Sights and Sounds: City of Vision Rivalry Game (Recap and Video)

<p>RIO RANCHO – Few teams are heading into the Class 6A playoffs with more momentum than the Cleveland Storm.</p>   <p>Cleveland scored three touchdowns in the final 13 minutes of the first half, turning a close game into a lopsided affair, and rolled to a 43-12 victory over rival Rio Rancho at Lightning Bolt Stadium in the annual City of Vision game. This year's game was also part of the Great American Rivalry Series, recognized as one of the best high school football rivalries in the country.</p>   <p>By soundly besting the Rams, Cleveland secured a top three seed for the Class 6A playoffs. La Cueva probably clinched the No. 1 seed with Thursday's mercy-rule win over Albuquerque High, while Centennial will likely be the No. 2 seed after beating city rival Las Cruces, 42-24, at Field of Dreams.</p>   <p>If so, Cleveland will be the No. 3 seed with Volcano Vista, 49-0 winners over Cibola, the No. 4 seed. The top four seeds receive first-round byes and jump back into action the weekend of Nov. 8-9 in the quarterfinals.</p>   <p>Cleveland relied on a punishing ground game to get the win. The Storm rushed for 274 yards on 33 carries, averaging over 8 yards per carry. Senior RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1595801' first='Isaiah' last='Yannis']</strong> led the way with 161 yards and 2 TD on 20 carries, combining with junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600936' first='Samuel' last='Bustillos']</strong> (7 carries for 87 yards) for 248 yards and 4 TD on 27 carries.</p>   <p>Yannis earned MVP honors. QB <strong>Jordan Hatch</strong> completed 12-of-19 passes for 187 yards and 1 TD.</p>   <p>Cleveland took the opening kickoff and drove down the field to the 1-yard line, when 6-foot-5, 205-pound <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1230420' first='Elijah' last='Richards']</strong> powered over for the TD on his only carry of the game. The Storm elected to go for two after a penalty on Rio Rancho and they converted for an 8-0 led. The key play in the drive was a long pass from Hatch to talented junior WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='851903' first='Jacob' last='Maldonado']</strong>.</p>   <p>Rio Ranch responded  with an 80-yard scoring drive capped by a 10-yard TD pass from QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='613752' first='JJ' last='Arellano']</strong> to WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266408' first='Parker' last='Miller']</strong> in the middle of the end zone. The Rams went for two but were stopped.</p>   <p>The complexion of the game changed late in the first quarter. Rio Rancho recovered a fumble at the Cleveland 29 but the Storm defense held firm and forced a turnover on downs. Moments later, Bustillos raced 50 yards for a TD down the right side to give Cleveland a 15-6 lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter. The score jumpstarted a 35-point surge by the Storm  that lifted them to a 43-6 lead by the end of the third quarter.</p>   <p>Cleveland added two more TDs in the second quarter for a 29-6 halftime lead.</p>   <p> After forcing a punt by Rio Rancho, Cleveland drove 60+ yards for its third TD of the game on a 16-yard pass from Hatch to WR <strong>Angel Gallegos</strong> (4 receptions for 74 yards), who caught his third TD pass of the season.</p>   <p>The Cleveland defense forced another punt from Rio Rancho and the offense drove for a 1-yard TD run by Yannis with 1:05 left in 1Q. The key play was a fake punt by the Storm that picked up enough yardage for a first down in Rams territory.</p>   <p>Cleveland expanded the lead to 36-6 early in the third quarter when DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1118057' first='AJ' last='Manning']</strong> recovered a Rio Rancho fumble and Yannis scored on a 16-yard run shortly thereafter.</p>   <p>The Storm forced another Rio Racho turnover when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599835' first='Riley' last='Haussler']</strong> intercepted a Rams pass near midfield. Bustillos capped the ensuing drive with  5-yard TD run to give Cleveland a 43-6 lead late in the third quarter, prompting a running clock.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266408' first='Parker' last='Miller']</strong> caught a 40+ yard TD pass for Rio Rancho in the fourth quarter but that was all the Rams offense could muster.</p>   <p>Rio Rancho awaits Sunday morning's bracket reveal show to see where they are seeded for the 6A playoffs. Most likely, they'll be seeded No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 and host a first-round playoff game next weekend.    </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/GVMgOX75WHQ?si=ClI1l5FaZjY8EXCV </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 2: First 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/ODEDl_rarQc?si=0nra2CRGlxcJYdZB </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 3: First Quarter (Rio Rancho 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/aMtKxy8YLbo?si=84hhsde9ejbaoY2Z </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 4: 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/O92gm2m78GM?si=ui4Cnc5b2yr_IS8P </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 5: Fourth Down Stop By Cleveland</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/SEkoyG6MUHA?si=GCXsrCTpfd4R1vKf </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 6: 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/9k70RPkhuIM?si=FnS7VN25khGhiY6s </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 7: Late Second Quarter (Cleveland Rushing 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/sK4QR7HVjM0?si=12hYNpoqxyZn8HR1 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 8: 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/0DMNS7MgvCU?si=RoEZCyiLPKoClFF2 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Video 9: 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/ulBc6IpFtGM?si=R_p9whLYDjlRjTgX </div></figure>   <p><strong>ADDITIONAL VIDEO</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/M-xKruHdQM8?si=H2lye5k7lbJUpXvM </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/fbqVZ-NZ2WE?si=ZlnE3slyhLa0KMvU </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/-j1zWBaeuQY?si=dxzFEltAstFWjLsL </div></figure>

RIO RANCHO – Few teams are heading into the Class 6A playoffs with more momentum than the Cleveland Storm.