2020 Red vs Blue

red & blue decade 1

AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD

August 2020

A Special Supplement to the

Roswell Daily Record

Some of Goddard’s and Roswell’s best-known football moments of the decade!

TRAVIS

BRANDON

HENRY

JOHN

CHRIS

MALCOLM

BRADY

DAVID

MARCOS

JOHNNY

SCOTT

MARTIN

RUBEN

JOE

TOMMY

THOMAS

FREDDIE

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red & blue decade

AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD

Roswell Daily Record red & blue decade 2020

DAILY RECORD STAFF AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Publisher

Layout Design

General Manager

Advertising Design

Editor

Advertising Sales

Barbara Beck SaraLei Fajardo John Dilmore

Managing Editor Misty Choy

Advertising Director Manny Gonzalez

Sports Editor J.T. Keith

Aric Loomis

Sandra Martinez Melanie Page Melissa Page

Writer

J.T. Keith

Sports Photographers David Rocha Shawn Naranjo Steve Notz

Cover Design Aric Loomis

Correspondence: Mail correspondence to Daily Record Sports, P.O. Drawer 1897, Roswell, N.M. 88202-1897 or sports@rdrnews.com.

Submissions: Call 622-7710, ext. 304, for writers’ guidelines.

The Daily Record sports department is not responsible for loss or damage to unsolicited materials.

The Roswell Daily Record and its associated publications are published at 2301 N. Main St., Roswell, N.M. The contents of this publication are Copyright 2020 by the Roswell Daily Record and may not be reprinted in whole or part without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

a decade worth remembering

By J.T. Keith Roswell Daily Record

Football fans, this is not the football tab you were expecting to see. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything has changed. Friday was to be the start of football season.

For fans reading this tab, RDR Sports wanted to put together an exciting publication. We wanted to let fans know we have not forgotten about hearing the whistle and feeling the excitement of the Friday Night Lights, and so we decided to have a little fun and talk about your favorite Goddard and Roswell players and football teams.

We publish a Red vs. Blue tab, focused on the Roswell-Goddard rivalry, at the end of each regular season as the teams are preparing to face off. This year, we decided to publish an early version.

We considered creating an All-Decade Team for both teams.

We wanted to name the top athletes that played in the Roswell and Goddard games, and name the top players from 2010-2019.

We started to put a team together and realized it would not be fair to leave players off because of injuries, losses or bad games.

Between the two teams, there have been too many great players to do them all justice.

Instead of singling out certain players, we decided to look at key moments of the past decade for both Goddard and Roswell. It’s been a period of great success for both.

Sometimes the key moments include games against each other. Most likely, those moments included behind-the-scenes moves that helped put each team in a position to win a Blue Trophy.

Please enjoy our early edition of the Red and Blue football tab.

RDR Sports hopes you enjoy this publication — and we look forward to being able to put another one together for the real game, which should be in March or April.

And we look forward to putting together a preseason tab covering all the area teams. We can’t wait to see if the Coyotes can three-peat. And how long will it be until they lose a game? Roswell is on an 18-game winning streak.

Goddard fans want to know who is going to replace Robert Aragon at quarterback. Fans will want to know if Goddard’s Sammy Zaragoza will be the primary running back, or if there will be an upstart to take Rion Lee’s spot? Goddard will seek to continue their upward trend.

There will also be many pre-season questions to answer about all the other area teams, including Dexter, NMMI, Hagerman, Gateway Christian, Lake Arthur, Artesia. Sports fans, we are counting down the days until we can bring you coverage of the games. Please know we have not forgotten sports — as you have not forgotten.

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AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD

re d v s b l u e m o ments 2019 Game recap

Roswell was undefeated and ranked No. 1. GHS entered the contest at 8-1 and ranked No. 2 in 5A. With a fourth down and 9 yards to go at the Rockets’ 20-yard line, Roswell coach Jeff Lynn called a timeout and sent in Joel “Mr. Everything” Sanchez and he nailed a 31-yard field goal to put the Coyotes up 24-14 with 2:15 to play in the game. This game was marred by flags as each team committed over 10 penalties in the game. This game would propel Roswell to its second championship, as they went undefeated en route to a perfect season, going 13-0.

2018 Game recap

This game had all the high drama of a state playoff game instead of a rivalry game. This was the first time that Roswell and Goddard had been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively with Goddard being the No. 1 team. There were player-of-the-year candidates in Goddard’s Dalton Bowles, who didn’t disappoint, and Roswell’s Justin Carrasco. The game was tied deep into the fourth quarter. Roswell made a fourth-and-inches stop at their 12yard line. Roswell controlled the ball and drove the length of the field and had Joel Sanchez kick a field goal with 1:50 left to play. Goddard received the ball back and was driving when Goddard’s receiver was hit in the back and fumbled the ball. Roswell would win the game, 24-21.

2017 Game recap

For Roswell on this night it was the Gabe Najar show. Najar took an 8-yard handoff and scored as he cut back to his left and went in untouched.

It was his third TD of the night to go along with 95 yards with 3:46 left in the game. Najar’s score was enough to give the Coyotes a 33-21 victory.

Goddard managed to tie the score at 7-7 when Tyler Hoover scored on

David Rocha Photo Roswell and Goddard players shake hands before the game.

a 52-yard screen pass after a Roswell tackler missed him at the line of scrimmage with 6:19 left in the second quarter. Roswell’s Daniel Sosa capped an 11-play scoring drive when he ran the ball in from the right side and Joel Sanchez added the PAT to give the Coyotes a 14-7 lead with 2:12 to play in the second quarter. On Goddard’s next possession senior standout Diego Miranda took the ball on the left side and made a tackler miss in the backfield and hit the jets, going 62 yards for a touchdown as Jacob Wieser added the PAT to tie the game at 14-14 heading into halftime. Coming out of the break, Najar ran over his right tackle Victor Bolanos for the score. Sanchez added the PAT to give RHS a 21-14 lead with 8:30 to play in the third quarter. Goddard was not to be denied, as quarterback Robert Aragon ran a sneak from the 9-yard line to score and Wieser made the PAT to tie the score at 21-21 with 5:25 to play in the third quarter. Roswell was not finished scoring as Najar went over the left tackle to score with 2:05 left in the third quarter as the PAT was blocked.

Roswell led 27-21. Goddard would not be able to score as the Coyotes would win the game.

2016 Game recap

The Roswell Coyotes scored a goahead touchdown with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter, and held off a charging Goddard offense, to defeat the Rockets 22-14 at the Wool Bowl. This was the second year in a row Goddard lost to Roswell after a 14-year string of Goddard wins in the crosstown rivalry. Knotted at 14-all early in the fourth quarter, the Rockets marched into Coyote territory, but a string of false start penalties had Goddard taking one step forward and two steps back. On fourth-and-long at the Roswell 37-yard line, the Coyotes Continued page 4

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red & blue decade RECAP continued from page 3 stopped Goddard senior running back Devon Quiroz to take over on downs.

The Coyotes used a steady dose of rushes from junior tailback Gabe Najar and sweep plays to junior running back Michael Ponce to move the ball into Goddard territory. Facing a fourthand-short at the Goddard 35-yard line, senior quarterback Bear Kyser tossed to Najar for a big first down and then some. On third-and-goal at the 3-yard line, junior slotback Daniel Sosa took the handoff on the sweep and willed his way into the end zone. Najar bullied his way in for the 2-point conversion to give the Coyotes a 22-14 lead and eventual win. The Coyotes had 274 yards on the ground, including 127 yards on 25 carries from Najar, who scored one of the three Roswell touchdowns on the night.

2015 Game recap

The Coyotes ended a 14-year skid against their cross-town rival, scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Rockets for the first time since 2001. The teams traded touchdowns through the first 16 minutes of the game, stalemated at 14all, until Goddard’s defense stepped up, causing fumbles on consecutive Roswell offensive plays. The Rockets took advantage of the Coyotes miscues, scoring twice to take a 28-14 lead into halftime. In the second half each team scored, putting the Goddard lead at 35-21 with 10 minutes left in the contest. But the Coyotes kept fighting, as quarterback Dominic Anaya connected with Jacob Miley for a 27-yard touchdown on fourth and 12 to get within a touchdown of the Rockets. The Coyote defense forced a punt, marched down the field for the tying score, then forced another punt before Anaya led his team into the Goddard red zone once again to set up Isaiah De La Rosa’s game-winning touchdown.

AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD

2014 Game recap

In the closest game of the series in over a decade, Goddard again found a way to get a win, its 14th straight against rival the Coyotes. Roswell actually led at the half and even played the entire game without a turnover, but ultimately just couldn’t find a way to move the ball in the second half against the Rockets. Meanwhile, in this year’s matchup, Goddard was offensively led by quarterback Cameron Neff, who accounted for over 300 yards of total offense. Roswell quarterback Dominic Anaya made several big plays on offense for the Coyotes on the night, including scoring the lone touchdown and setting up the only other score, a field goal, with a 25-yard run up the middle.

2013 Game recap

For the second straight year, in what was also now-Roswell head coach Jeff Lynn’s first year at he helm of the Coyotes, Roswell again got a heavy dose of Goddard running back Dean McDaniel. McDaniel, who was again filling in for the injured Cody French, just as he was in the game in 2012, bulldozed his way to 201 yards on the ground to go with a pair of touchdowns on 26 carries. He also caught a 4-yard touchdown in the eighth shutout for Goddard in the Rockets/Coyote series (19th overall). Roswell, who was stymied yet again on offense by the Rockets, was led by J.J. Fiero with 29 rushing yards on eight carries. The Coyotes still made the state playoffs in Lynn’s inaugural season, although they fell at Deming in the first round.

Goddard eventually lost to Farmington in the state championship game.

win capped off an impressive third consecutive undefeated season (33 straight wins) for the Rockets, who eventually went on to win the Class 4A state title over Los Lunas. Dean McDaniel led the way offensively for Goddard that night, piling up 183 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 30 carries. The Rockets’ Anthony Ornelas also reached the century mark on the night with 112 yards on 11 carries with a pair of touchdowns, while also completing 5 of 8 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. Roswell’s Stephen Lucero threw for 95 yards and a touchdown.

2011 Game recap

It was billed as the game that would re-invigorate a rivalry that had lacked appeal and the “it” factor it once carried in New Mexico. It didn’t live up to the hype, though. Goddard scored at least once in every quarter and twice

in the second and third quarters en route to a 41-0 win over archrival Roswell at the Wool Bowl. Sophomore Cody French was thrust into the starting quarterback role right before the game. For the second time in the previous three weeks, it was French who stole the show. He threw for 157 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-11 passing, ran for 76 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries and picked off a pass to set up a Rocket score.

2010 Game recap

They ran, they passed and they scored on defense. The Goddard Rockets essentially did it all, including beating crosstown rival Roswell for the 10th straight time. Goddard ran for 311 yards, passed for 117 yards, and scored 21 points in each half to cruise to a 42-0 win over the Coyotes in front of a Wool Bowl filled to nearly 90% capacity.

2012 Game recap

Roswell’s own coach might have summed it up best after this game when then-head coach Robert Arreola said there was no doubt the opposing Rockets “overmatched” his Coyotes on that particular night. The

Steve Notz Photo Goddard’s Sammy Zaragoza (9) and James Torrez (16) combine to make a tackle.

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AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD

Less of this.

More of this.

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Shawn Naranjo Photo Goddard Rocket senior quarterback, Cameron Neff (No. 12), combined for over 300 yards of total offense as the Rockets defeated the Coyotes for the 13th straight rivalry game.

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more Goddard moments

By J.T. Keith Roswell Daily Record

2013 Retirement of Sam Jernigan A huge moment for Goddard football was the retirement of coaching legend Sam Jernigan. Jernigan coached Goddard for 23 years and appeared in the championship game 14 times, winning six of them. Jernigan is one of the youngest coaches to win six titles. He is tied for fourth all-time in titles won. He has a career record of 212-83.

Steve Notz Photo Goddard’s Cody French delivers a pass during a Rockets’ game with Roswell.

Jernigan came from Fort Sumner after one season. Jernigan was hired

by Goddard coach Jim Hite to be the defensive coordinator in 1988.

In 1989, he was the defensive coordinator and helped led the Rockets to their second Blue Trophy. This is the year when the famous saying “Never give up, never give up, never give up” was born.

The Rockets won their first championship in 1967. Jernigan helped keep that team front and center and paid tribute to them with their photo in the football facility at Goddard. In all, Jernigan has been a part of seven of the eight titles Goddard has won.

Jernigan succeeded Hite as coach in 1990.

He led Goddard to their first championship in 1991. He had a way of motivating kids to go beyond what they thought they could do. Jernigan’s former players keep in touch with him.

Many of the players such as Randy Montoya have gone into coaching and have won Blue Trophies. Montoya won a trophy as a Goddard player.

Montoya has won a trophy as a coach, leading Hagerman to a championship. Among the other players that have gone into coaching is Art Bolanos. Bolanos has helped Roswell win back-to-back Blue Trophies in 2018 and 2019 as defensive coordinator.

Former Goddard quarterback and current Goddard coach Ryan Greene is coaching. Desmond Anaya is coaching in Albuquerque, these are just a few of the players he has impacted as head coach. Goddard football has not appeared in the championship game in the six years since Jernigan retired.

Jernigan was the 2009 New Mexico High School Athletic Association Coach of the Year.

Jernigan continued to learn from other coaches Many people associate Jernigan

Shawn Naranjo Photo Goddard’s Dean McDaniel (21) runs around Roswell’s Jared Perez during a game. McDaniel rushed for 201 yards and had three total TDs to lead the Rockets.

with three yards and a cloud of dust.

Jernigan did whatever it took to win.

When he first started coaching, Jernigan would throw the ball all over the place and try to outscore teams. The game was too fast, and Jernigan thought it would be better to do the opposite of what everyone else was doing. He wanted the perfect balanced offense. An offense that could score quickly and one that could ground it out if need be.

Jernigan came up with the power running game to combat teams in the spread. He wanted to keep his defense fresh and the only way to do that was to keep the ball and dictate tempo.

Often Goddard players had to go both ways, and he did not want the Rockets getting into a run and shoot game every week. Jernigan thought it might wear his team out over the long haul of the season. He decided to punish teams with a powerful running attack. He did this to eat time off

the clock, to rest his players and make sure the game was close at the end.

If he had the talent, he would throw the ball. In the best of both worlds Jernigan liked to wear teams down with the run and then when they would move their defensive backs up close to stop the run, he would have his quarterbacks throw over the top for six points.

Open to new things. Jernigan said in his early years he listened to offensive line coach John Gossett. Gossett talked him into running the counter gap, and Jernigan had no faith in it.

It is a play where they pull the guard and the tackle. Jernigan relented and ran it once during a game with scatback Alvaro “Alfie” Bolanos. The play was so unstoppable that it became a staple in the Goddard offense. He also added the toss to compliment it.

Goddard’s 2012 perfect season Every year Jernigan started out telling his team that they looked good in

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AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD white uniforms. Then he would tell his players have football, will travel, that Goddard football is not afraid to play anyone, anytime.

Jernigan would end up delivering a speech about the history of John Paul Jones. Jones was charged with facing the most powerful armies in his day.

Jernigan said, “We’re in need of brave men and fast ships because we are going to sail in harm’s way.

You cannot be squeamish and play at Goddard.

“We’re going to be at Aztec and get beat by one-point. We’re going to go to Las Cruces and go for two and not get it, and that’s going to break your heart. If you think we are going to blow teams out, you’re probably in the wrong place.

“Our games are going to be within a touchdown, win or lose. Most of the time we will not (be) the best team on the field. Our kids will play until the last second, that’s why losing hurts so bad.”

In 2011, Goddard was undefeated and played for the championship. A missed extra point against Aztec kept them from winning another title. The Rockets would finish the season 13-1.

A year later, kicker Kelsey Cunningham was the hero as he won the championship against Los Lunas with a 35-yard field goal to cap off Goddard’s undefeated season, going 140. “I told our running back to move the ball to the center of the field,” Jernigan said. “I wanted to give our kicker a shot at a field goal. I felt good about it and I wanted to give Kelsey Cunningham a chance to redeem himself.

I believed in him and thought he would make it.”

The 2010 season Goddard coaching legend Sam Jernigan went through the 2010 season undefeated. The Rockets did not have a close game all season. They beat rivals Clovis, Artesia and Roswell handily. Goddard’s defense was stin-

gy, giving up 169 points, and their offense was lethal, scoring 492 points.

Goddard received a bye and beat Valencia, 48-14.

In the semifinal game it was a rematch against Artesia. Goddard felt confident going into the game having beaten Artesia earlier in the season, 39-20 at the Wool Bowl.

Goddard was led on the ground by junior David Anaya with 2,120 yards and 27 TDs, and the passing of current Goddard coach Ryan Greene.

Artesia came into the game with a 7-4 record and Goddard was undefeated at 12-0. Goddard would come up a little short, losing 38-29.

“The thing about the 2010 journey,” Jernigan said, “that group more than any other group I’ve had, hated to lose. I remember seeing guys like Kullen Wooten and David Anaya, they didn’t want to leave the field. That group hated to lose, we needed to catch a break and we didn’t get one.”

That loss started the next two years for that group of players. Jernigan felt like people, parents and teams want to celebrate the wins. But Jernigan stresses there are important moments in life, which he calls the other-side-ofthe-coin moments. Moments when his team come up just short.

He feels like people don’t want to talk about those losses, but those are the moments to treasure. Jernigan feels his players are just as valuable in losing as they were in winning.

Jernigan has lost the championship game eight times.

Jernigan comes back for another year The 2012 undefeated season should have been it for Jernigan. He could have retired from teaching with 25 years. He wasn’t going to come back but his friends the Frenchs and the Weathers asked him to come back and coach another year. “My mind had been made up to retire,” Jernigan Continued page 10

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Goddard continued from page 7 said. “How can you leave on a better note. Undefeated. I couldn’t stay forever and coach everybody’s kid.”

Goddard hires Mike Whalen Jernigan retired at the end of the 2013 season with defensive coordinator Mike Whalen being named head coach. Whalen was a loyal, veteran assistant coach to Jernigan. Jernigan trusted him to run the defense for years as the defensive coordinator for Goddard. Most importantly, he knew Goddard.

“There were eight starters back on offense and defense,” Jernigan said.

“I felt like I left the program in good shape. I’m glad I came back, but the decision to retire was made the year before.”

Whalen picked up where Jernigan left off going 9-3 in his first season, beating Clovis, Piedra Vista, Los Lunas and Hobbs. He continued to the mastery of crosstown rival Roswell.

The Rockets beat Aztec 42-14 in the playoffs, setting up a showdown with Artesia. In a game that went down to the wire, Goddard lost 42-41 in the semifinals. In 2015, his second year, Whalen went 6-6, making it to the semifinals before losing to Centennial.

Goddard hires Chris White It looks like Coach Chris White is in the process of building something.

White took over for Whalen. After getting off to a slow start going 10-12 in his first two years, White has put together back-to-back 9-win seasons.

He has guided the Rockets to semifinal appearances in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Goddard has come up short in losses to Los Lunas in consecutive years to end their seasons.

Goddard’s offense has been dynamic. In the 2018 season, Dalton Bowles ran for over 400 yards against Artesia. Coach White has gone 3-1 against the Bulldogs in the last four years.

Shawn Naranjo Photo Goddard’s Carter Beene catches an early touchdown for the Rockets.

This past year the leader of the team was quarterback Robert Aragon. Aragon was the master of breaking a long run off the quarterback sneak. Goddard had Thunder and Lightning in their rushing attack, led by 1,000-yard rushers Sammy Zaragoza and Rion Lee. Going forward look for Goddard to run behind University of New Mexico commit Larry Luna.

Lee graduated but there will be no shortage of players wanting to tote the ball for Goddard. Look for explosive wide receiver Nate Stone to be a deep threat. Last year, Goddard was able to take advantage of special teams to score.

Once again, the men in Blue on defense will look to be stingy and dominate. Goddard has lost seniors Ray Downs, Kaston Ramage and Hunter Beene among others. This season Mayfield has been added to District 4-5A, so the road to the Blue Trophy has gotten tougher.

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more roswell moments

By J.T. Keith Roswell Daily Record

The hiring of Jeff Lynn Now people see the Coyotes’ flag flying from the fire trucks during games, after games people are honking their horns in support of the Coyotes. Before the 2018-19 championship season, it had been 20 years since their last Blue Trophy. It might not have happened without the hiring of current coach Jeff Lynn. Roswell had been stuck in losing seasons with the occasional 6-6

Steve Notz Photo Roswell’s George Aho looks to make a move during a Coyotes game with Goddard.

record.

It appeared Roswell had turned the corner when fourth-year coach Robert Arreola went 8-5 but was 0-2 in the district. The team ended up making it to the semifinals that year, with hope for an outstanding 2012. It did not happen as the team regressed, going 5-7 and 0-2 in district play.

Winning enough games was not only a problem for Arreola but also for his predecessor Barry Chambers.

Chambers coached the Coyotes from 2004-2007 according to MaxPreps.

The best Chambers could do was 6-6. Both coaches had their struggles with crosstown rival Goddard. During that time, Roswell had trouble scoring points.

Roswell made a change, and from a pool of applicants selected former New Mexico Military Institute head coach Jeff Lynn. Lynn had been chosen to be the head coach of the new football program of Wayland Baptist.

Lynn had been out of football for three years and was doing radio commentary. He knew teams from the area.

Lynn was selling insurance and missed football. Roswell needed a coach that could coach high-stakes football and lead Roswell to the Blue Trophy.

SWAG Culture Look no further than Lynn, raised with a New Mexico Hall of Fame football coach for a dad, David Lynn. The family, including brother Josh, has all coached with their dad, under him, or has helped him. Like bankers that talk money over the dinner table, this family talks football. If the Lynns are not having football practice on Thanksgiving, it means they have not accomplished their goals or made it deep into the playoffs.

Nothing rattles Lynn. It is nothing to see his kids and coaches’ kids running around the RHS facility or on the sidelines before a big game. They will

David Rocha Photo Roswell High School senior Brandon Perez leaps over defenders during a run at the Wool Bowl.

be tossing the football back and forth having fun. Against opponents, Lynn seems to have a counter for whatever teams try to do against his team.

One of the reasons Roswell has made a comeback is Lynn is always calculating two steps ahead of the opposing coach. He has an answer for a score or injury.

Lynn craves the big moments before the game, during the game, and after the game. The thing he has transferred to his team is his poise, confidence, and get-it-done attitude. It is nothing to see his players dancing and laughing before games.

Lynn has overcome injuries to both starting tackles less than a week apart, and managed to plug-and-play en route to a state title. Lynn has his team believing they’re not going to lose, no matter what. His players believe someone will come up with the big play.

Roswell is one of the only teams loose enough to come out in warmups in one set of uniforms, and then change and come back out in all-black

uniforms as they did against Goddard in their season-ending game in 2018.

Last year the team wrapped their helmets against Goddard, and then beat Los Lunas in the championship game.

Until a team can beat Roswell on the field or take away their swag, Roswell will be hard to beat.

2015 season, RHS’ first win over Goddard The Coyotes had gone 6-5 in Lynn’s first season as a coach, making the playoffs. Roswell ended up going 2-8 in his second season. Lynn feels like Roswell played a tougher schedule in his second year. The team rebounded in his third year, going 7-5 and making it to the semifinals, losing to Piedra Vista, 27-16. For Lynn, it showed that Roswell could play a tough schedule and play with the best teams. Lynn feels he would rather have an early-season loss against a tough opponent, that will help the Coyotes get better, so when district games and playoff time come around, his team will be battle-tested.

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AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD The importance of the 2015 season was the last game in the district.

Roswell upset Goddard and won the game 42-35, ending a 14-year losing streak.

For Lynn, the win was confirmation and validation of all the things he had talked about to his team. This win helped Roswell go 2-1 in the district.

The St. Pius X game This was the first big year for Roswell record-wise. The Coyotes were (9-3 and 2-1) in district play.

To prove their previous defeat of Goddard wasn’t a fluke the Coyotes beat them in the season-ending finale 22-14. Roswell again went to the semifinals where they met St. Pius X. St. Pius X had a running back that Roswell had trouble containing in that game.

At this point, Roswell was playing man-on-man football. Roswell couldn’t run the ball and couldn’t stop the run. It was the first time that had happened all year according to Lynn. Roswell’s run-

ning game was adequate, but St. Pius X was as big and physical as Roswell and ended up wearing Roswell down.

After that game, it was the first time Lynn realized his team needed to change and become more diversified.

He knew that if Roswell was going to take the next step and win a Blue Trophy, they would have to play with more speed and also throw the ball. Lynn began tinkering with his offense and conditioning program. Lynn adjusted and still ran power football with Gabriel Najar, but Roswell was also able to throw the ball to keep teams off balance.

2017 Belen game Roswell might have taken a step backward (8-4 record overall and 2-1 in the district).

This was another key to making the Coyotes a championship team. Roswell won a third straight game over Goddard, 33-21. Roswell had to overcome an injury at quarterback, which Continued page 14

Shawn Naranjo Photo Roswell junior slotback Daniel Sosa leans over the goal line to score the game-winning touchdown at the Wool Bowl. The Coyotes defeated the cross-town rival Goddard Rockets for the secondconsecutive season.

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Roswell continued from page 13 limited their ability to throw the ball.

The Coyotes rode all-state fullback Gabe Najar, who was able to get tough yards. If not for a touchdown called back against Belen early in the fourth quarter, the score would have been tied at 20-20 with eight minutes left in the game.

Roswell was not able to stop allstate running back Diego Casillas. He ran for over 250 yards on the day. Roswell moved bigger linemen into the lineup in the third quarter and limited Casillas the rest of the game. Roswell forced a punt and with five minutes left in the game at their own 20-yard line, drove to Belen’s 30-yard line.

With less than two minutes to go in the game on a third-down, Roswell fumbled the ball, ending their chances to meet Artesia for the championship.

This was the third consecutive year the Coyotes had made it to the semifinals. The 27-20 loss was the loss that would put Roswell over the hump. The

David Rocha Photo Roswell senior fullback Gabe Najar celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the Coyotes’ 22-14 victory over the Goddard Rockets at the Wool Bowl.

loss lit a fire into them for next season.

The pieces would be in place for the senior class of 2017. The motto was “unfinished business” in 2018.

Living it up in Lovington Roswell began the season on the road, and it was a game-long party.

Roswell put up incredible numbers on

offense and defense against Lovington, 56-14.

In the Lovington game, Roswell showed a diversified offense with Justin Carrasco running hard between the tackles. There was Jasia Reese with a splash and dash of speed and excitement. The team looked like world-beaters.

In their opening home game against Hobbs they were crushed 42-20.

Not a lot of people had much hope for Roswell after the Hobbs game. The team would have to go on the road and face the No. 1 team in District 4-5A at the time: Los Lunas. Los Lunas was a dangerous team because they had an all-state quarterback in Nick Gaerlan. He could run the ball when things broke down and he could throw on the run. Roswell put Gaerlan out of the game and made life miserable for backup quarterback Kade Benavidez as the Coyotes won, 42-20.

Roswell would win until they faced Artesia on the road at the Bulldog

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red & blue decade 15

AUGUST 2020 • ROSWELL DAILY RECORD Nava.

Nava was able to throw the ball deep and the slant equally as well.

Nava became the master of the bubble screen. Nava was able to make good decisions.

Reese was comfortable running between the tackles as well as getting the ball deep as a receiver. Joel Renteria ran for 1,000 yards. Roswell had a big target in Alonzo Acosta to catch the ball from out wide and from the tight

end position.

Roswell went wire to wire as the No. 1 team to start the season.

Roswell’s biggest challenge of the season was when they faced Los Lunas in the title game. Roswell trailed for the first time all year at halftime. Roswell took the second-half kickoff and went down and scored to take the lead.

Roswell’s defense had to stop a late drive, as the defense won the game for the Coyotes with an interception.

Shawn Naranjo Photo Fans, coaches, players, and cheerleaders from Roswell High celebrate the Coyotes’ first win over the Rockets in 14 years at the Wool Bowl.

Bowl. Roswell and Artesia went back and forth, Artesia scored and appeared to go for the game-tying field goal. Artesia surprised Roswell with a fake extra point and converted to take a 36-35 lead. Roswell went down to the end of the field and was forced into a fourth and seven with time running out. Roswell ended up failing to convert on fourth down.

Roswell would rebound and not lose again. Roswell beat Goddard for the fourth year in a row, in a game for the ages, 24-21 in the Wool Bowl.

Roswell would end up facing Artesia in the Wool Bowl in the semifinal game. Artesia had tied the game at 42-42 with 35 seconds left. Roswell would score on two plays that will live in Coyotes’ lore forever. Coyotes’ quarterback Ethan Valenzuela threw two passes to Dylan Tucker and he scored with no time left on the clock. It was the first victory over Artesia for Lynn in six seasons, 48-42.

Roswell would go on to dominate Los Lunas to win their first champion-

ship in 20 years, 42-6. Roswell would beat two No. 1-ranked teams that year, Los Lunas and Goddard.

Depth = championship (2019) Roswell had enough talent on both sides of the ball. The two toughest games Roswell played were against Goddard and Los Lunas. Roswell came into the last game ranked the No. 1 team as they had been all season.

Goddard was the No. 2 team in the state. This game was not the beauty of the 2018 rivalry game, it was an ugly, flag-throwing game. Roswell ending up on top, 24-14, on a late field goal by Joel Sanchez.

At the start of the season, Roswell had to replace 10 starters on defense.

No one was expecting the Coyotes to set scoring records and have the shootout offense that they did. The Coyotes were more explosive on offense than at any time in Lynn’s regime. Lynn answered Coyote Nation on who would replace steady Ethan Valenzuela as quarterback with the athletic Dominic

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