Coming off a 36-0 opening win over a 5A JV squad there was still some doubt about the strength of that win coming into game 2 with 5A Miyamura, a team that had won its opening game with Aztec. Let there be no doubt after the artificial turf dust settled on Friday night that these Warriors will be among the favorites to win the NMAA 3A Championship. The Warriors dominated a very athletic and talented Patriot squad from the opening kick until the final whistle.
The opening five plays of the game set the tone for contest. The Warriors kicked off to the Patriots and Jaydon Marsyla kicked the ball through the end zone to force the Patriots to start from their on 20 yard. The Patriots were unable to move the ball against a well prepared Warrior defense and were forced to punt from the 19 yard line on 4th and 11. The football gods then smiled upon the Warriors as the Patriot punt went straight up and came down near the 20 yard line and took a bounce favorable to the Warriors as it bounded backwards and was downed on the 2 yard line for a -17 yard punt. The Patriots then got an offside penalty to move the ball to the 1 yard line. From there quarterback Marcus Armijo ran the football into the end zone and the Warriors were on top 6-0 on a one yard drive with less than 3 minutes gone in the 1st quarter. The pattern would continue as the Warriors would stymie the Patriot’s offense again and again, get the ball in good field position, and score touchdowns.
The Warriors started possessions on the Patriots side of the field on four of their first five drives and by halftime had built a 30-0 over a Patriot team had 10 players on their roster listed at over 240 lbs. and 20 players at over 180 lbs. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Warriors scored three second half touchdowns while giving up their first score of the year late in the game for the 51-6 victory.
The Warriors got 99 yards in passing yardage with Marcus Armijo going 7-9 with two touchdown passes to Duda Jackson one for 10 yards and the other for 40. Jackson went up over the defender in the corner of the end zone for the first touchdown and on the second he caught the ball on the Patriot 20 and then got away from two defenders with nifty moves to find the end zone. The Warriors ran the football well again, picking up 225 yards on 26 carries. Marcus Armijo led the way with 88 yards on the ground and 3 touchdowns, including the Warriors final score of the night on a 51 yard scamper. Brother Jordan Armijo added 68 yards on nine carries and scored touchdowns of 15 and 7 yards on the ground. The Warriors ended the game with 324 yards on 35 plays from scrimmage.
The Warrior defense continued to be outstanding giving up no runs of more than 6 yards and had seven tackles for losses. The Patriots were 8-17 passing for 72 yards and one touchdown while having Alex Amaro and Jordan Armijo each intercept a pass for the Warriors. Amaro has made an interception in each game this season. The Warriors have outscored their opponents 87-6 in the first two games.
The Warriors will travel to Espanola Valley Friday September 3 for their next contest. Espanola Valley will be entering the game with an 0-2 and coming off of a 54-0 loss to Bernalillo while the Warriors are now 2-0.
