JT Keith

Artesia Daily Press

jtkeith@elritomedia.com

A lot is made of the Eddy County rivalry, and rightly so, but not on Friday night. The Artesia Bulldogs walked into Ralph Bowyer Caveman Stadium liked they owned the place. The Bulldogs’ scored touchdown after touchdown in a 48-24 win.

Bulldogs’ head football coach Jeremy Maupin said his team looked sharp in its first win of the season. Maupin said his team made a little bit of a statement after last week’s scrimmage, where people may have doubted his team a little bit.

“I thought we had a real good start to the season,” Maupin said. “There are things we have to fix, but it was a really good start to the season.”

Here are three reasons the Bulldogs’ won:

Big plays

In the first quarter, after being stopped short of a first down at its 28-yard line, Bulldogs’ coach, Jeremy Maupin, went for it on fourth and 5. The Bulldogs picked up the first down.

On the same drive, after a Carlsbad player was called for a face mask penalty, placing the ball was on its own 50-yard line after a penalty. Bulldogs’ running back Bryce Parra then scampered 41-yards with 8:54 left in the first quarter, scoring the Bulldogs first touchdown of the season. Placekicker Corbyn Dominguez added the Point After Touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

“Bryce (Parra) was really good for us last year,” Maupin said. “He was probably a little overshadowed because Frankie Gallindo was so good for us. Bryce (Parra) is really just a hardworking kid. His hard work paid off and he had a great night tonight.”

The next big play was when Artesia’s quarterback Derrick Warren, who was making his first start of his career, threw a screen pass to Parra. That pass went for a 76-yard touchdown giving the Bulldogs a 27-7 lead in the second quarter with 7:10 to play.

The fourth big play of the game came when, Warren threw a 37-yard touchdown to wide receiver Trent Egeland to make the score 34-7 with 4:33 to play in the second quarter.

“I thought that he (Warren) moved in the pocket well and made some good throws,” Maupin said. “He commanded the offense really well for his first full game. I am excited for where he is.”

The fifth big play for the Bulldogs was when the Bulldogs offense had the ball on the Caveman’s 7-yard line, and Warren ran an option pitching the ball to Parra, who passed it in the end zone to Egeland for a 7-yard touchdown pass to give the ‘Dogs a 41-7 lead.

Capitalized on turnovers

Carlsbad had two fumbles and one interception.

A Carlsbad runner fumbled at the Artesia 10-yard line after picking up a first down on fourth and 2 in the Artesia 10-yard line. Bulldogs’ linebacker Marco Soto Jr. scooped up the fumble at the Bulldogs’ 10-yard line and ran it back for a 90-yards for a touchdown. This after the Cavemen picked up a first down and appeared tone heading into the end zone to tie the game at 14-14.

“I have not watched it on film,” Maupin said. “Our coaches said on film, that the runner was up- and Marco (Soto) … I thought our kids did a really good job of really ripping the ball a lot, forcing some turnovers. And it seemed when they (Carlsbad) got closer to the goal line we (Artesia) ripped the ball even harder. I think Marco (Soto) ripped the ball out and took off running. It was a huge momentum change for our team. Marco is one of our captains and leaders and I am really excited for how he played tonight.”

Another costly turnover for the Caveman, was when quarterback Eloy Lopez threw an interception to Bulldogs’ cornerback Edel Villa, who returned the ball to the Carlsbad 37-yard line. That interception set up a Bulldog score, as the Bulldogs’ scored on a touchdown pass on the next play.

Maupin’s fourth down gambles pay off

With 4:14 left in the third quarter, on fourth and 5 at the midfield, Parra ran an option to the right side and converted for a first down.

The first down conversion led to a 35-yard touchdown run by Parra, making the score 48-17 with 1:58 in the third quarter.

In the first quarter on its first series of the game, Artesia had the ball at its 28-yard line and went for it on fourth and 5. Parra picked up a first down on a draw play, which continued the drive. Later in the drive, Parra scored on a 41-yard touchdown with 8:54 in the first quarter.

“When I became head coach,” Maupin said, “I told my first defensive coordinator, that ‘I am aggressive now. I always think I can get the first down.’ “Sometimes it gets me in trouble, but we were talking on the headset, and I said, ‘guys I really like this play and what do you think? Every coach was like, yes, yes, yes.’ We have two big receivers (Egeland and Jack Byers) that are really good at going up and getting the ball and they fall forward. We have confidence in either one of those guys will get us the first down, so we called the slant and got the first down.

Stats Highlights

Offense

Artesia rushed the ball 25 times for 205 yards.

14 receptions for 133 yards.

14 of 21 attempts 133 yards.

1 fumble.

9 penalties 103 yards.

5-of -9 on 3rd downs.

2-of-2 on 4th downs.

Allowed one sack.

Bryce Parra had 12 carries for 195 yards, 237 yards of total offense and three touchdowns.

Derrick Warren was 9 of 15 109 yards with 1 TD, and a quarterback rating of 111.9.

Parra was 1 of 1 six yards one touchdown.

Egeland had four receptions for 59 yards and two touchdowns.

Defense

Marco Soto Jr. had 14 tackles, and two fumble recoveries.

Edel Villa had 11 tackles and one interception

Daelon Pacheco had seven tackles.

jtkeith can be reached at 575-420-0061, or on X@JTKEITH1.

Photos provided by Linda Stevens of Artesia Clean and Beautiful

Artesia’s newest public mural depicting lives of people and uses for Eagle Draw was dedicated Aug. 16.

Stevens said District 1 Artesia City Councilor Raul Rodriguez opened the dedication ceremony and then the mural artist Kirsten Mauritsen spoke about community efforts to turn a blank brick wall into a piece of art.

“We had lots of community involvement,” Stevens said.  “One day I counted 35+ people there painting. Parents and grandparents brought their kids who had the best time painting.”

Stevens said that law enforcement and firefighters helped with the painting too.

District 1 Artesia City Councilor speaks during a dedication for the new mural near Eagle Draw.

Eagle Draw Mural artist Kirsten Mauritsen spoke of how the community came together to create the community painting.