Thursday Night Throwdown: Sandia Battles Bulldogs (Video/Recap)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ALBUQUERQUE </strong>– A week ago, Sandia required two overtimes and several timely plays to subdue Eldorado.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday night, they left no doubt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Playing perfect complimentary football, Sandia's defense and special teams kept giving the offense short fields and the Matadors kept converting in a convincing 46-0 victory over Albuquerque High in front of an appreciative Homecoming crowd at Wilson Stadium.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia stayed unbeaten at 4-0. Entering Friday night's Week 4 action, they are one of two teams that have won its first four games. West Las Vegas improved to 4-0 with a 14-7 victory over Raton Thursday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Playing without injured RB/WR [player_tooltip player_id='1613284' first='George' last='Smith'], the Matadors jumped out to a 12-0 lead after the first quarter and cruised to the win. After stopping the Bulldogs on their first possession and a nice punt return, Sandia running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613382' first='Gad' last='Harris']</strong> ran 3 yards for the first score of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia fumbled on the first play of their second possession, but quickly redeemed themselves after the Matadors forced Albuquerque High to punt for the third time with about 4-1/2 minutes left in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1594010' first='Jahleel' last='Lewis']</strong> scored on a keeper with 16 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 12-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia added three more touchdowns in the second quarter for a 32-0 halftime lead. Less than a minute (in game time) after their second TD, the Matadors scored again when the defense forced a turnover and Lewis raced 30 yards for the TD with 11:37 left. J'ven Smioth powered over for a TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shortly before halftime, the Matadors defense stopped Albuquerque High again, giving Sandia the ball at the AHS 26-yard time. Lewis pounced, throwing a 26-yard dart to WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155114' first='Deon' last='Session']</strong>, who beat his defender by a step, in the left corner of the end zone with just nine seconds left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia added a pair of scores in the second half, which was played mostly under a running clock, to complete the win. Matadors LB [player_tooltip player_id='1853328' first='Mateo' last='Hogan'] had a 55-yard Pick-6 less than four minutes into the third quarter to give Sandia a 38-0 lead, and activate the running clock.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia has a bye next week before facing West Mesa on Sept. 25. Albuquerque High dropped to 2-1-1 and next faces La Cueva on Sat., Sept. 26 at 11 a.m.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 1: First Quarter (Two Sandia TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/-CoTcaMSIDY?si=tbTw4QvEqrQnd7Df","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/-CoTcaMSIDY?si=tbTw4QvEqrQnd7Df </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>VIDEO 2: Second Quarter (Sandia INT and TD)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://youtu.be/GmWd0A0-Ym8?si=1IPEXDyhag2aM7D6","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/GmWd0A0-Ym8?si=1IPEXDyhag2aM7D6 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2098422578134016251","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"x","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2098422578134016251 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Thursday Night Scoreboard (Sept. 10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sandia 46, Albuquerque High 0</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cibola 56, Miyamura 13</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Portales 56, Santa Teresa 6</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Las Vegas 14, Raton 7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Navajo Prep 36, Tohatchi 14</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/NMGameDay/status/2098286014410412167","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"x","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NMGameDay/status/2098286014410412167 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/TriCityRecordNM/status/2098471750136664575","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"x","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/TriCityRecordNM/status/2098471750136664575 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/ArturoCafe7/status/2098258652167889002","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"x","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ArturoCafe7/status/2098258652167889002 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->