Sights and Sounds: Cleveland-Hobbs 6A Semifinal (Recap/Video)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>RIO RANCHO –</strong> When Hobbs booted a field goal on the first snap of the second quarter cutting Cleveland's lead to 6-3, it looked like we might have a competitive Class 6A semifinal at Lightning Bolt Stadium on Saturday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613490' first='Evan' last='Nanez']</strong> said ‘not on my watch.'</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The dynamic sophomore scored SIX touchdowns – four receiving, one rushing and one on a 100-yard kickoff return – to lead Cleveland to an overpowering 67-16 mercy-rule win over Hobbs, earning the Storm a seventh straight trip to the Class 6A state championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Storm hosts No. 1 seed Las Cruces in the Class 6A state championship game next Saturday at 1 p.m. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After the Storm drove 98 yards for a short TD run by running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600936' first='Samuel' last='Bustillos']</strong> (a long run by Bustillos and pass to Nanez to the 1-yard line preceded the score) following an interception by DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853709' first='Connor' last='Steele']</strong> for a 6-0 Cleveland lead, Hobbs LB <strong>Samuel Zimbardi</strong>'s interception led to the field goal by the Eagles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The next six minutes were a nightmare for the Eagles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cleveland responded quickly to Hobbs' field goal with a TD march capped by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1599859' first='Troy' last='Logan']</strong>'s short scoring run. The Eagles fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Storm recovered close to the red zone. Nanez scored his first TD of the afternoon on a run around the left side plus the 2-point conversion for a 20-3 lead with 9:04 left in the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the Eagles' next possession, they faked a punt and tried to run for the first down. But the ball carrier was tackled about a yard short of the first down marker. Cleveland pounced as Hatch connected with TE <strong>Noah Valler</strong> to push the ball inside the 5-yard line. Moments later, Nanez caught a TD pass from Hatch for his second score of the day to extend Cleveland's lead to 26-3 midway through the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hobbs fought back by blocking Cleveland's field goal attempt, scooping up the ball and returning it to the CLE 20. Hobbs QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1605057' first='Junior' last='Medrano']</strong> threw a TD pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600876' first='Braddock' last='Beaty']</strong> to slice the gap to 26-10 with 2:47 left in the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cleveland responded to Hobbs' first TD of the day by quickly driving down the field. QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='851873' first='Jordan' last='Kekoa Hatch']</strong> capped the drive by throwing a TD pass to Nanez with 52 seconds left before halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hobbs had an opportunity to put more points on the scoreboard on the final snap of the first half but a 45-yard field goal attempt fell short.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cleveland led, 34-10, at halftime. Nanez scored three TDs in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He added his fourth score of the day early in the third quarter when Hatch had plenty of time in the pocket before finding Nanez on a third-and-12 pass. Nanez caught the well thrown pass in stride and went the distance to make it 40-10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Any momentum Hobbs got from scoring on a 60+ yard catch-and-run pass immediately evaporated when Nanez showcased his elite speed and athleticism by returning the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a TD (his 5^th of the day), making it 47-16 with 7:38 left in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nanez scored his sixth and final TD of the day on a TD pass from Hatch to the back middle of the end zone with just under 3 minutes left in the third quarter. The score gave Cleveland a 54-16 lead and jumpstarted the running clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>SEMIFINALS SCOREBOARD</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 6A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Las Cruces 44, La Cueva 7 (Fri.)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cleveland 67, Hobbs 16</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 5A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Artesia 35, Lovington 30</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roswell 35, Gadsden 17</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 4A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Pius X 41, Chaparral 0</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bloomfield 62, Taos 20</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 3A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Michael's 54, NMMI 8</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dexter 24, Hope Christian 6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 2A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Texico 49, Hozho Academy 7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eunice 62, Legacy Academy 18</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>HOBBS-CLEVELAND</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 1: First Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/5RE9Hns1oUs?si=0uhtsH4lYR0F1oQD","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/5RE9Hns1oUs?si=0uhtsH4lYR0F1oQD </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 2: First Quarter </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/TWeV3wXxLAc?si=CnyLNPbxRSu0x0Z2","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/TWeV3wXxLAc?si=CnyLNPbxRSu0x0Z2 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Video 3: Second Quarter (Cleveland TD) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/_uNQ20FKamg?si=UHJugM0CrX-lmaBB","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/_uNQ20FKamg?si=UHJugM0CrX-lmaBB </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 4: Second Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/0qMKnoAk3Wg?si=jvUHw74OenuUueb-","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/0qMKnoAk3Wg?si=jvUHw74OenuUueb- </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 5: Second Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/fiUh50MeZXg?si=YZQHOPYmBfUwgLOp","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/fiUh50MeZXg?si=YZQHOPYmBfUwgLOp </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> <strong>Video 6: Second Quarter (Hobbs Blocked FG + TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/3Ej2ObAy-a8?si=GfZag0YXmPEKQ_BC","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/3Ej2ObAy-a8?si=GfZag0YXmPEKQ_BC </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 7: Third Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/u1EfgeMQxkc?si=YlTWjE8xbOLUHHWy","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/u1EfgeMQxkc?si=YlTWjE8xbOLUHHWy </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Video 8: Third Quarter (Cleveland TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/psoLwam2tf0?si=-aEpS24KS2pr1n9s","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/psoLwam2tf0?si=-aEpS24KS2pr1n9s </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->