By Mike Smith
El Rito Media
msmith@currentargus.com

New Mexico Military Institute’s head football coach Oliver Soukup said some of his players spent Sunday helping residents of Roswell clean up from flooding that impacted the community hours after his team’s 16-15 loss to Northeast Oklahoma A&M.

Soukup said the rain fell well after the Broncos’ homecoming loss to the Golden Norsemen from Miami, Oklahoma. He said the public military junior college and high school is not close to the downtown area where most of the flooding took place.

Soukup was the head football coach at Carlsbad High School in 2022 and is in his first year as head coach at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI).

The New Mexico State Police confirmed that two people died as a result of the flooding caused by nearly 6-inches of torrential rainfall, according to the National Weather Service.

Soukup said the flooding caused no damage at two of NMMI’s practice facilities and he expected the Broncos to practice this week.

“We did some stuff yesterday (Sunday) trying to help out some our staff that were affected,” he told the Current-Argus during a telephone interview Monday.

Soukup said family members of four NMMI players from Roswell were OK as he offered the team’s assistance for those needing help cleaning up.

“I got the biggest workforce in town. We cleaned out a couple of houses yesterday (Sunday),” he said.

Recapping the Golden Norsemen game

The Golden Norsemen had a 16-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and the Broncos managed to cut the deficit as quarterback Jake South threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kendall Jones.

NMMI’s extra point attempt was blocked and Northeastern Oklahoma still led.

The Broncos had a chance to take the lead with 45 seconds remaining on the clock but kicker Jack Nelson’s 30-yard field goal attempt fell short.

“The kids played hard, they didn’t give up,” Soukup said.

The loss dropped NMMI’s overall record to 3-4 and 2-3 in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference.

The Broncos travel to Athens, Texas, Oct. 26 to face Trinity Valley Community College.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or msmith@currentargus.com.