CIBOLA 24, HIGHLAND 20

PAT VASQUEZ-CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL Cibola’s Brent Jorgensen (1) reaches for a pass that resulted in an 89-yard score against Highland at Milne Stadium on Friday night.

Saturday, November 25, 2006
Cibola Upsets Highland in Quarterfinals

Journal Staff Writer

    Judge Chavez has learned over the years to not entirely trust his gut instinct.
    Thankfully for the Cibola Cougars, the veteran football mastermind pulled a 180 on his initial decision to attempt a would-be tying field goal and instead go for the win during a critical moment of Friday's Class 5A quarterfinal playoff game against Highland at Milne Stadium.
    The end result? An upset 24-20 Cibola victory over the second-seeded Hornets (10-2).
    The win hands the Cougars a school record 10 wins and, more importantly, sends them into next week's state semifinals against Alamogordo. The Tigers advanced Friday by hammering Rio Grande.
    "This is a proud moment for our kids, our school and the people of the West Side," Chavez said after a raucous postgame celebration in which his players presented him with the game ball for not going with his gut instinct.
    The Cougars got the win when fullback Chase Bennison fought his way through the line for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down and his team trailing 20-17 late in the fourth quarter. The play, which came with 2:32 left, capped an impressive 76-yard drive that ate nearly seven minutes off the clock while defying all logic that said Highland's defense was too physical for such prolonged marches.
    In fact, the Cougars had three scoring drives that went at least that far. A 90-yard drive that lasted more than eight minutes between the first and second quarters helped Cibola open a 10-7 lead. A 99-yard drive set up by a dramatic goal-line stand by the Cougar defense ended in an 89-yard bomb from quarterback Jonathan Mader to Brent Jorgensen to give Cibola a surprising 17-7 lead.
    "Big plays, baby," was Mader's reaction while recounting the evening. "We just made big plays all over."
    On the scoring pass to Jorgensen, Mader said it was all a matter of looking one way and throwing another.
    "I saw they had (Cibola wideout Brandon) Simpson double-teamed to one side, so I looked that way and went to Brent," Mader said.
    Jorgensen hauled in the pass around the 50 and sprinted the rest of the way without a defender within 20 yards.
    Highland battled back to take the lead on touchdown runs of 5 and 4 yards, respectively by Kyle Little. The Hornets also blocked two Mader punts and started four drives inside Cibola territory in the second half.
    Two of those drives resulted in failed fourth-down attempts. Another ended in a punt. Only one produced a score.
    Cibola answered Little's go-ahead touchdown run early in the fourth quarter with Bennison's heroic 1-yard run.
    The play was actually Bennison's second touchdown of the night. He'd scored on a bruising 4-yard run earlier, setting the tone for his workmanlike outing. His number was called 16 times on Cibola's first 23 plays. He finished with 125 yards on 29 carries— only two of which covered 10 or more yards.
    His go-ahead run is known as "46-Wham" in the playbook. It calls for the quarterback to hand the ball to the up back in a goal line formation. The ball carrier is then directed to run through a hole off the center's right hip. Hopefully it produces a few yards.
    Sometimes it does. Sometimes it goes nowhere.
    "Forty-six Wham is a power play for a power team," said Bennison. "We just decided to do what we do and that's man up on a team that's as physical as us."
    Chavez said: "Sometimes I've questioned these kids, but I didn't this time because I saw it in their eyes— they wanted it this time."
    For Chavez, the win ended a week's worth of media hype about the long-awaited reunion of the Cibola coach and the program he vacated during the most recent offseason.
    "That angle was played up bigger than it should have been because this game wasn't about me against those guys; it was about two good teams trying to win and advance," Chavez said.

Coogs’ 4th-Down Gamble Pays Off

Hornets KO’d In Playoffs

BY WILL WEBBER Journal Staff Writer

    It’s a simple play with a simple name: 46-Wham.
    It calls for the quarterback to hand the ball to the upback in a goal-line formation. The ball carrier is then directed to run through a hole off the center’s right hip. Hopefully it produces a few yards. Sometimes it does, sometimes it goes nowhere.
    In Cibola’s case, it won Friday night’s Class 5A quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Highland, 24-20, before a large and bipartisan crowd at Milne Stadium.
    The win sends the Cougars (10-2) to their first state semifinal appearance in 21 years and ends a week’s worth of media hype about the long-awaited reunion of Cibola coach Judge Chavez and the program he left during the offseason.
    “That angle was played up bigger than it should have been because this game wasn’t about me against those guys; it was about two good teams trying to win and advance,” Chavez said after addressing his team in a postgame speech.
    The players awarded their coach a game ball for his decision to call 46-Wham with 2:36 left and Cibola facing a fourth and-goal while trailing 20-17. Initially electing to kick a would-be tying field goal, Chavez was talked out of it by his players during a timeout preceding the play.
    “Sometimes I’ve questioned these kids, but I didn’t this time because I saw it in their eyes — they wanted it this time,” Chavez said.
    Chase Bennison’s 1-yard plunge on the ensuing play capped the scoring and set off a raucous celebration on the Cibola sideline. The party began in earnest a few minutes later when defensive back Aaron Schuetze intercepted a Tim Medina pass to seal it.
    Next up for Cibola is a date with third seed Alamogordo in next weekend’s final four. It also gives the Cougars a school record 10 wins.
    “Forty-six Wham is a power play for a power team,” said Bennison. “We just decided to do what we do and that’s man up on a team that’s as physical as us.”
    Bennison was a workhorse, finishing with 125 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. His number was called 16 times in Cibola’s first 23 plays, and only twice did he have runs that went longer than 10 yards.
    He helped the Cougars assume a surprising 17-7 lead in the first half. The scoring started when Anthony Minerd kicked a 31-yard field goal after Highland fumbled away the opening kickoff. The Hornets took a 7-3 lead when Gilbert Guzman caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Medina, but touchdowns by Bennison on a 4-yard run and Brent Jorgensen on an 89-yard pass gave the Cougars a double-digit lead.

H.S. Football Playoffs: Cibola rallies, beats Highland to advance to 5A semis

By Richard Stevens
Saturday, November 25, 2006

Highland junior defensive back Tyler Johnson (center) watches Cibola celebrate its victory as Hornets head coach Gary Sanchez (upper left) consoles receiver Greg Mallory and receiver Daniel Yurcisin (right, on hands and knees) reacts to the loss. Highland's Cinderella season ended with a 24-20 loss to the Cougars on Friday night at Milne Stadium. Photo by Erin Fredrichs Tribune

In the chill of the night and the moment, Cibola coach Ralph "Judge" Chavez was surrounded by voices, history, indecision and a mountain of young emotion.

But the eyes overruled.

When Chavez looked into the faces of his hovering Cougars, he saw something inspiring: unwavering belief, unshakable confidence.

"When I looked into their eyes, I saw something that I had been waiting to see all year," said Chavez. "They were telling me to go for it, but I didn't want to hear it in their voices. I wanted to see it in their eyes.

"The look in their eyes said, `We got to go for it.' "

And that's exactly what the Cibola Cougars did.

They trotted back to the Highland High 1-yard line with the Milne Stadium scoreboard outlining the significance of the moment under the Friday night lights.

Two minutes and 36 seconds to play.

Fourth and one.

Highland 20, Cibola 17.

In other words: win or lose, do or die. Forget about the tying field goal.

The Cougars' plan was a good one, something that had been working all night.

Send fullback Chase Bennison crashing into the right side of the Cougars line behind 845 pounds of blocking behemoths - Joe Lehocky (255 pounds), Paul Hunt (250) and Rio Mares (340).

And what the heck, throw 230-pound blocking back Andrew Medina into the same hole.

The Cougars call this 46-Wham or, for short, 6-Wham and even Bam.

They also should call it their ticket to the Class 5A semifinals. The Highland Hornets' undersized defensive line didn't have a chance.

"We run the (expletive) out of that play," said Bennison after Cibola's 24-20 Class 5A quarterfinal win.

Said Cibola quarterback Jonathan Mader: "I knew the Bam would get us in there."

The Hornets got the ball back at their 33-yard line with 2:23 to play. Four plays and 53 seconds later, Highland quarterback Tim Medina underthrew Hornet Daniel Yurcisin and the pass was picked off by Cibola's Aaron Schuetze.

And that was it. Cibola will play Alamogordo in the Class 5A semifinals. Chavez said it's the first trip to the semis in 21 years for Cibola. The 10-win season is a school record.

"I told you what I came here for and that was to win," Chavez told his huddled Cougars a few minutes after the final gun.

In the background of Chavez's speech to his giddy Cougars, there was another story. One of pain and sorrow. The Milne turf was littered with discarded pads and jerseys as Hornets hugged, cried and gathered in disbelief.

"You can say what you want about all this, but I have strong feelings for those kids," said Chavez looking over at the Hornets.

The storyline on the field came down to blocking and tackling, big plays and big mistakes. The subplot was Chavez facing the Highland team he coached for 17 years.

"That was good hype. Everyone wanted to see this game," said Chavez, in his first year at Cibola. "But it was always about the kids."

Said Bennison: "I don't think any of us (players) got into all that stuff about Highland and coach (Chavez). Highland was just the team in our way to a state championship. That's all I really thought about."

The Cougars almost took control of the game in the first half when a Mader pass to Brent Jorgensen should have been knocked down by a Highland defender. Instead, it went for an 89-yard touchdown and a 17-7 Cibola lead with 3:05 left in the half.

"I just let it rip," Mader said of the pass that came less than two minutes after Cibola stopped Highland on a fourth-and-goal at the Cougars' 1.

Highland came back to march 68 yards in seven plays to make it 17-14 at the half.

The Hornets had several opportunities in the third quarter to break the game open. Highland got the ball on the Cibola 36 twice and the Cibola 18. The drive that started on the 18 ended in a 4-yard TD run by Kyle Little that gave Highland the 20-17 lead.

You take away that short scoring drive and Cibola's defense gave up only 19 yards and one first down the rest of the second half. Highland finished the game with 47 yards rushing to 183 for Cibola.

The Cougars' gut check came with 9:10 to play, trailing Highland by three points. Cibola put together a 75-yard march.

It ended in something called 46-Wham.