The first three days of local high school football were entertaining.

And mostly for good reasons.

So, which team had the best debut?

For me it was an easy choice.

But first, let's go over the candidates.

Thursday's opener at Wilson Stadium featured a fourth quarter Cibola comeback and a frantic Eldorado drive that finished about five yards short. Just wondering Eagles: Why run a five yard out with only seconds left when the endzone was 10 yards away?

The same night at Milne, Rio Grande took an undeserved win versus St. Pius X when Adrian Baca collected a blocked Sartans field goal and zipped 61 yards for a TD. St. Pius X dominated the second half and probably should have won. But good teams, such as RGHS, often win when they really shouldn't.

Speaking of botched field goals ...

On Friday, a young but impressive Las Cruces High team earned an improbable win over veteran Sandia at Wilson with a blocked field goal that was alertly converted into a TD.

At Milne, the new look Highland Hornets resembled their old selves, whipping Rio Rancho, 36-12. I wrote a story about the impressive Hornets for Monday's Trib.

Saturday's La Cueva-Los Lunas game revealed that inexperience can hurt the almighty Bears too. Five turnovers and 14 penalties tarnished La Cueva's win. The Clovis assistant coaches who were scouting the game probably had their fingers crossed, hoping the Bears will be again as sharp as Styrofoam in two weeks when they travel to Clovis.

Judging from coach Fred Romero's irritated demeanor afterward, they won't.

Without further ado...

The winner for Best Performance in a Season Debut, goes to ...

Highland.

Posted by James Staley at 03:47 PM | Permalink

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