Week 10 Sights and Sounds: Volcano Vista-Cleveland and More

<p><strong>RIO RANCHO</strong> – Cleveland has been virtually unstoppable since a Week 1 loss to Centennial. Now the only thing separating the Storm from another district championship is a Week 11 victory over crosstown rival Rio Rancho at Lightning Bolt Stadium.</p>   <p>Junior quarterback <strong>Jordan Hatch</strong> completed 15-of-22 passes for 249 yards and dynamic junior wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='851903' first='Jacob' last='Maldonado']</strong> caught 3 touchdown passes among his 6 receptions (for 138 yards) as Cleveland (8-1, 4-0) dominated Volcano Vista, 38-3, Friday night and continue to control their destiny.</p>   <p>If the Storm beat Rio Rancho, they'll claim the outright District 6A-1 title and likely no worse than the No. 3 seed for the Class 6A playoffs. Cleveland will definitely be rooting for Las Cruces to knock off Centennial in Week 11's winner-take-all District 6A-3 championship game. Centennial is currently ranked No. 2 behind La Cueva in Class 6A by MaxPreps.</p>   <p>After coming up empty on a 6-1/2 minute drive on its first possession of the game, Cleveland converted a 4<sup>th</sup>-and-3 from the VV 11 before RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1595801' first='Isaiah' last='Yannis']</strong> rushed 7 yards for the game's first score to give Cleveland a 7-0 lead with just under 11 minutes left in the second quarter.</p>   <p>Volcano Vista drove deep into Cleveland territory on its next drive. Cleveland intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned the ball 90+ yards inside the VV 10-yard line but a penalty nullified the return. The Storm offense started at its own 2.</p>   <p>Volcano Vista intercepted a Hatch pass to give the Hawks great field possession. But the Storm returned the favor - and then some – when Cleveland DB <strong>Micah Huffman</strong> intercepted an ill-advised pass towards the right sideline and raced 75-yards for a Pick-6 TD to give the Storm a 14-0 lead with 4-1/2 minutes left in the second quarter.</p>   <p>Volcano Vista again drove deep into Cleveland territory but again the Storm came up with a huge turnover. This time, a Storm defender forced a fumble and Cleveland recovered. The Storm quickly drove down the field and scored on a trick play passing TD from Hatch to a wide open Maldonado with just over a minute left in the first half.</p>   <p>Cleveland led, 21-0, at halftime.</p>   <p>The Storm kicked off to begin the second half but benefitted from a Volcano Vista mistake and recovered the ball at the VV 19. Cleveland converted the mistake into a short field goal for a 24-0 lead with 9 minutes left in the third quarter.</p>   <p>The Hatch-Maldonado connection worked again for a 25-yard TD pass late in the third quarter to give Cleveland a 31-0 lead going into the fourth. When Hatch and Maldonado hooked up for a third time on the first play of the fourth quarter, Cleveland led, 38-0, guaranteeing a running clock.</p>   <p>Maldonado, playing his first season of varsity football after transferring to Cleveland before the 2023 season, possesses excellent speed, soft hands and excellent leaping ability that allows him to snag passes at the highest point.  </p>   <p>The 35+ point margin remained the entire fourth quarter as Volcano Vista managed just a 40-yard field goal to avoid the shutout and snap Cleveland's three-game shutout streak. It was the first points allowed by Cleveland since Sept. 27 at El Paso (TX) Pebble Hills.</p>   <p>Cleveland limited Volcano Vista to 246 total yards, including just 80 yards on 27 rushing attempts. Senior DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1118057' first='AJ' last='Manning']</strong> led the Storm defense with 8 tackles. </p>   <p><strong>VIDEO 1: Team Runouts</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/HlMR36Zx43U?si=lqq38gqFcp-BhUaT </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Early to Mid First Quarter</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/g7QRZ_1HjDc?si=dvB-T535xspHi-Mx </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 3: Late First Quarter</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/I2SJUUFNl80?si=xJagjR62cPbE0s0l </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 4: Early Second Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/G609-iGnjE4?si=h9HqfkZJxobLjftB </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 5: Second Quarter</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/hIkuUvMdfA0?si=Bq4VFfLFyuoLjAE9 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 6: Second Quarter (Cleveland Pick-6 TD)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/7qFtM6QjSdM?si=Xm1ChA0HQ4KrHLhU </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 7: Late Second Quarter (Cleveland Passing TD)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/zVeCI8mU78E?si=5xPgDVYl86C88cjg </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 8: Third Quarter (Cleveland FG)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/_nQRHG6rMIU?si=K5Jy6woUaA-_Wwl8 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 9: Late Third Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/2TmeW7hNSn0?si=8q97k9ypwI3Cusfv </div></figure>   <p><strong>ADDITIONAL VIDEOS (Courtesy NMAA)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/PNikuB3Sgag?si=ELq_krPJxAdOda7n </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/z-ZJVXyp-Lo?si=d1wQPsXQT7ihx39c </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/8vS1OsJXkkQ?si=Jayp3K6b0UjABYkr </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/W_B2v9qq7pk?si=I7TCOTeZ8BRGDjcq </div></figure>   <p> </p>

RIO RANCHO – Cleveland has been virtually unstoppable since a Week 1 loss to Centennial. Now the only thing separating the Storm from another district championship is a Week 11 victory over crosstown rival Rio Rancho at Lightning Bolt Stadium.