Trujillo said. “We’ve been waiting 10 months for this game.”

Bernalillo finished with just 53 yards of total offense and only one first down after halftime.

Valley, meanwhile, could hardly have scripted a night in which more went wrong.

The Vikings had no offensive points. Butkivich left the game in the second quarter for the hospital with what is believed to be an elbow injury. The Vikings put the ball on the ground seven times, losing two of them and both leading to Bernalillo touchdowns.

Valley was intercepted twice, went through three quarterbacks, was penalized 15 times for 132 yards and looked completely out of sorts throughout.

“Murphy’s Law was in effect tonight,” Billy Cobos said. “For some reason, the football gods didn’t want us in the end zone tonight on offense.”

Not that Valley didn’t have chances. The Vikings had outstanding field position almost the entire second half, but could not cash in any of their opportunities. The last drive got as far as the Bernalillo 16 in the final couple of minutes but stalled there.

The Spartans’ defense held its ground time and again, protecting their lead. Valley ran 15 plays inside the Bernalillo 40 in the second half.

“They (the Spartans defense) were off the chain,” Billy Cobos said. “They played lights out. They did a good job watching film and seeing where our weaknesses are.”

Bernalillo is home next week to Española Valley. Valley faces Cibola a week from Saturday