Cavemen close out season with loss to Hawks By Don Eskins The Cavemen closed out the 2021 gridiron season with a 49-17 loss to the Volcano Vista Hawks during first round action of this year's Class 6A playoffs last Friday night (Nov. 5).After falling behind 7-0 during the opening moments of first quarter play the Cavemen rallied to tie the score at 7-7 on a 59 yard run by Ulysses Mendoza and a Dane Naylor extra point kick.Carlsbad added a 23-yardfield goal by Naylor to take a 10-7 lead as first quarter play came to an end. But after that it was all Volcano Vista. The Hawks went on to score three times in the second quarter to take a 28-10 half-time lead. They added another 14 in the third quarter and seven more in the fourth to jump out in front of the Cavemen 49-10 before Carlsbad could mount another scoring drive. Ty Molina, with time dwindling down in the fourth period, lit up the scoreboard for the final time in 2021 for the Cavemen, with a 3 yard touchdown run. Naylor added the extra point and it was over, CHS had lost 49-17.The Cavemen collected 330 total yards of offense in the loss, 287 rushing and 43 passing. Volcano Vista totaled 408 offensive yards, 76 rushing and 332 passing.Hudl sports lists Ulysses Mendoza, with five carries for 93 yards and a touchdown, as the Cavemen's leading rusher. Jonathan Fuentes had 43 yards receiving. Defensively Saul Ruiz had a forced fumble and Austin Blair a fumble recovery.The loss dropped the Cavemen's final record to 3-7 on the year. They were 1-3 in District 3/4A.Cross Country teams run well at state meet By Don EskinsCarlsbad High's Cross Country teams returned home from competing in this year's state meet in Albuquerque with good results."Overall our kids ran great on a really tough course, a course they've never run on before," said CHS coach Leisha Young. "They all gave their best, and honestly, I couldn't be more proud
of our kids."Carlsbad's overall top placer was Cavegirl junior Mikayla Jefferson. Jefferson, in a field of 118 Class 5A competitors, covered the course in a time of 23:39 to place 60th. She was followed by RaeAnn Carrasco who finished 86th with a time of 25:10 and Kennedy Johns who placed 87th with a time of 25:17.How tough was the race? Just ask the Cavegirl's Kennedy Johns."It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," she said. "I gave it my all. I had nothing left.""As a coach that's all you can ask of your athletes," said Young. "It was efforts like this that made me so proud of these kids."In the boys competition senior Rafael Espinosa crossed the finish line first for the Cavemen. Espinosa, with time of 20:28 placed 101st. Rounding out the Cavemen's scoring were Liam Nelson 20:29-102nd, Luke Peters 20:58-106th, Isaac Williamson 21:07-107th, Sawyer Johnson 21:33-111th and Jeffrey Lara 22:24-115th."I'm really excited to see what the future holds for our kids, especially on the boys side. Liam Nelson, Luke Peters, Isaac Williamson and Sawyer Johnson will all be returning next year," said coach Young. "As for our girls it will be a rebuilding year. But with Mikayla Jefferson and Elena Reed, who was unable to run at district or state due to an injury, leading the team I have confidence that they'll be back in full force next year
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