7×7 Recap/Video: Artesia Wins ENMU Tourney In Thrilling Final

An interception in the end zone on the game’s final play allowed Artesia to pull out a thrilling 24-21 victory over Santa Fe in the championship game of the annual Eastern New Mexico University 7-on-7 tournament at Greyhound Stadium in Portales, NM. Artesia swept both the varsity and JV titles. “I’m very excited about where our team is after just a few weeks with the new coaches,” Artesia head coach Jeremy Maupin told Prep Redzone New Mexico as his team celebrated the title. “I’m from Artesia. I played there and coached there. We’re going to do a lot of the same things on offense with some different flair added in from our coaching staff.” Senior southpaw quarterback <strong>Nathan Taylor</strong> threw four TD passes to spark the Bulldogs offense against the Demons. Taylor, an outstanding baseball player as well, possesses  a strong arm and is very accurate on deep throws. “Coach Maupin is coaching us up well,” Taylor told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “We’re trusting his process. The excitement is high in Artesia with the new coaching staff. We’ve been down the past couple of years, but Coach Maupin has brought a lot of energy. We have some receivers that are pretty good.” Behind a strong defensive effort, Santa Fe edged Clovis, 7-6, in the semifinals to advance to the championship game, while Artesia downed Roswell, 28-12. “We came out and battled,” Santa Fe head coach Andrew Martinez told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “We had a little swag today. It was nice to see our guys compete. We know the type of athletes we’re going to face when we come over here. We’re going back to the weight room this week and rest up a little bit for the week after that.” Preseason camp for New Mexico teams begins Aug. 2. Week 1 of the 2021 regular season is set for Aug. 19-21. Along with Taylor, the tourney’s best player was Santa Fe’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"]</strong>. Days after blazing the 40 in 4.49 seconds at ENMU’s camp in Rio Rancho, Mora was all over the field on Friday, both offensively and defensively. “Martell is a flat out competitor,” Martinez said. “He gives 100 percent every singe play. By the end of the last game, he was pretty spent. We love Martell.” https://youtu.be/cxJxgQYpw9k https://youtu.be/ZjIlCdH8-B0 https://youtu.be/uXheuzbPBv4 https://youtu.be/4tOw6jiOBgk https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1418792953917624322