Sights & Sounds: 2030 QB Leads Rio Rancho To FLC 7×7 Title

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DURANGO, CO.</strong> – And a rising eighth-grader shall lead them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Missing its top two quarterbacks and leading wide receiver due to previous commitments, Rio Rancho turned to 2030 quarterback <strong>Crew Victor</strong> to lead the offense in Saturday's Ft. Lewis College 7x7 Tournament in this scenic southwestern Colorado town.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Victor, younger brother of former Rio Rancho standout Bode Victor, proceeded to fashion one of the best off-season stories you'll ever see as he led the Rams to the coveted tournament title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rio Rancho rolled through bracket play, convincingly beating Delores (CO), Window Rock (AZ) and Bloomfield before besting Holbrook (AZ) in the tourney championship game, 23-12.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Taking nearly snap for Rio Rancho, Victor displayed arm talent, maturity, poise, savvy and a football IQ far beyond his years. He proved capable of making all the throws, including pinpoint accurate deep throws to the far pylon in the end zone. His father Brian Victor serves as Rio Rancho's QB coach. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Crew is a great player. He did a good job for us,” Rio Rancho head coach Nate Pino said when asked about Victor. “He is very composed for his age. He throws the ball well. He has some things to work on but he did a heckuva job today. He got a ton of reps.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crew will likely compete for the starting quarterback job on the Rams' JV team, Pino said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rio Rancho started slowly but steadily improved their level of play as the day went on. Besides Victor, other Rio Rancho standouts included CB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137902' first='Quintenn' last='McKinley']</strong>, who played on both sides of the ball, RB <strong>Ethan Rolon</strong>, who had to play some in the slot due to the shortage of receivers, LBs <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1606137' first='Noah' last='Lovato']</strong> and rising junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1684490' first='Remington' last='Smith'] </strong>and WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1548456' first='Matthew' last='Stagman']</strong>. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We experienced some adversity at the start and we had to figure some things out because some of our guys hadn't played together,” Pino said. “I'm proud of them. We got better game-by-game. We competed well. We were missing some key pieces but we had a lot of guys step up. We had a lot of young players out here today. They took the coaching and made some adjustments. I thought our linebackers got significantly better as the day went along.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rio Rancho will hold its two weeks of padded practices in July. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 1: Rio Rancho vs. Delores (CO), Bracket Play, First Round</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/KTfOvjMJA8k?si=3W9Ors8xvZ3JVFeJ","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <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/KTfOvjMJA8k?si=3W9Ors8xvZ3JVFeJ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Piedra Vista vs. Monument Valley (AZ), Bracket Play, Quarterfinals</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/HuEqtoCVyJY?si=YNNyywt9a2DLsplf","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <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/HuEqtoCVyJY?si=YNNyywt9a2DLsplf </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 3: Rio Rancho vs. Bloomfield, Bracket Play, Semifinals</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/BPcpmjaET2k?si=VYjPQYCzsKHTznCZ","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <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/BPcpmjaET2k?si=VYjPQYCzsKHTznCZ </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 4: Rico Rancho vs. Holbrook (AZ), Bracket Play, Championship Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/ANDilzRxwnE?si=VK2Gh6eDjZrR1E-p","type":"video","providerNameSlug":"youtube","responsive":true,"className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"} --> <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/ANDilzRxwnE?si=VK2Gh6eDjZrR1E-p </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->