The golden slant of the afternoon light over practice sessions at Bulldog Bowl is always a sign that Friday night lights have come and gone for another year. There’s a bit of sadness to it, of course, for a team and a community that look forward to those evenings with family and friends — band blaring, pop-poms waving, popcorn flowing, and Big Orange football serving as the star of the spectacle.
But Saturday afternoon sunshine is exciting for other reasons. It signals the fact that a goal has been accomplished. A job has been done, work has been put in, and execution is now mandatory if a team wants to keep donning those pads and helmets for just a little while longer.
Once again, the Bulldogs are in the playoffs. It’s an annual expectation they don’t take for granted, and the first step toward a new goal — the ultimate goal — begins with Saturday and Los Alamos.
“We’ve had two good days of practice this week, and we’ve got one more tomorrow,” head coach Jeremy Maupin said Wednesday from the Bowl. “We’ve been down on the turf, which always generates a little more excitement. It’s getting dark earlier, cooler practices — it’s a fun atmosphere during the playoffs.”
Save perhaps one minor detail, the Bulldogs have had the kind of season any team would want this year. Their regular-season run was nothing short of dominant, and except for a slip-up in their District 4-AAAAA opener against Roswell High, their second-season performance played out much the same.
But now comes the time of year when opponents are no longer of the rival, historic or familiar variety, and the ‘Dogs know that requires a whole new level of focus.
The No. 7 Hilltoppers come into Saturday’s Class 5A state quarterfinal with a record of 9-2. The runners-up of District 2/6-AAAAA, they were tripped up just once during their second season, 26-23, by sixth-ranked Valley, which squares off Friday night against No. 3 Piedra Vista in Farmington.
Los Alamos bested their other two district opponents by wide margins, taking down Del Norte 52-0 and Manzano 48-9. Their lone regular-season loss came as a surprise against 4A ninth-ranked Albuquerque Academy, 14-6.
The ‘Dogs and ‘Toppers have no opponents in common, but interested Artesians were able to tune in — for the most part — to NFHS Network last week to watch Los Alamos dismantle Highland 55-13 in the first round. It was clear the Hilltoppers possess their share of size and speed.
“They’re good-sized kids,” said Maupin. “Even just reading their heights, it’s 6’1″, 6’2”, 6′. Both of their losses were close games, and other than that, they had a solid season.
“Their defense is really good, and they’ve got a lot of speed. They have one kid, Melaki Gutierrez, who plays corner and offense. He’s the reigning state champion in the open one and the open two in state track, and he can fly. Offensively, they’ve put him at running back, wide receiver, slot back, and they’re trying to get him the ball because he can scoot.”
Junior quarterback Kyle Evanhus has passed for more than 1,600 yards this season, completing 130 of his 218 attempts and logging 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and there’s no question that Gutierrez is his favorite target. Excelling at the catch-and-run, Gutierrez has 32 receptions for 464 yards and nine touchdowns, along with 10 carries for 150 yards and three TDs. Senior running back Niko Garcia is 166-809 with 12 TDs.
“They also have a really good kicker, a big lefty who can put it in the end zone pretty much every time if he wants, and if he doesn’t, he does a real high bloop kick, kind of like their version of an onside,” Maupin said. “The main thing is, I think this is their team that they’ve been waiting on. A lot of these guys have been starting since they were sophomores, some probably since they were freshmen, and they’ve put a lot of stock in this group.
“They travelled a little more in the summer with them, and I think they’re pretty excited. They’re going to show up and give us their best game. They’ve never been in the Bowl, they don’t know this atmosphere, and it’s just going to be a good experience. On our end, we know that we have to get after them and attack them.”
That starts with the aforementioned heightened level of focus. Maintaining it is crucial in the playoffs, and particularly in the face of a state that wants to do nothing but look ahead this year in 5A, the Bulldogs know that a big part of moving forward is keeping their eyes on the road.
“I think everybody’s already trying to chalk it up to us playing Roswell again,” said Maupin. “And we need to make sure that our message is ‘We’re playing Los Alamos Saturday. And if we win, we’ll be playing somebody else next week. And after all that, we can talk about Roswell.’
“We have to focus on what’s directly ahead of us because we get people’s best games. We expect to get Los Alamos’ best game. They haven’t played anybody like us, and they’re definitely the fastest team we’ll have played. We just have to make sure we play good, sound football and give ourselves the best chance to win.”
