Artesia needed a blocked extra point to hold off Goddard on Friday night at the Wool Bowl. Lightning ended the game before the teams could play the fourth quarter.

Ivan Chavez blocked Goddard’s potential tying extra point with 10.2 seconds left in the third quarter, keeping the Bulldogs ahead 28-27.

Officials cleared the field because of lightning after the block. The game never resumed, giving Artesia the win. The teams agreed at 11:15 p.m. to call the game, Artesia coach Jeremy Maupin said.

“It is not the way you want to win necessarily,” Maupin said. “I am proud of our guys, and we just made one more play with that block that Ivan Chavez had, and we made an earlier two-point conversion. I am proud of our guys for their grit and their fight. We have to play better football moving forward.”

Tyler Egeland caught three touchdown passes to help Artesia overcome four turnovers.

The Bulldogs fumbled on the opening kickoff and a first-quarter punt return, then threw two interceptions in the second quarter. They also had their first extra-point attempt blocked.

“We did not play well in all three phases of the game,” Maupin said. “There was a lot of good at times, and there was some real bad at times. We have to get to where we play more consistently.”

Egeland keeps Bulldogs in it

Egeland caught touchdown passes of 37, 61 and 38 yards as the Bulldogs came back from deficits of 7-0, 14-6 and 21-14.

Goddard quarterback Nate Vazquez threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Eli Cooper in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Lucas Atkins found Egeland for a 37-yard touchdown early in the second, but the blocked extra point left Artesia trailing 7-6.

Rockets running back Isaiah Montoya ran for a 1-yard touchdown, pushing Goddard’s lead to 14-6. Artesia answered 15 seconds later when Atkins hit Egeland for a 61-yard touchdown. Atkins connected with Kai Greathouse on the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14 with 6:36 left in the half.

The conversion erased Artesia’s blocked extra point and helped create the eventual one-point margin.

Vazquez threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Noah Lujan early in the third quarter, putting Goddard up 21-14. Egeland caught a 38-yard screen pass from Atkins for a touchdown to tie the game 21-21 with 5:05 left in the quarter.

“I thought Egeland had a really good game,” Maupin said. “I think early in the game, we took some vertical shots, and in the second half, that opened up some of our tunnel screen plays.”

Artesia defensive back Derrick Ruiz tackles a Goddard player during Friday night action at the Wool Bowl.

One block, then lightning

Atkins and Greathouse connected on a 50-yard pass to help set up Artesia’s go-ahead score. Atkins finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Corbyn Dominguez’s extra point gave the Bulldogs a 28-21 lead with 1:28 left in the third.

Montoya’s 59-yard run set up Vazquez’s 2-yard touchdown run, cutting Artesia’s lead to 28-27 with 10.2 seconds left in the third quarter.

Chavez blocked the extra point on what became the game’s final play.

Maupin said it was unclear whether the weather would arrive later or miss the game altogether. Artesia was willing to wait after the teams left the field.

“We wanted to play the game,” Maupin said. “I told Art (Bolaños), the Goddard head football coach, we will wait as long as you want, and we agreed at 11:15 p.m. that we would call the game. We wanted to play.”

Cleanup before the finale

Artesia improved to 5-4 overall and 5-1 in District 2-5A. Along with the turnovers, Maupin pointed to the Bulldogs allowing Goddard to convert third-and-long situations.

“As I said, we have turnovers; we have to clean up our football,” Maupin said. “Hopefully, we can make a run, a little run, the next several weeks.”

Artesia travels to Mayfield for its regular-season finale at 3 p.m. Saturday. Mayfield is 2-6 overall and 2-3 in district play.

JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061.