Posted on by Sykotyk

2022 Week 4 (New Mexico)

2022 Week 4 (New Mexico)

I was going to be in Texas this weekend. The oil patch was calling me. Friday morning, I was going to be halfway between Kermit and Mentone. Mentone is in Loving County, the least populated county in the country. The oil boom hasn’t necessarily changed that ranking yet, but the growth west of Kermit along route 302 is impressive. The road is being four-laned west of Kermit to handle all the oil and construction traffic. Thursday, though, left me with some options. And though Texas options were available, I decided to stick to New Mexico.

At least for Thursday. Jal is located in the far southeast corner of the state. Just twenty miles north of Kermit, Jal is also benefiting from the oil boom. The town sits west of Andrews, Texas along the Route 18 corridor just west of the state line. A line running from Kermit into New Mexico through Jal, Eunice, Hobbs, and points north. it’s an arrid, barron landscape thriving from the oil industry.

And it’s where I chose my Thursday game. Jal’s game was an interclass game. As I detailed in my article:

Now, this game, against Clovis, like the matchup in Week 3, is an interclass game. Unlike out east, out west things are done just a bit different. This isn’t Junior Varsity the way you or I would describe it in Pennsylvania.

Clovis, like Hobbs, are very big towns in southeastern New Mexico. And, with Jal’s location, among other issues, finding opponents without a ridiculous travel budget, become an issue. So, the smaller schools play the bigger schools. But not straight up. The bigger schools will field a second team of players that won’t carry over into the other game the way they would in Pennsylvania.

This is a varsity game for Jal. And just their secondary team for Clovis. I could’ve gone a bit further north to Eunice, but Jal was on my list from the first time I saw their field as I visited Jal. And wanted to see a game there.

#29 – Jal v. Clovis

I got into town at 4pm, with plenty of time for the 6pm Thursday night kickoff. The tailgating was in full swing, as two grills were setup in the parking lot. Cooking chicken wings and offered me a free water. Though I, smartly, already had my own. The heat was high, sitting at 95 before kickoff, but with a nice breeze and intermittent clouds keeping it comfortable.

I got into the stadium well before kickoff and took a tour. The field is prestine for such a small school. Turf, full track. Nice concrete cast stands. The stadium sits north/south just west of route 18. The field turf is emblazened with JAL in yellow on blue endzones and the JAL Panthers’ logo at midfield. The JAL logo inside the Zia sun symbole in the teams’ blue and gold colors.

After talking to the AD a bit before the game, it was time to get ready for the game. Back to the sideline for the run through. The crowd was minimal for this Thursday night contest. A sured blowout by the home side on a non-traditional night made it less of an appeal for fans. Clovis brought a dozen or two fans on the l70 mile trip south.

The game started as one would expect. A 3 and out by Clovis was converted into a first play, one play touchdown drive by Jal. A defensive takeaway converted into a one play touchdown. And the only real question was whether Jal would reach the 50 point margin by halftime.

In New Mexico, as does South Dakota, the game ends when one team is leading by 50 in the second half. And it was getting dangerously close to that margin at the end of the second quarter. However, Jal’s attempt to hit 50 points came up short, at 47-0. With a running clock in the second half, Jal took their time, but finally setup a touchdown late in the third quarter. A 3 yard scamper by one of two scorers for the Panthers: Alexavier Carreon to punch it in. The other player to see the boxscore was Jacob Lujan (lew-hawn).

For my article on the game:
Jal Sets Sun On Clovis In Interclass Matchup

After the game, it was a short drive back to Kermit to sleep and get to work. I was at a new gas plant being built along route 302. Did give one great view of the nothingness to the west:

After that, I went into town and had to decide on what game I’d go to for the night. I had already decided, but wasn’t completely sold on it. It wasn’t close. My choice was Hobbs, New Mexico. My options were Plains (TX), Odessa Permian (TX), Kermit (TX), and Hobbs (NM). I had a few others I had considered by quickly whittled my list down to these.

Now, in retrospect, passing on Permian may have been a mistake. I’ve seen Ratliff Stadium. Never for a game, but I have been to it. It’s impressive. It’s also baron. Surrounded by asphalt in all directions far northeast of Odessa. There’s not too much to it. But seeing Permian at a game? But, I had preliminary plans for next season to be there for a game.

Kermit’s game was the easiest to get to for Friday. It was right there. But it was also projected to be a ridiculous blowout. Despite being 0-3, Kermit was hosting Midland TLC, a learning academy charter school that wasn’t likely to be competitive. And it wouldn’t be. Kermit would win that, 64-0. I’m glad I passed up on it.

Plains, located just east of New Mexico, northeast of Hobbs, was high on my list. I was going to be there Saturday morning. So, it would make sense to be there Friday night for a game. But, I wasn’t completely sold on the matchup. It wasn’t as interesting, to me. Hobbs, though, was.

It was Hobbs. A huge stadium in a city of over 40,000. A big matchup on homecoming night. I got into town before 4, and got a hotel across the street from the school. I got a shower, and then went downstairs to the steakhouse when it opened at 5pm.

After eating the steak quickly, I walked across the street to the stadium. Now, this isn’t just any normal high school football stadium. This is a cathedral to high school football.

I bought a few souvenirs from the band table. A drawstring bag, a commemorative coin, and a towel. Programs were at another stand, but I had already gone out onto the field to get ready for the game. The field was cool, despite the 90+ temp earlier in the day. The sun was already setting behind the visitor stands before kickoff.

#30 – Hobbs v. Rio Rancho

This game was a fun one. Hobbs was clearly better, but the Rio Rancho Rams from suburban Albuquerque were making a game of it. A 17-7 halftime deficit wasn’t entirely out of reach. The Rams did get lucky when Hobbs missed a PAT, making it a 23-7 lead and a two-score game in reach. But when they finally scored, the two point pass fell incomplete. Leaving it at 23-13. And that’s all Hobbs would need. One more score would put it away. And Rio Rancho would close the scoring with a 1 yard run late in the game. As Hobbs would win, 30-20.

Link to my article:
New Mexico 6A Is Something Different

After the game, I went back to the hotel and finished up photos and wrote my article. And it was just a matter of getting ready to head over to Plains. I then saw that Permian, trailing 27-7 at halftime, Permian scored to go up 28-27 with just 16 seconds left in the game. But I still enjoyed my night in Hobbs. Permian and Ratliff will have to wait for another day.

The next day, I went north through the oil fields through Denver City to Plains. A small dot at the intersection of routes US380 and TX214. In the afternoon, I stopped for something at the Allsups just built a year or two ago east of town. And was contemplating what games, if any, I could attend that night.

There was, only one. In all of west Texas, I could only find one game Saturday night. Had I been able to, there was two games in New Mexico. Dora played Animas at Cloudcroft. And New Mexico Military Institute was hosting a game at 1pm in Roswell, but those had already passed.

The only option was kingdom Prep v. Abilene Christian. It wasn’t on many schedules. I found it via sixmanfootball.com. It was listed as being played at Trinity Christian. It also was a 6pm game. I had seen Abilene Christian before. A few years ago, their home Saturday afternoon game was played at Shotwell Stadium against Lakeland Christian.

Their schedule showed this game. Kingdom Prep’s didn’t. I didn’t find their Twitter account until later. I finally got confirmation from a reporter that yes, there was a game being played that night. Trinity Christian’s field was south of Lubbock. In a burgeoning development just below the loop around the city. I was over an hour away. And I hadn’t gotten confirmation from either school playing, or the host school, that there was a game. But figured, why not take the chance?

I got to the athletic complex and was happy to see a game appeared to be in the offing.

#31 – Lubbock Kingdom Prep v. Abilene Christian

When I say I got to this stadium just before kickoff, I mean it. I got onto the field just as the anthem was starting. And I was quickly trying to get things situated. My tweets to start the game, while also finding, online, the rosters. Which were difficult. It was at that moment I found KPA’s twitter account. The issue, I discovered, was the @KPA_Warriors wouldn’t search via Kingdom Prep, because their full name was listed as KingdomPrepWarriors. Which wouldn’t let a search of their name come up.

It was there, finally, that I had found 100% confirmation of the game being played. After already standing on the sideline of the game. Being a six-man game, the action came fast and furious. The first touchdown happened and before I could get that tweet out, another touchdown happened. I didn’t get the info for the second one (other than the photo of the scorer), and got the following tweet done. I later went back to post the credit for the score, but didn’t have the official yardage, or time saved. i did get settled down by the end of the first quarter.

And the rest of the game was a lively event. At 22-22, it seemed like a dead heat. And then, a serious of unfortunate plays went Abilene Christian’s way. And that 22-22 rope-a-dope turned into a 46-22 halftime advantage. In the second half, Kingdom Prep kept pace. But it just wasn’t working out for the Warriors.

With the early start and fast play, I got a lot of good photos in of the game. Unfortunately, the ending couldn’t be much better. As Kingdom Prep kept it interesting, but finally fell, 76-54 to Abilene Christian.

My article of the game:
Small Ball of Texas Six-Man: Kingdom Prep v. Abilene Christian

After the game, I headed to Amarillo to wait out the weekend for Monday morning. And twice eating at the Big Texan. It may be a tourist trap, but financially, you’re not going to get steaks this good for this price anywhere else. And, their fried mushrooms are worth the stop if their steaks weren’t.

In the end, it was a fun weekend of football. Three games by sheer luck and a bit of risk. Wasn’t even sure I was driving to a game on Saturday evening. But, luckily there was one when I got there. But, games at Jal and Hobbs were the highlights of the weekend. And I wouldn’t mind being back for another one. But places had their charm and draw to come back.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF WK 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 New Mexico

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

2022 HSF Wk 4 Texas

SUMMARY

Though the weekend wasn’t all about football, I drove a total of 373 miles for the weekend from game-to-game. The total cost was $122.98. All but $15 of that was for food. The other $15 was souvenirs at Hobbs. Hotels and other costs were business related expenses.

Next Week

Well, next week is a mystery. I have a general idea of what games I’ll see. But, not going to commit them to writing just yet.

2022 Statistics

31 Games
61 Teams
16 Stadiums
7 States

32 New Teams
12 New Stadiums

1,429 different teams
455 different stadiums

1,304 total games

For more, and larger, photos from this weekend, click HERE.

For photos from previous weeks and seasons, visit http://www.flickr.com/sykotyk/sets/

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