ROSWELL – The one thing Roswell football coach Jeff Lynn said his team must do against Artesia was not let the Bulldogs score on big plays.
That did not happen, as Artesia jumped out to a 21-point lead in the first half en route to a 42-58 victory over Roswell Friday night at the Wool Bowl.
The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-0 District 2-5A) came into the game against Roswell as the Maxpreps No. 1 team in the state, while the Coyotes were No. 2. The showdown between the teams in District 2- 5A.
“I think Roswell has some good pieces,” said Artesia coach Jeremy Maupin. “I thought we came in firing off, we had a good first drive, and we ended up missing a field goal, but our defense just played well in the first half. Our (defense) had three stops, back-to-back-to-back, which allowed us to get a 21-point lead in the first half. We have some things that we need to clean up, but other than that, I am pretty happy.”
Maupin said his team was able to mix and match some things and could move the ball all night.
Artesia converted on two fourth downs on its first series, as Bulldog quarterback Derrick Warren threw a 31-yard pass to running back Bryce Parra for a touchdown. Artesia kicker Corbyn Dominguez added the Point After Touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with one minute to play in the first quarter.
“I trust those guys,” Maupin said about going for fourth down four times in the game. “Those guys are begging me for a play, before I can think of a play. I want that, I trust them (players) and I want them to know they can trust me.”
Roswell (5-3, 4-1) seemed to load up for the run in hopes of stopping Parra, but wide receiver Trent Egeland had a big night with nine catches for 153 yards and scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 10-yard pass from Warren with nine minutes left to play in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 21-0 lead.
“I think we have five legit targets (wide receivers),” Maupin said. “I don’t look out there to see who is out there. I just trust everybody, and everybody got a call tonight. Unfortunately, we did not get Sawyer (Whitehead) a ball, but we had a call for him, we had some things not go right. Jett (Fuentes) had the big touchdown. Cael (Houghtaling) had some big catches, Jack (Byers) had some outstanding plays, and Egeland had a huge game. The offensive line really protected well, so it was an excellent game.”
Roswell came back with six minutes left in the second quarter when Luke Lynn threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Izaic Gonzales to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-6. Roswell held and then came back down and scored a touchdown when Coyote running back Luis Rodriguez dashed in from the 6-yard line to make the score 21-14 with two minutes to play in the half.
Artesia stemmed the momentum when Warren found slotback Jett Fuentes on a 20-yard pass to score a touchdown, making the score 28-14. After half, the Coyotes drove the ball down to the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line, Roswell went for it on fourth down and 2 yards and was stuffed by the Bulldogs’ defense. On the first play from scrimmage, Parra caught a 75-yard pass from Warren to score with less than a minute in the quarter to give the Artesia with the PAT being good a 35-14 lead. Warren once again connected with Egeland on a 10-yard touchdown pass with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter to make the score 42-21.
With under a minute to play in the game, Roswell running back Noah Estrada ran around the left side to score, making it 42-28.
Artesia is home for the final two weeks of the season and will host Goddard at 7 p.m. Friday at the Bulldog Bowl.
“Goddard is on the rise,” Maupin said. “Coach (Art) Bolanos has those guys playing well, so we have to win two good games the next two weeks, to give ourselves a chance in the playoffs. We have to play some excellent football this week.”
Stats of the game
Artesia
Bryce Parra rushed 19 times for 106 yards. Warren passed the ball 19-for-33 for 318 yards and six touchdowns and ran seven times for 28 yards.
Egeland had nine catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns, and Parra had three receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Byers had four catches for 44 yards. Jett Fuentes had three receptions for 21 yards and a touchdown.
The Bulldogs ran the ball 28 times for 131 yards, 20 receptions for 357 yards passing. Lost one fumble and had eight penalties for 70 yards. The Bulldogs were 4-of-16 on third down conversions and 3-of-4 on fourth down conversions.
Roswell
Roswell ran the ball 33 times for 178 yards and 11 receptions for 207 yards with two touchdowns. Roswell had 11 penalties for 90 yards. 2-for-12 on third down conversions and 2-for-4- on fourth down conversions.



























