Sights and Sounds: Las Cruces-La Cueva Semifinal (Video/Recap)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ALBUQUERQUE</strong> – The nearly decade long drought is over.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Las Cruces Bulldawgs are the first team from that city to reach the Class 6A state championship game since 2016 by virtue of a convincing 44-7 victory over La Cueva Friday night in a semifinals matchup at Wilson Stadium. It was the third straight year the Bulldawgs and Bears have met in the 6A semifinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Las Cruces faces Cleveland in a Clash of the Titans showdown at Lightning Bolt Stadium in Rio Rancho in next Saturday's Class 6A state championship game. KIckoff is set for 1 p.m.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bulldawgs seized control of the game when they scored 16 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 23-7 halftime lead. Early in the quarter, a poor punt snap gave Las Cruces excellent field position at the La Cueva 36. The miscue led to Bulldawg QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853029' first='Gunnar' last='Guardiola']</strong> firing a 20-yard TD pass over the middle to [player_tooltip player_id='1672408' first='Jacob' last='Misquez'], who avoided contact with the ground by rolling over his defender into the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bulldawgs pushed the lead to 20-7 four minutes later when Guardiola's long 46-yard completion to <strong>Isaiah Borunda</strong> (nice over the shoulder catch) moved the ball to the La Cueva 4-yard line. From there, RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137388' first='Daniel' last='Amaro']</strong> took a handoff and powered into the end zone for the TD, capping a 74-yard scoring drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Las Cruces defense came up with key stop and the Bulldawgs got the ball back with the clock running down. Guardiola's 34-yard completion&nbsp; to WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142363' first='Francisco' last='Winnikoff']</strong> moved the ball inside top 10-yard line. After two incompletions, the Bulldawgs settled for a 34-yard field as time expired in the second quarter for the 23-7 halftime advantage. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two long runs by Amaro of 33 and 31 yards fueled Las Cruces' lightning quick scoring drive to open the second half. Amaro scored his second TD of the night by racing through the right side from 31 yards out, putting the Bulldawgs at close to 150 yards rushing for the night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Las Cruces led, 30-7, at the end of the third quarter. The Bulldawgs forced La Cueva to turn the ball over on downs at the Las Cruces 26 midway through the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Amaro again exhibited his elite running back skills in the fourth quarter when he rumbled 53 yards for a TD on third-and-23 for a 37-7 Bulldawg lead with 8:17 left. For good measure, Las Cruces scored another TD late with the second team offense to ignite the running clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Las Cruces scored first when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1748856' first='Josiah' last='Gutierrez']</strong> snatched a deflected pass and raced about 35 yards into the end zone for a Pick-6 less than one minute into the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However, Amaro fumbled on Las Cruces' second possession and La Cueva recovered. The Bears converted the turnover into points when RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1629861' first='Vaughn' last='Saunders']</strong> ran up the middle through traffic on third down into the end zone to even the score at 7-7. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 1: First Quarter (Las Cruces TD + La Cueva TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/a8ntrxcR7F8?si=hKCOvtr3QlE5AdmX","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/a8ntrxcR7F8?si=hKCOvtr3QlE5AdmX </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Late First Quarter</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/DE22UTzQ1ds?si=Hqcs1wy38IpONTIX","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/DE22UTzQ1ds?si=Hqcs1wy38IpONTIX </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 3: Second Quarter (Las Cruces TD)</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/azsUuvzY3dA?si=vK25oH_Q1SyCuuz1","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/azsUuvzY3dA?si=vK25oH_Q1SyCuuz1 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 4: Second Quarter (Las Cruces TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/rqhUtyB5SO8?si=IoRZ2TewHvhM7DZG","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/rqhUtyB5SO8?si=IoRZ2TewHvhM7DZG </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 5: Late Second Quarter (Las Cruces FG)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/F4TrcTRgXis?si=1ew34kZMKD_sakLS","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/F4TrcTRgXis?si=1ew34kZMKD_sakLS </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 6: Third Quarter (Las Cruces TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/3_PW-MOULuY?si=AQqt5yQI9gu6ASly","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/3_PW-MOULuY?si=AQqt5yQI9gu6ASly </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->