ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Xavier Ivey-Saud is back, and so is the Manzano offense we expected to see when the season began about 11 days ago.
Lifting the Monarchs offense onto his back, Ivey-Saud carried the ball more than 20 times and scored four touchdowns, three in the decisive fourth quarter, as Manzano pounded Centennial, 42-21, Saturday afternoon at Wilson Stadium, improving to 2-0 on the season and safeguarding their Top 5 ranking in the state of New Mexico.
Manzano outscored Centennial, 21-0, in the fourth quarter as the Monarchs snapped a 21-21 tie on the first play of the final frame and never looked back. Manzano’s defense stepped up the pressure with the outcome in doubt, forcing two Hawks punts and intercepting two passes in the fourth quarter as they seemingly lived in the Centennial offensive backfield.
It was the third meeting between the schools in 13 months. Manzano beat Centennial in last year's playoffs after dropping the regular season meeting.
“Last year, we went down there (to Las Cruces) and played well in the first half but didn’t play well in the second half,” Manzano coach Chad Adcox told NMPreps. “Then in the playoffs, we didn’t play well in the first half, but played well in the second half and got the win. This week, we wanted to make sure we played for four quarters and finish. They made some good plays to get back into the game when we got up, but we finished the game. I like where we’re at after the first two weeks.”
Manzano has won both of its first two games by 20 or more points.
Manzano do-everything quarterback Jordan Byrd was nicked up in the second half and could have returned to action, but should be ready to play next Friday when the Monarchs face Cibola at Community Stadium.
“We want to use all our weapons,” ADcox said. “I know everybody focuses on Jordan Byrd, but we have a lot of weapons with Xavier and (Andrew) Erickson and A.V. (Alejandro Vallejos). We have a lot of guys that can make thing happen. We want to showcase them as well and make the opponent defend the entire field.”
The Hawks called upon Lance Frost to take over quarterbacking duties at the outset of the third quarter. A careless personal foul penalty on Manzano gave Centennial a first down at the Monarchs, but their defense stopped the Hawks on fourth down to regain possessions.
A poor snap to Byrd on fourth down gave Centennial excellent field position at the Manz 35. Frost caught a pass for a first down on third-and-11 to the Manz 24. On the next series of downs, Centennial dialed up another big play on third down when Bartlett hit Ryan Ortiz for an 18-yard TD pass to tie the score at 21-21 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
After a nice kickoff return by Ivey-Saud out to the 44-yard line, Manzano did what they do best and that’s run the football, covering the entire 56 yards with rushing plays. Ivey-Saud powered over from two yards out to give Manzano the lead for good, 28-21.
On the second play of Centennial’s ensuing drive, Bartlett floated a pass to the left side and the ball was intercepted by defensive back Alex Nash. The turnover led to an 8-yard TD run by Ivey-Saud with 10:18 left in the fourth for a 35-21 Manzano lead.
With Centennial forced to throw the ball trailing by two touchdowns, Manzano brought pressure with an assortment of blitzes, sacked the quarterback on first down and forced a Hawks punt.
Dakota Powell took over at quarterback for Byrd and the Monarchs again relied on their bread and butter ground game, running the ball right at Centennial. Ivey-Saud broke free for a 31-yard run to the Cent 22-yard line as the clock ran under 6 minutes left in the game.
Ivey-Saud capped the impressive 10-play, 75 yard drive with a power 5-yard run up the middle to give Manzano a seemingly insurmountable 42-21 lead with 5:07 left.
“Last year, we just couldn’t finish games in the third and fourth quarters,” Jordan Byrd told NMPreps. “This year, we knew we had to fight for it because just about everybody came back. We did our work (in the preseason) and ran every day. We just pushed through it.”
When Centennial was sacked on first down and eventually punted the ball away with 3:27 left, the outcome was sealed. Manzano intercepted their second pass of the quarter in the closing seconds.
“The defense really had to step up today,” Adcox said. “Coach Ocampo knows our defense pretty well, so we had to come out and do a couple of different things. We had to make plays and they did that today. I thought the defense played very well.”
Manzano took the opening kickoff and quickly drove 80 yards in 6 plays for the game’s first touchdown. The two biggest plays of the march both involved wide receiver Andrew Erickson. He first swept right for 21 yards. Two plays later, Byrd rolled left and flipped a pass out to Erickson in the flat. The senior receiver turned, found a seam and raced into the end zone for the score with 9:14 left in the first quarter.
Centennial gambled on 4th-and-7 from the Manzano 35 yard line on its third possession, but a short pass was stopped for a 3-yard loss.
The Monarchs gladly took possession and drove 62 yards in 8 plays for a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. Ivey-Saud did most of the heavy lifting during the drive. Moments after he carried 18 yards to the Centennial 16, Pringle ran 16 yards over the left side for the touchdown.
“Alejandro did very well last week, but I was glad to see Xavier back,” Byrd told NMPreps afterwards. “He played his heart out.”
Trailing 14-0, Centennial finally got on the scoreboard on its next possession. Adrian Gomez raced 42 yards to the Manzano 15, putting the Hawks in the red zone. Next snap, Bartlett found Drren Rodrigues in the end zone for the touchdown.
Manzano responded with an impressive 80-yard TD drive highlighted by a 32-yard run by Ivey-Saud on an option pitch and a 22-yard run by Alejandro Vallejos on a reverse. This time, Ivey-Saud did the honors with a 9-yard TD run through the middle of the Centennial defense midway through the second quarter.
After forcing the Monarchs to punt on their next possession,. Centennial pulled to within 7 points on a perfectly executed 42-yard touchdown pass from Bartlett to Lance Frost with 2:20 left until halftime. Frost didn’t have to break stride when he caught the pass and outraced his Manzano defender into the end zone, narrowing the deficit to 21-14.
LINESCORE:
Centennial: 0-14-7-0 = 21
Manzano: 14-7-0-21 = 42
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Manzano running back Xavier Ivey Saud didn’t miss a beat after sitting out the season opener because of an injury. His presence gives Manzano yet another offensive weapon.
TURNING POINT: When Manzano turned almost exclusively to the running game in the fourth quarter, they flourished. The Monarchs scored two touchdowns in the opening 1:42 of the fourth quarter, converting a Centennial turnover into seven points.
KEY MOMENT: Manzano salted the game away with a 10-play, 75-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter that consumed nearly four minutes off the clock and gave the Monarchs a 42-21 lead, destroying Centennial’s comeback hopes.
UP NEXT: Manzano takes on Cibola at Nusenda Community Stadium and Centennial hosts La Cueva in an intriguing game at the Field of Dreams. Both games are Friday at 7 p.m.
