Thursday Throwdown: Carlsbad-Cibola (Video/Recap)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ALBUQUERQUE</strong> – Cibola continued their turnaround season under first-year head coach David Howes, playing solid football on both sides in a 23-7 victory over Carlsbad Thursday night at Community Stadium.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola improved to 3-1 with their third straight win, and have now won more games in the first four weeks than they did in the previous two seasons (2 wins) combined. Carlsbad fell to 2-2.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a scoreless first quarter dominated by fumbles, punts and a big mistake (fumbled punt) by Cibola's special teams in the final minute that allowed Carlsbad to secure excellent field goal position at the outset of the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Cavemen took advantage on the first play of the second quarter as quarterback <strong>Marley Munoz</strong> rolled right - luring the Cibola defense that way - &nbsp;and then quickly pivoted and threw left to wide open running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1605005' first='Brock' last='Wright']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wright caught the pass and cruised into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown to give Carlsbad a 7-0 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After that, the Cibola defense locked down the Carlsbad offense as the Cavemen struggled to move the football over the final 2+ quarters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola cut the deficit to 7-3 midway through the second quarter on a 23-yard field goal by Chase Cannady.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A fourth-down gamble by Cibola paid off late in the second quarter when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854199' first='Hayes' last='Baum']</strong>, playing Wildcat quarterback for the Cougars, took the snap and ran left on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Cibola blocked the play well and Baum rumbled into the end zone to give Cibola a 10-7 lead with 34 seconds left before halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Baum rushed 8 times for 37 yards to lead Cibola's balanced ground game. At halftime, he was named Homecoming King. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1748730' first='Emmanuel' last='Apodaca']</strong> had 29 yards on 11 carries for Cibola.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola dominated the second half, scoring first on as bizarre and weird a play as you will ever see. A poor snap sailed over the head of the Carlsbad punter and bounced into the end zone. The Carlsbad punter attempted to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone but whiffed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He froze, allowing Cibola's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1884326' first='Jacob' last='Newman']</strong> to pounce on the loose football for an unexpected Cougar TD midway through the third quarter. The score gave Cibola a 17-7 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola began the fourth quarter in the red zone after converting a 3^rd-and-17 with a long screen pass in the waning seconds of the third quarter. A completed pass over the middle to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1672443' first='Ryan' last='Gunn']</strong> (2 receptions for 67 yards) moved the ball to the 1-yard line. Gunn earned the catch as he was hammered by a Carlsbad defensive back the moment he caught the football.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>From there, sophomore QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1684435' first='Terry' last='Maes']</strong> powered over for the TD to make it 23-7. Baum and Maes combined for 14 passing yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Trailing by two scores, Carlsbad fumbled for the third time and Cibola recovered, all but ending the Cavemen's comeback hopes. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensively, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854199' first='Hayes' last='Baum']</strong> finished with 10 tackles, 2.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks. Senior LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1601052' first='Andrew' last='Lueras']</strong> led the Cougars with 13 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. Often overlooked, Lueras now has 40 tackles in four games, putting him on pace for 100 tackles during the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Thur. Sept. 11 Scoreboard</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola 23, Carlsbad 7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Pius X 28, Organ Mountain 21</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaparral 49, NMMI 24</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crownpoint 14, Navajo Prep 8</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 1: First Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/6wu6B0wpFAs?si=JKnXJ3UimTeYNHS0","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/6wu6B0wpFAs?si=JKnXJ3UimTeYNHS0 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 2: Second Quarter (Cibola FG)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/oQVTyUxwl1I?si=2w5hC0vTwOGfuAK8","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/oQVTyUxwl1I?si=2w5hC0vTwOGfuAK8 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 3: Second Quarter (Cibola TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/X7UsX30AKtc?si=HlWMxiNJloRnC5Z9","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/X7UsX30AKtc?si=HlWMxiNJloRnC5Z9 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 4: Third Quarter (Cibola Special Teams TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/38lx3jxclMM?si=Ya-GY-3ls6UnX6xz","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/38lx3jxclMM?si=Ya-GY-3ls6UnX6xz </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 5: Late Third Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/t62W1sfaYag?si=RkuVPqteMFCV1O-2","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/t62W1sfaYag?si=RkuVPqteMFCV1O-2 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 6: Early Fourth Quarter (Cibola TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/3OltircCKKM?si=VbSCdIp7vNWsbLYG","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/3OltircCKKM?si=VbSCdIp7vNWsbLYG </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>        </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->