1. Page 6 Tuesday, September 23, 2014 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado SPORTS
TRINIDAD FOOTBALL
Miners’ comeback
downs Alamosa
By Doc Leonetti
Correspondent
The Chronicle News
The Miners, on the road last Friday eve-ning,
morphed from being a team of total leth-argy
in an uninspired early effort to a team
that sparked a second half comeback; impos-ing
an ill will on the Alamosa Maroons.
On the road, the feisty Miners proved they
have a ton of grit, and maybe just a little bit
more. With a Frankenstein like transforma-tion,
Trinidad, held scoreless in the first half,
blasted the Maroons with 21 points in the
third period, and then scored the winning
touchdown on a gallop by Vance Ferrarro in
the final quarter to notch their third win of
the season, 27-21.
“We finally started playing some football
in the second half,” said Coach Randy Be-gano.
“We had a wakeup call. We played the
same way in the first half as we did against
Rye. Our defense was out of position and was
not wrapping up their tackles. In the second
half we came out hard at the line of scrim-mage.
We forced them to fumble the ball
several times to stop their drives. We finally
started to play some good defensive football.
Coming back like that, our kids showed a lot
of character. We grew up a lot in that game.
This one should help our kid’s confidence go-ing
into the big game Friday.”
Four Miners contributed touchdowns.
Ethan Duran carried the ball 20 times for 145
yards and a four-yard TD. Antonio Rivera ran
seven times for 84 more yards and a 29-yard
TD. And Thomas Bowman rambled 27 yards
for a touchdown run in the critical third
quarter. The quick scat back added a run for
a two-point conversion. Sophomore quarter-back,
Vance Ferraro, rumbled six yards in
the final quarter for the winning touchdown
with just three minutes remaining to seal the
victory. The versatile Ferraro embellished
his resume with 29 rushing yards on nine
carries and was three-for-five passing for
42 more.
“We’ll start conference play this week
against Florence,” added Begano, whose
Miners will face the No. 2 ranked Huskies at
home on Friday. “They’re tough, and they
are a well coached team. We’ll have to come
out and play good football again. We can’t just
play half the game. We have to come out and
play solid football all four quarters.”
The Miners, 3-1 on the season, will kickoff
against Florence in their first Tri-Peaks East
Conference game at 7 p.m.
“We came out and got it together in the sec-ond
half,” explained assistant coach Frank
Falsetto. “We came out with a totally differ-ent
attitude in the final two periods. Randy
made a heck of an adjustment speech at half
time and the kids responded. They came out
for the kickoff and set the tone. Alamosa at-tempted
a fourth down play in their own ter-ritory
and we stopped them. We came back
and scored two touchdowns in four minutes.
Justin Maldonado had a big hit on the open-ing
kickoff that stopped them cold. That play
turned it around. It set the tone for the second
half. I was happy to see the kids respond.
Sometimes they don’t, but they did last Fri-day.
Alamosa is really a good team. We’re
looking forward to Florence now. They lost to
Lewis-Palmer last week, so they’ll be ready.”
With the exception of a collarbone in-jury
to wide receiver/defensive back Izzy
Manzanares, that will sideline him for six
to eight weeks, the Miners escaped this one
unscathed. “It was a big win for us,” said Fer-raro.
“I’m real proud of my team. I feel good
that we could pull it together. It was real emo-tional
for us to come back in the second half.
It’s too bad we lost Izzy, but we’ll work hard
at keeping it all together. I wouldn’t want
to have another team. They really got it go-ing.
Now we have to get ready for Florence.
We just have to stay focused and get better.
We’ll work hard all week in practice. We’ll do
the best we can to get ready. I love my team.
I wouldn’t be able to do anything without
them. They’re amazing. They came out and
gave it their best shot, and we won.”
—
Trinidad 0 0 21 6 — 27
Alamosa 0 13 0 8 — 21
WILDCAT FOOTBALL
Aguilar wraps up
homecoming with
loss against Cheraw
By Adam Sperandio
The Chronicle-news
The Aguilar Wildcats wrapped up their
homecoming week by playing host to the
Cheraw Wolverines Saturday afternoon in a
non-conference matchup that saw Aguilar on
the losing side by a final score of 62-6.
The Wolverines scored early and often
on the Cats, putting up 34 points in the first
quarter and chewing up over 350 yards of to-tal
offense en route to their highest scoring
output and second win of the season.
The bright spot for the Cats came from
running back Richard Chacon. The fresh-man
toted the rock 10 times for 58 yards in
the contest, including a 25-yard touchdown
run that put Aguilar on the board for the first
time all season. He also chipped in with sev-en
tackles defensively.
While the loss may sit uneasy in the stom-achs
of some, just having a program back in
Aguilar and being able to celebrate home-coming
is a victory in itself, one Aguilar Su-perintendent
Dr. Stacy Houser says can be
seen in the overwhelming community sup-port
and the strong sense of pride returning
to the halls of Aguilar High School.
“It’s important to have a program because
it brings positive impact to the school and the
community,” Houser said. “It was important
to get people excited and engaged. Homecom-ing
was a great example. We had great com-munity
support with the parade Thursday,
more than we have had in the last couple of
years; we had the bonfire for the volleyball
and football teams and we had really good
support from the kids and the community
there as well. It has really strengthened the
academic attitude, especially the boys in the
ninth and tenth grade as well. They are al-ways
working hard in the classroom doing
whatever they can to stay eligible.”
The loss brings the Wildcats record to 0-4
on the season with three games left on their
schedule. A bye this week will give Aguilar
a couple of weeks to prepare for their next
matchup against Southwest Conference foe,
the La Veta Redskins on October 3.
Adam Sperandio / The Chronicle-News
Aguilar Wildcat running back Richard Chacon breaks loose of a Cheraw tackle Saturday after-noon
in Aguilar. Chacon rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown, however it wouldn’t be enough as
Cheraw easily defeated Aguilar 62-6.
Lady Trojans getting
ready for Regional play
By Mike Salbato
Correspondent
The Chronicle-News
The Lady Trojan volleyball team is off to
its best start in years as they moved to 11-6
after making quick work of Air Force Prep
last Tuesday evening. The Huskies took the
Trojans to four sets earlier this season, when
the two teams faced off in La Junta, but this
time it was all TSJC. Trinidad won by scores
of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-20.
Eighteen Trojan players saw action in the
contest with everyone putting up good statis-tical
numbers. Overall, Nikita Nelson led the
way with 12 kills in the contest and McKin-ley
Romp finished with 13 digs. Freshmen
setters Emmy Gazaway and Jordin Hanley
combined for 25 assists, and Mariah Michael,
Rachel Pirtle and Madison Scheppler each
had three blocks.
“It’s great to get a win at home,” com-mented
Coach Ellen McGill. “It was a great
team win for us. We played well together and
showed a lot of depth within our team.”
Last weekend the Lady Trojans were in
Sterling, Colorado for the 31st Annual Pizza
Hut Invitational. The long running tourna-ment
showcases many of the powerhouse
teams in the Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas
and Nebraska areas. Trinidad went 2-2 on
the weekend, defeating Sheridan College
and Laramie County CC but falling to North
Platte CC and Northeast CC.
Sophomore Taylor Mansfield was named
to the All-Tournament
team for her outstand-ing
play. She had 26
kills and 11 blocks over
the two-day event.
“Taylor has been a
tremendous leader
for us this year,” said
McGill. “She is very
deserving of the All-
Tournament award.
She has worked hard
in the off-season and
this season, so she
could step up for the
team in a big way. We
are proud of her.”
The Lady Trojans
play a tri-match this
weekend before start-ing
up Region IX play
with a northern swing
the following week-end.
They will start
in McCook, Nebraska
on Thursday facing off
with the 4-14 Indians.
On Friday, they will
return to Sterling to
face 7-8 Northeastern
Junior College and
then on Saturday they
will be in Scottsbluff,
Nebraska to face No.
5 Western Nebraska
(9-3). The team doesn’t
return for a home
game until October
9 when they face Mc-
Cook.
TSJC VOLLEYBALL
Photos courtesy Matt Young / TSJC
Taylor Mansfield, at top, was recently selected to the Pizza Hut Invita-tional
All-Tournament team. Jennifer Morris, above, (3) puts the ball up
high for Hannah Reynolds (12) during the Trojans three-set win over the
Huskies last Tuesday night.