Spartans lose a one-possession bout to Moriarty

MORIARTY — The Bernalillo Spartans (3-1) fell on the road to the Moriarty Pintos (2-1) Sept. 12. The 20-12 defeat is first loss of the season for the Goon Squad.

Weather played a role in the game as it was delayed an hour due to thunderstorms and rain.

“Moriarty was tough weather conditions, a lot of adversity to overcome and tough to play four road games in a row to start the season. We are excited to have four of our last games at Spartan Stadium,” said Spartan head coach John Cobos.

Moriarty got on the board first off of a Devin Ortiz rushing touchdown. Then, Pinto standout Mario Romero had a scoop-and-score that cemented a dominate first half from Moriarty.

“Defensively, we played hard as a team. Bernalillio is a very physical team, and we were able to rise above that and control the game. Offensively, the wet conditions made it hard to hold the ball, but our line was able to dominate the trenches, which allowed us backs to move the ball up the field and finish the game strong,” Romero said.

At the half, the Spartans found themselves down 14. The Pintos would score by way of a rushing touchdown and a fumble recovery.

Spartan quarterback Ulisses Castro got things cooking, slinging two touchdown passes.

The first pass was to running back Dusty Debeer, and the second was to receiver Joseph Duran.

However, the Pintos rushing attack would continue to pound away and score with five minutes left to go in the fourth quarter.

At the end of regulation, the Spartans were one possession short of the Pintos’ 20 points.

After playing four-straight road games, Bernalillo will have a week off before playing Espanola Valley at Spartan Stadium Sept. 26, their first home game of the year.