Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

The Artesia Bulldogs overcame an early 7-0 deficit defeating the Lovington Wildcats 45-7 to advance to the 5A football playoff semifinals next week.

Lovington used nearly 13 minutes of the opening quarter to score on a 17-play 55-yard drive as Ondalis Cardenas scored on a 1-yard run and Caleb Aranda kicked the extra point.

Artesia head coach Jeremy Maupin did not panic as the Bulldogs took care of business taking 7 plays and 80 yards to tie the Wildcats 7-7 with :33 left in the first quarter in the quarterfinals Nov. 16 at Bulldog Bowl.

Quarterback Izac Cazares scored on a 7-yard touchdown run and Corbyn Dominguez kicked the extra point.

Artesia’s defense took over in the closing stages of the first quarter as 6-foot-4 defensive end Kaden Grantham intercepted a pass that led to Artesia’s second touchdown in the second quarter.

“Kaden Grantham gets a tip off the interception and then kind of pulls some guys downfield with him,” said Maupin during a post-game interview.

Diego Lopez caught a 4-yard pass from Cazares with 9:33 left in the first half. Artesia’s 2-point conversion failed, and the Bulldogs extended the lead 13-7.

Artesia’s defense thwarted another Lovington offensive drive in the second quarter blocking a Wildcat punt which led to the third touchdown of the first half.

Running back Frankie Galindo scored on a 2-yard run with 6:23 left before halftime.

Galindo threw a pass to Ayden Huffman in the end zone for the 2-point conversion as Artesia extended the lead 21-7.

Artesia’s defense stopped another Lovington offensive drive and wrapped up a 6-play 50-yard drive with Dominguez booting a 33-yard field goal upping the score to 24-7 with 2:07 remaining in the second quarter.

Artesia capped off the first half with another touchdown as the defense forced a Wildcat fumble as 6-foot senior defensive end Rafael Orozco scored on the recovery with over a minute left before halftime.

Dominguez made the extra point kick as the Bulldogs coasted to a 31-7 halftime lead.

Two more Artesia touchdowns in the second half, including a 91-yard kick off return by Ethan Conn provided some insurance for the Bulldogs.

“I know they got some points and made some stops,” said Maupin of the defense.

“We came out and our offense hit them in the mouth, and it was the aggression that we talk about all week and the psychical style of play, and I thought are guys really showed up and got after these guys.”

Before the Lovington game, Maupin wondered how Artesia would perform against a District 5-2A foe in the playoffs.

The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 57-21 during a Sept. 22 regular season game in Lovington.

Saturday, the Bulldogs host the Mayfield Trojans in the semifinals. Artesia edged the Trojans in Las Cruces 42-28 to end the regular season earlier this month.

Artesia is the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and the Trojans are No. 6 and downed the Deming Wildcats 21-7 in Deming on Nov. 15.

“Every time we talked and said, ‘we’re going to play these guys twice.’ When the (playoff) bracket came out we said, ‘there’s a chance we’re going to play our whole district twice.’ We know that was reality, so we had a good Lovington team today (Nov. 16) and we know we’ve got a hungry Mayfield team that is playing real good football and so we know we have to have a good week of preparation and its going to be fun to host another playoff game,” Maupin said.

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter

Lovington-Ondalis Cardenas 1-yard run, Caleb Aranda kick, 2:38, 7-0.

Artesia-Izac Cazares 7-yard run, Corbyn Dominguez kick, :33, 7-7.

2nd Quarter

Artesia-Izac Cazares 4-yard pass to Diego Lopez, 2-point conversion no good, 9:33,13-7.

Artesia-Frankie Galindo 2-yard run, Galindo to Ayden Huffman 2-point conversion, 6:23,21-7.

Artesia-Dominguez 33-yard field goal, 2:07, 24-7.

Artesia-Rafael Orozco fumble recovery, Dominguez kick,1:21, 31-7.

3rd Quarter

Artesia-Ethan Conn 91-yard kick off return, Dominguez kick, 11:43, 38-7.

Artesia-Galindo 3-yard run, Dominguez kick, 8:09, 45-7.

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