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Final preparations made for NMHSCA Class 5A/6A All Star Game

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Former Rio Rancho standouts Nic Little and Josh Foley could not have asked for a better ending to their distinguished high school football careers.

Eight months after leading the Rams to a perfect 13-0 record and the Class 6A state title, Little and Foley accounted for a combined five touchdowns as the North drubbed the South, 36-0, Tuesday night in the New Mexico High School Coaches Association Class 5A/6A All-Star Game at Nusenda Community Stadium.

Little tossed three touchdown passes, two in the first half, and Foley scampered for a pair of 19-yard touchdown runs for the North, which also benefitted from a superb performance from its defense, placing a talented South offensive unit led by former St. Pius X quarterback Drew Ortiz under siege all night long.

In many ways, North’s impressive performance from opening kickoff to final whistle should have reminded any astute observer of most of Rio Rancho’s outings in 2016.

“We just brought the same intensity from (Rio Rancho) to the North,” Little told NMPreps afterwards. “Everybody came to play. Our guys knew they had to be top dogs to feel good at the end of the game. We all played our hearts out.”

After a remarkable last 11 months for Little and Foley, both players now get ready to compete at the next level. Little arrives on the Eastern New Mexico campus in early August for the start of the Greyhounds’ preseason camp, while Foley confirmed he will grayshirt at New Mexico State and spend the fall semester taking classes and learning the ropes of FBS football.

Much of Foley’s time in Las Cruces this fall will be spent in the weight room under the tutelage and watchful eye of the NMSU strength and conditioning coaches as he gets bigger, stronger and faster, and prepares to contribute in 2019.

“It’s the best of the best there and everybody is a lot faster (than in high school), but I will just have to get used to it,” Foley said.

When he finally arrives in Portales, Little will run the triple option offense, a far cry from the scheme he ran at Rio Rancho, but one he is well-suited for in the eyes of the ENMU coaches.

“It’s going to be a different ballgame running the triple option, so it’s a different mindset I’m getting ready for,” Little said.

Foley credited the North offensive line for controlling the line of scrimmage, allowing him to spring loose on several runs.

“They played great,” Foley said. “They had never played together before and got a bunch of new stuff thrown at them. They performed and did what they had to do.”

Perhaps unfairly, the strong swan song performance by Little and Foley overshadowed as dominant a performance by the aggressive and attacking North defense as you will likely ever see in a game involving high school athletes.

Following an encouraging first series, the South offense spent little time in North territory over the final three quarters or so as Ortiz and Alamogordo’s Kyle Hooper simply couldn’t get anything going with their seemingly overwhelmed offensive brethren.

“We knew our defense was good from Day 1”, North coach Ron McMath told NMPreps. “We had trouble blocking our defensive line all week (in practice), so we knew they were really good. Our guys played well in the defensive backfield too. We knew they would play tough, but I didn’t think we would shut them out.”

Ahead 20-0, North started the second half across the 40-yard line and quickly moved into South territory on first down, but consecutive sacks drove North backwards and forced a punt.

However, the South offense continued to struggle on its opening possession of the third quarter and the North offense soon had the ball again on South’s side of the field.

Smartly sticking with the ground game as they protected a three-score lead, North methodically moved the ball and, just as importantly, drained the clock in the process. By the time North punted, less than four minutes remained in the third quarter and South had the ball at its 8-yard line, 92 yards from paydirt.

Ortiz, who intends to walk-on at UTEP as he pursues his dream of becoming a Division I quarterback, was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone on third down as the North grabbed a 22-0 lead.

The final dagger blow came quickly when Little completed a long pass to Farmington’s Sol Rascon, who made a diving catch inside the red zone, before lofting a TD pass to Elijah Gamboa in the right corner of the end zone.

“I felt pretty comfortable in the pocket,” Little said. “I have been grinding the entire off-season. I didn’t play basketball this past season to get my football mind right. This was my first time out on the football field (in a competitive game) since the end of last season, so I thought I had a pretty good showing.”

Gamboa managed to keep his feet in for the score, which gave the North an insurmountable 29-0 lead.

Adding insult to injury, the North recovered a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff and drove inside the red zone in the early moments of the fourth quarter.

But the South defense rose up and forced a field goal attempt. A poor snap resulted in a fire drill and the South got the ball back in good field position.

South’s hopes of a miracle comeback vanished when the aggressive North defense continued their assault on the South offensive backfield and forced a punt with just under nine minutes remaining.

North added a final touchdown on a nifty TD run by Foley with 6:48 remaining to give North a 36-0 lead. Foley snagged an option pitch and raced virtually untouched into the end zone for his second TD of the night.

The contest began more positively for the South before quickly getting out of hand.

After South fell behind the sticks on its opening drive, Ortiz found Isaiah Weideman for a first down near midfield.

Later, Ortiz scrambled for a first down but the play was nullified by a penalty. It proved an ominous sign.

Little quarterbacked the North team on its opening possession. A facemask penalty gave North a first down at its 38. After a long pass barely eluded Gamboa inside the 10-yard line, North picked up the first down by running the football.

North drove to the South 35 and faced a fourth-and-5. This time, Gamboa made a nice diving catch at the 18 on a wobbly pass from Little for a first down.

Two plays later, Little scrambled right and heaved a pass into the right corner of the end zone where Ryan Moore of Manzano was standing all alone without a South defender in sight.

Moore easily caught the 18-yard pass for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked as North took a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Dillon Gassoway from Volcano Vista took over the quarterbacking duties for North in the second quarter. On third down, Gassoway rifled a pass to Daniel Johnson (Cleveland) on a slant pattern for a key 36-yard gain into South territory.

From there, Foley went to work, cutting back sharply after taking a handoff and racing through the right side of the South defense for a spectacular 19-yard TD run, handing the North a 13-0 lead with about nine minutes left in the second quarter.

A short punt that appeared to be tipped gave North great field possession at the South 23 on its next possession. On first and goal from inside the 10-yard line, Little flipped a TD pass to Johnson into the right corner of the end zone to increase North’s lead to 20-0 with just over 5-1/2 minutes left until halftime.

Desperately needed to get something going offensively, the South secured a much-needed first down when Hooper rumbled out to the 32. Seconds later, a poor snap resulted in Hooper being buried by a horde of North defenders at the 20-yard line for a disastrous 12-yard loss.

When a defensive pass interference bailed out the North and gave them a manageable third down at the 35 with 2:48 left in the second quarter, Cleveland’s Brendon Armstead roared through and sacked Hooper on third down to force South to punt the ball away.

South’s defense then stopped the North offense, but their hopes of getting on the scoreboard before halftime evaporated when the punt was downed inside the 5-yard line.

South had one chance at a Hail Mary in the final seconds, but Ortiz elected to throw short and the receiver was tackled around the 30-yard line as the scoreboard clock hit zeroes.

North led, 20-0, at halftime after dominating the first 24 minutes. The South team headed to the locker room looking for an offensive spark that ultimately never came.

“Our guys were great all week long,” McMath said. “They were low key and had fun. Our kids kept promising they would play on Tuesday night and they certainly did. We knew (Little and Foley) would have great games. We had a lot of weapons on the field and they couldn’t just defend one guy. We also had a bunch of things go right for us. It was a fun night.”

SCORING SUMMARY

1Q – North, Moore 18-yard pass from Little, PAT blocked (6-0)

2Q – North, Foley 19-yard run, PAT Good (13-0)

2Q – North, Johnson 6-yard TD pass from Little, PAT Good (20-0)

3Q – North, Safety (Intentional grounding in end zone)(22-0)

3Q – North, Gamboa 5-yard TD pass from Little (PAT Good)(29-0)

4Q – North, Foley 19-yard TD run (PAT good)(36-0).