1. The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado Tuesday, September 16, 2014 Page 3 Sports HOEHNE FOOTBALL
By Doc Leonetti
Correspondent
The Chronicle News
The Hoehne Farmers, as lethargic in the
first half as an institutionalized catatonic,
with fumbles and too many mental mistakes,
survived an 8-8 tie at intermission against the
Fowler Grizzlies at Jasper Butero Field on
a cold and drizzly evening last Friday. The
Farmers stumbled and bumbled through the
first two quarters with four lost fumbles and
a bushel of mental mistakes. But that was the
first half. The second half was a whole differ-ent
matter.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first
half,” said Coach Gabe Dasko, who’s Farm-ers
rallied in the final two stanzas to down the
feisty Grizzlies 34-8. “We had too many penal-ties,
too many fumbles, and too many mental
mistakes. But you’re going to get that with
young kids. And we didn’t prepare ourselves
to play mentally. We have to grow up mental-ly
and get ready to play every game. We didn’t
play too badly overall, but mistakes really
hurt us. We grew up somewhat last week, and
with this game. We had some good practices.
But we’re young. At times, we had four and
five sophomores on the field.”
Defensively, the Farmers contained the
Grizzlies exceptionally well. Sophomore line-backer
Colton Grable was a force with three
tackles, three assists, and a fumble recovery.
Seth Silver contributed with six tackles and
two assists. Sophomore Hunter Robins was a
monster with 10 tackles and four assists.
“Near the end of the second quarter we
could see that they were tiring and realized
that we were getting to them,” said Grable,
playing All-State caliber football on both sides
of the football for the Farmers. “By the time
the second quarter was over could see that
they were wearing down. We could see then
that we could come back and focus on that.
We got more aggressive and made it work. We
had a tough going in the beginning. We made
some mental errors and we weren’t capital-izing
on what the defense was giving us. But
when we got it going, we took it to them and
came out with a good victory. It’s not always
pretty, but we just have to get the job done
when the opportunity comes.”
The second half offense, a morph from Je-kyll
to Hyde, ended any thoughts of a Grizzlies
victory. Senior Tyler Moltrer again led the
offense with 236 yards on 18 carries and three
touchdowns. Silver added another 80 yards
and a touchdown.
“In the second half, we came out and played
some better football,” explained Dasko. “We
beat them up in the last two quarters. Our kids
took it to them. We intercepted them, drove
the football, and scored on a nine-play drive. I
thought we didn’t do too badly. Looking at the
film, we saw some good things. Hazlitt (Bran-don)
really blocked well in second half. All
the kids played decently in the final half. We
didn’t kill ourselves. It was a good team effort.
There are signs that our kids are growing up,
but we have to get better each week. We have
to try to make them better every day. Young
kids will make mistakes, so that is what we
have to expect.”
What was it coach, that you emphasized in
the locker room at half time after a mistake
riddled start for your frolicking Farmers?
“We told them, ‘you’re killing yourselves,’
and they responded,” concluded Dasko. “They
respond or they lose the game. You can’t keep
doing that. It was a team effort in the second
half. There are signs that our kids are grow-ing
up, but we have to get better each week.
We have to try to make them better every day.
Youth will do that, so that is what we have to
expect.”
Hoehne, 2-1, will face Cripple Creek at
home on Friday for their first conference
game of the young season. Kickoff is 7:00 p.m.
—
Hoehne 0 8 14 12 — 34
Fowler 0 8 0 0 — 8
Farmers trounce Grizzlies
in non-conference game
Photo courtesy of Brett Plant
Running back Tyler Moltrer and tight end Jacob Elsberry attack the Fowler defense early in the first
half at Jasper Butero Field last Friday. Hoehne beat Fowler 34-8.
TSJC SOCCER Men’s Soccer 4-0
TSJC GOLF & VOLLEYBALL
Trojans distance
field at MCC Invite
By Mike Salbato
Special to The Chronicle-News
The Trojan golf team ran away from the
field at the first Region IX tournament of the
2014-2015 season, finishing with a 44 stroke vic-tory
over second place Eastern Wyoming last
week. Trinidad shot a combined 622 on the
Heritage Hills golf course in McCook, Nebras-ka,
a course that Coach Rich Holden called the
toughest in the region.
Individually six Trojan golfers finished in
the top 10. Frazer Promfret shot a 152 to claim
the tourney title edging out teammates Justin
Frederick (154) and Jake Ice (155). All three
shot identical scores of 77 in a rain drenched
second round. In the tournament each school
is allowed only five golfers leaving TSJC with
two others playing as individuals. Promfret
was the seventh ranked Trojan golfer after
two weeks of qualifying so his scores did not
even count into the overall team total. His two
great rounds will ensure him a spot in the top
five of the competitive team roster for the next
tournament.
“Any time your seventh man can win a
tournament it gives the team a great deal
of confidence,” commented Coach Holden.
“Overall we had been playing better in quali-fying.
This speaks highly of the team when
you don’t play your best game and you can
still win a region meet.”
to start season
By Mike Salbato
Special to The Chronicle-News
The Trojan Men’s soccer team started the
year with a flourish of goals and an impres-sive
4-0 record. Led by sophomore captain
Oscar Rivero they picked up a pair of hard
fought road wins early and then opened their
home schedule last weekend against Region
IX opponents Northeastern Junior College
and Central Community College. The Trojans
heated up the nets at Central Park outscoring
their opponents 13-2.
On Friday evening it was NJC that struck
first ten minutes in when the Plainsmen
swiped a pass and Carlos Dominguez hit a
long, looping shot from just outside the cen-ter
circle, momentarily stunning the crowd
and putting Northeastern up 1-0. Trinidad
responded quickly, knotting it up when Rive-ro
headed in a perfect corner kick. It looked
like the Plainsmen would reclaim the lead
a minute later on a penalty kick but Trojan
goalkeeper Pedro Veiga Perez dove left and
knocked the ball away denying the chance. Af-ter
that it was all Trojans. At the 40th minute
Rivero worked the ball down field aided by a
pair of nice passes from Alan Pena and Josue
Lujan. Rivero fed it across the middle of the
box and Saad Hissien took it out of the air and
planted it into the upper right corner of the
net to put the Trojans up to stay at 2-1.
TSJC struck early with a pair of goals in
the first five minutes of the second half. Ri-cardo
Zacarias swiped the ball and worked it
past the goalie to make it 3-1. Wesley Padgett
then used his quickness to take the ball right
into the box where he finessed a shot into the
net. Zacarias scored again at the 62nd minute
and then Alexsa Blagojevic put TSJC up 6-1
by working it down the right side and blast-ing
a shot into the upper left corner of the net.
Shawn Rusk scored on a Trojan penalty kick
to make it 7-1 at the 85th minute. Late goals for
each team would round out the scoring leav-ing
the final at 8-2.
Against the Raiders from Central CC in
Nebraska it was Rusk who got the scoring go-ing
cleaning up a ball that was free in the box
and drilling it into the back of the net. Zacar-ias
then put the Trojans up 2-0 when he hit a
rocket from the top of the box on a ball that
was punched out by the Central keeper. Mid-way
through the half Padgett broke free right
down the middle of the pitch and forced the
ball past the goalie into the net. The final goal
of the first half came late when Brayan Molina
took a free kick from the left side and looped it
to the back post where Julian Padilla was wait-ing
to knock it into the back of the net. In the
second half Rivero ended the scoring for the
weekend just like he started it with a header in
the box. The Trojans won 5-0 and are now 2-0
in Region play.
This week Trinidad will have a long road
trip to snowy Wyoming where they will face
Region IX opponents Sheridan and Northwest
on Friday and Saturday. They will return
home for a big week of games including a con-test
with No. 20 ranked Otero on Wednesday
evening. The game is booster club apprecia-tion
night and will feature free Wendy’s ham-burgers
for as long as they last, supplied by the
Trojan Booster club. The Women’s game starts
at 5 p.m. followed by the men under the lights.
Photos courtesy of Mike Salbabo
Trojan Captain Oscar Rivero heads the ball into the net early in the Trojans 8-2 win over NJC Friday
evening at Central Park (above). (Above left) Rivero works the ball out of the defensive end against
Central CC on Saturday afternoon.
Trojan Volleyball
wins sixth straight
By Mike Salbato
Special to The Chronicle-News
The Trojan volleyball squad has been on
a roll winning eight of their last ten and six
straight overall. The streak includes Tuesday
night’s three-set win over Colorado Christian
JV in the Lady Trojans home opener. The JV
team was no match for the Trojans who took
the match by scores of 25-14, 25-8 and 25-14.
Sophomores Leia Zagone and Taylor Man-sfield
led the attack against the Cougars com-bining
for 16 of the Trojans 33 kills. Jennifer
Morris had 15 assists, and Rylee Abert con-tributed
six blocks.
Statistically for the Trojans on the season
Zagone, Mansfield and freshman Nicole God-dard
all have over 89 kills. Morris and Jordin
Hanley have handled a majority of the setting
duties with 169 and 167 assists respectively. Li-bero
McKinley Romp has led the team in digs
with 196 and service aces with 26, a stat which
currently has her ranked fourth in the na-tion.
Abert is seventh in the nation in blocks
with 56. The team overall is currently ranked
fourth nationally in blocks.
“We have a solid group of athletes this
year”, commented Coach Ellen McGill. “We
have a solid group of returners and a good
group of freshman who are stepping up for
us. I am excited that we have a lot of depth on
the team this year. I think we are finally start-ing
to gel as a unit on the floor and find our
groove. We have been focused on our offensive
execution and competing on every play. It’s
exciting to get that first win at home, but we
need to stay hungry for more.”
This weekend the Trojans will play in
their most difficult tournament so far when
they travel to Sterling to face Sheridan (7-3),
Northeast (5-4), North Platte (7-4) and Laramie
County (14-0). The Trojans will then return for
a match on Tuesday evening, September 16,
against Air Force Prep at 4 p.m.
See event action pictures
continued on Page 6 ...

2. Sports PRIMERO FOOTBALL & CToSJmCm VuOnLiLtEyYBALL
Dogs drop third in
a row; optimism
still remains high
Page 6 Tuesday, September 16, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado
Photos by Matt Young
Leia Zagone, above, has provided a spark for the Trojans early in the 2014 season with 94 kills, 25
blocks and 108 digs. Trojan sophomores, and former Rye Thunderbolts, Taylor Mansfield (below
left) and Rylee Abert have helped shut down teams at the net.
By Adam Sperandio
The Chronicle-News
It has not been the start to the season that
first-year Primero head coach Greg Guzzo
had in mind when he took over a team that
went 4-5 last year and brought back returning
starters such as Southwest Conference MVP
James Lujan and over half of a team that saw
quite a bit of success on both sides of the ball.
The Dogs were picked by many as the fa-vorite
to contend for the
conference title and make
a deep run in the playoffs,
however that just hasn’t
been the case. It has been
a slow, painful start for
the team who dropped
their third straight game
to the Walsh Eagles on
Friday evening by a final
score of 46-6.
“It really wasn’t that
bad, We were right there
with them in the first half,
we controlled the line of
scrimmage really well,
we went into halftime
down by six and we were
thinking we were right in it,” lamented head
coach Gregg Guzzo. “Then the wheels fell off
in the third and fourth quarter. We made a lot
of mental mistakes and it killed us, we turned
the ball over, we had six fumbles and when
you do that you can’t expect to win the ball
game. But we did really well in the first half.
We played a team that runs a real offense and
the sweep killed us. That has been our Kryp-tonite
on defense all year, they would run a
sweep and get negative nine yards and run the
same sweep the next play and get 15 yards. We
have guys making mental mistakes and tak-ing
plays off and we can’t have that,” he said.
The Dogs led 6-0 after the end of the first
and went into halftime trailing the No. 6 team
in the state 12-6. After holding the Eagles on
fourth and goal from the Walsh nine-yard line
to open the second half, the Dogs offense took
the field with the momentum and mentality
that they were in the driver’s seat, however
that was when things fell apart and the ship
started sinking.
The dogs turned the ball over on their next
possession inside Walsh territory, setting up
excellent field position for the Eagles to begin
their onslaught. And they laid it on thick, put-ting
up 34 unanswered points in the second
half.
“When the score hit 20-6, that was when the
wheels fell off,” said Guzzo. “We were right
there with them, we take the lead with a few
seconds left in the first, we go into halftime
down by six, and we are thinking we have
them on the ropes, we just killed ourselves.
We just stopped them on fourth and goal and
we fumble the next play. It’s mental mistakes,
we have done it all season so far. I can’t say
it’s frustrating, because we have played some
good teams. Walsh, Antonito and Mountain
Valley are some pretty good programs, but so
are we and we need to start playing like it, we
have to fix it.”
James Lujan and Wyatt Torres combined
for over 250 yards of total offense on the night.
However, dropped passes, fumbles and a non-existent
running game held the Dogs out of
the end zone. “It’s all about running the ball,
from 6-man football all the way up the chain to
the pros. If you can’t run the
ball, you are screwed, plain
and simple,” said Guzzo. The
tandem of Lujan and Torres
has been the shining light
for Guzzo and the Primero
football team so far this sea-son
and has been credited as
keeping the overall attitude
in the locker room positive
and upbeat, despite sitting
with an 0-3 record. “I can’t
ask anymore of James and
Wyatt. They have stepped up
and have gone above and be-yond
what I have asked them.
They are excellent leaders,”
said Guzzo. “We need other
guys to step up and play hard. Joey Archuletta
has been a monster on the line, and we have
had a few other guys step up in some places,
but we need to work on a few things,” he said.
Primero hits the road to take on the Co-topaxi
Pirates on Saturday, September 20 at
2 p.m. The defending Southwest Conference
Champions come into the contest with a 2-1 re-cord
after being blown out by Mountain Val-ley
71-27 last weekend.
Primero will be back at home on Septem-ber
26 to take take on the La Veta Redskins be-fore
another two game road trip takes them to
Cheraw on October 3 and Antonito on October
11. The Dogs will have an opportunity to exact
revenge on a Trojan team who defeated them
51-47 in the first game of the season. They
wrap up their regular season at home against
Aguilar on October 18.
“We are going into Cotopaxi with the same
game plan we have all season, we just need to
execute,” said Guzzo. “We need to get a win
to get everybody’s confidence up and to buy
into the system. We are sitting at 0-3 and 0-1 in
the league. We can still come out of this pretty
good. We win out and we are right back in the
drivers seat,” he finished.
... Continued from Page 3
Tim Keller / The Chronicle-News
Down and dirty does it . . .
Raton Mud Bogs was a mucky affair Saturday as dozens of entrants came from hundreds of miles
around to earn season points and cash prizes in five divisions. “Rampage,” above, driven by Randy
from Trinidad was a hard-digging contender. Winners from the Raton Rodeo Grounds event are
headed to the state championships in Belen, New Mexico, September 27.
Steve Block / The Chronicle-News
New business hosts Grand Opening
The new Tractor Supply Company store in South Raton, New Mexico, is now open for business at
the intersection of South Second Street and York Canyon Road.