Elizabeth – There was Elizabeth, hanging close with the top-ranked team in Class 3A football, ready to put some points on the board to make it a one score game, when Jason Espinoza sucked the life out of Cardinals Stadium.
Espinoza, a senior running back and defensive back for the Alamosa Mean Moose, stepped in front of a well-covered out pass by Elizabeth quarterback Zak Johnson and went 99 yards the other way. By the time he crossed the goal line the clock said there was 6:04 remaining in the second quarter and Alamosa was leading by 21 points.
When the first half mercifully ended for the Cardinals, the score was 41-0. The final score would read 55-7 in favor of the Mean Moose in a nonleague game Friday night. To add to Elizabeth’s injury, Dustin Bolt took the opening kickoff of the second half 94 yards for a touchdown.
“The quarterback kind of lobbed that pass up there. It was an easy pick,” Espinoza said.
Alamosa (2-0), No. 1 in The Denver Post/9News poll, was more impressive than advertised. The statistics weren’t outrageous, mostly because of the play of the defense and special teams.
In addition to the Cardinal-breaking interception return, Espinoza would score two more times.
Quarterback Clay Garcia completed 7-of-15 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns in two quarters of work, including a pair of scores to Bolt. Bolt grabbed three passes for 70 yards.
Elizabeth running back Mitch Johnson ran 15 times for 95 yards and a late score, with most of those yards coming in the second half against the Mean Moose backups.
Alamosa scored three touchdowns in the final two minutes of the first half, including two scores that followed Elizabeth (0-2) fumbles in Cardinals territory. After the first fumble, Garcia went deep on the first play to Bolt for a 41-yard score. The duo hooked up after the second fumble, this time from 13 yards away on an out-and-up route to the corner of the end zone.
“We have so many weapons, teams don’t know what we are going to throw at them,” Bolt said.
Alamosa set the tone from the its first series of the ballgame. Faced with a fourth down and backed up in their own territory, coach Manny Wasinger called a fake punt. Garcia hit Nick Rogers over the middle for a first down, and then Garcia went long to Espinoza, who was 5 yards behind the Cardinals’ defense when he hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass.
Elizabeth, a playoff team the past six seasons, stayed conservative on offense, going up the gut with running plays. But after two quick three-and-out drives, the Cardinals started a drive and even converted a fourth-and-short of their own. Soon Elizabeth was set up with a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line. On second down, Espinoza crashed the party. The game was over from that point.
“That was a huge turn in the game. They were driving and got down real close to scoring, and (Espinoza) just came up big. He always does,” Garcia said.
Alamosa 7 34 14 0 – 55
Elizabeth 0 0 7 0 – 7
A – Espinoza 51 pass from Garcia (Marquez kick). A – Yohn 7 run (Marquez kick). A – Espinoza 99 interception return (Marquez kick). A – Espinoza 14 run (Marquez kick). A – Bolt 41 pass from Garcia (Marquez kick). A – Bolt 13 pass from Garcia (pass failed). A – Bolt 94 kickoff return (Marquez kick). A – Yohn 1 run (Marquez kick). E – Johnson 5 run (Van Voris kick).
