Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press

Behind another solid showing by the defense, the New Mexico Military Institute Colt football team rolled to a 45-0 victory over the Loving Falcons on Friday night at Colt Field.

The Colts (4-1) amassed 361 yards of total offense while holding the Falcons to 79 yards.

“Our defense has kind of been our backbone for the season,” said NMMI head coach Randy Montoya. “We started off hot on offense then we kind of petered out there in the second quarter.

“We can’t have those ups and downs, but for the most part obviously we’re trying to get a W. We’ll take it.”

NMMI’s spark ignited in the first quarter when Hector Herrera recovered a fumble for the Colts to spoil the Falcons’ opening drive.

William Cox got the Colts on the board during fourth-and-12 with a 31-yard field goal with 8:02 on the clock.

Loving (0-6) then had another costly turnover that came in the form of an interception by Jonathan Cuellar that was returned for a 40-yard touchdown with 5:25 left in the opening quarter.

On their next drive, the Falcons were forced to punt on fourth-and-22.

A big 51-yard run by Jaikayo Brown got the Colts in good field position at the 13-yard line, however the Loving defense spoiled NMMI’s drive with an interception by Dylan Green.

Holding on to a 10-0 lead, NMMI forced the Falcons to punt once more.

The Colts ended up trying to convert on fourth-and-five on the following drive but Juan Badillo was sacked by Amari Benavidez to turn over the ball.

Darrell Ochieng then got the ball back for NMMI with an interception. NMMI banked on the turnover with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Badillo to Diego Hernandez on fourth-and-10 with 6:58 left until halftime.

Cox had a 56-yard kickoff that rolled down to the four-yard line after bouncing off a Falcon player which allowed the Colts to recover the loose ball.

NMMI tried to convert on fourth-and-two but it was unsuccessful.

The Colt offense started the second half with a bang, scoring on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Badillo to Ochieng with 11:49 in the third quarter.

Loving punted away on its next series which allowed NMMI to get an 11-yard touchdown run by Badillo to increase the score to 31-0 with under six minutes left in the quarter.

Gael Garza grabbed the third interception of the night for the Colt defense.

After some solid runs, Simen Johansen scoffed from 25 yards out to help the Colts score 21 unanswered points in the third quarter.

NMMI got its final touchdown of the game on a 34-yard pass from David WendeIn-Lankard to Norberto Valencia with 34 seconds left in the ballgame.

Badillo led the offense completing 7 of 17 passes for 132 yards with two scores. Badillo compiled 205 total yards of offense as he also had nine carries for 73 yards to lead the rushing attack.

Brown finished with three carries for 56 yards while Johansen had 52 yards on five carries.

Hernandez grabbed three catches for 30 yards and Valencia had 53 yards on two receptions.

Next week NMMI travels to Socorro for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Warriors are 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by MaxPreps.

After that, District 4-3A play begins for the Colts at Dexter.

“We can’t get on the one- or two-yard line and not be able to punch it in. That’s just not acceptable,” Montoya added. “From here on out every single game matters for seeding, playoffs, rankings – all that good stuff. Our roads getting a whole lot tougher.”

NMMI 45, Loving 0

Loving                     0            0              0              0

NMMI                   10           7              21             7

FIRST QUARTER

NMMI – 31 field goal by William Cox, 8:02

NMMI – Jonathan Cuellar 40 interception (William Cox kick), 5:25

SECOND QUARTER

NMMI – Juan Badillo 22 pass to Diego Hernandez (Juan Badillo kick), 6:58

THIRD QUARTER

NMMI – Juan Badillo 65 pass to Darrell Ochieng (William Cox kick), 11:49

NMMI – Juan Badillo 11 run (David WendeIn-Lankard kick), 6:12

NMMI – Simen Johansen 25 run (David WendeIn-Lankard kick), 2:40

FOURTH QUARTER

NMMI – David WendeIn-Lankard 34 pass to Norberto Valencia (Juan Badillo kick), :34

NMMI STATISTICS

Rushes-Yards: 26-195

Passing: 166

Comp-Att-Int: 8-19-1

LOVING STATISTICS

Rushes-Yards: 15-27

Passing: 52

Comp-Att-Int: 12-31-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: NMMI, Juan Badillo 9-73, Jaikayo Brown 3-56, Simen Johansen 5-52, Alexander Johnson 5-11, Darrell Ochieng 4-3.

Passing: NMMI, Juan Badillo 7-17 – 132, David WendeIn-Lankard 1-2 – 34.

Receiving: NMMI, Darrel Ochieng 1-65, Norberto Valencia 2-53, Diego Hernandez 3-30, Gael Venegas 2-18.