Las Cruces football narrowly loses while Organ Mountain's fourth quarter push falls short

Las Cruces (1-1) and Organ Mountain (0-2) both lost their respective matchups Friday evening to Volcano Vista (1-1) and Deming (2-0), respectively. Both the Bulldawgs and Knights played on the road.

Las Cruces 24, Volcano Vista 27

The Bulldawgs started strong with two touchdowns from junior running back Daniel Amaro in the first quarter, both from 16 yards out. Junior quarterback Gunnar Guardiola found senior wide receiver Nate Libby on a deep 42-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, giving Las Cruces a 21-7 halftime lead.

However, the Hawks stormed back in the second half. Volcano Vista scored two rushing touchdowns to tie the game at 21-21. The Bulldawgs regained the lead on a 40 yard field goal from senior Dalin Walter, but the Hawks took it right back with 1:03 in the fourth quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ilijah Hansen to Devin Dunkin.

Las Cruces entered field goal range on the ensuing comeback drive, but Walter's 44-yard field goal hit the crossbar and missed to give Volcano Vista the victory.

More: Las Cruces defensive back Isaac Gomez voted Sun-News Athlete of the Week

Organ Mountain 21, Deming 28

The Knights faced a tough road matchup against MaxPreps' No. 20 team in New Mexico, but fought hard against the Wildcats.

Deming took a 14-0 lead off rushing scores from Ryan Alfaro and Isaac Martinez in the first and second quarters, respectively. But, senior quarterback Xavier Perez threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jaiden Gonzales to make the score 14-6 to Deming before halftime. Organ Mountain missed the ensuing extra point.

Two more Alfaro rushing touchdowns in the third quarter gave the Wildcats a 28-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Gonzales cut that lead to 28-21 with a two-yard rushing touchdown and a 40-yard passing touchdown to senior wide receiver Anthony Gomez. The Knights turned the ball over on downs on Deming's 40-yard line with two minutes left on their next drive, sealing their loss and extending their losing streak dating back to 2022 to 17 games.

Next: Organ Mountain plays Mayfield (0-1) at the Field of Dreams as the designated road team, while Las Cruces travels to play Rio Rancho (2-0). Both games are at 7 p.m. next Friday.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces football narrowly loses while Organ Mountain's fourth quarter push falls short