Peter Dindinger — NMMI Sports Press
There’s some magic in the water within the New Mexico Military Institute Colt football program.
In a key District 4-3A matchup against No. 6 Hope Christian, the Colts used 477 yards of total offense to pull off a 42-27 victory on homecoming Friday night at Colt Field.
Seventh-ranked NMMI (6-2, 2-0) is now in the driver’s seat in the hunt for a district title with one game to go against Tucumcari on Oct. 29.
“It’s just huge. I’ve been here 11 years now and we don’t get teams like this very often,” said NMMI head coach Randy Montoya. “We’re not done yet. We’re not satisfied.
“Yes, they took a huge step here. We’ve got to finish the season and go into the postseason ready and healthy.”
The Huskies had to punt on their opening drive of the contest. After a botched snap, the Colts took over on the Hope 39.
A 24-yard pass from David WendeIn-Lankard to Norberto Valencia help setup a five-yard touchdown run by Jaikayo Brown with 7:19 on the clock.
After the point after attempt was blocked, NMMI held a 6-0 lead.
Hope Christian answered back with an 11-yard touchdown run by James Jenkins with 2:30 left in the opening quarter.
Trailing 7-6 at the end of one quarter, NMMI got a big play on offense as Juan Badillo connected with Darrell Ochieng for a 41-yard pass.
WendeIn-Lankard later got the Colts three points in the form of a 35-yard field goal with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter.
The Huskies used a four-play drive that was capped off with a 14-yard touchdown run by Brent Miller, which gave them a 14-9 lead with just under six minutes on the clock.
A personal foul call on Hope Christian and a 21-yard run by Simen Johansen helped the Colts put together a 13-play drive.
Johansen found the end zone on a two-yard run. After the failed two point conversion, NMMI led 15-14.
The Colt defense stepped up on Hope’s next offensive series as Ned Curnutt picked off Jenkins during the first play from scrimmage.
Badillo struck Ochieng for a 59-yard connection, but the clock ran down to zero to end the first half with NMMI threatening to score.
NMMI got the ball to start the second half.
The Colts used five plays to get into the end zone. Ochieng broke a 57-yard touchdown run to increase NMMI’s lead to eight with 9:29 in the third quarter.
NMMI went on to outscore Hope 20-7 in the quarter.
A 40-yard pass from Jenkins to Ronnie Gilletti got the Huskies down to the NMMI four yard line. Jenkins was able to finish off the drive with a four-yard run to cut the deficit to one with 7:13 on the clock.
The Colts fumbled on their next drive, but the Huskies couldn’t capitalize as Diego Hernandez blocked the punt to pin the Hope Christian defense on its own 32 yard line.
Badillo threw a 14-yard touchdown strike to Valencia to cap off a five-play drive for the Colts. After an unsuccessful two point conversion, NMMI held a 28-21 lead.
On the third play of Hope’s next offensive series, Hernandez came up big on defense with a 48-yard interception return that increased the Colts’ lead to 14 with 1:04 left in the third quarter.
To start the final quarter, the Huskies took advantage of two NMMI penalties to eventually find the end zone on a 13-yard run by Miller.
The point after attempt was missed to make it 35-27.
Aided by a 24-yard run by Badillo, the Colts put the finishing touches on the ballgame with a 16-yard touchdown run by Johansen with 2:59 left in the game.
NMMI then attempted an onside kick that bounced off a Husky player. Gael Garza came up with the loose ball as the Colts went into victory formation to run down the final seconds on the clock.
The Huskies (5-4, 1-1) were held to 239 yards of offense.
NMMI dominated the rushing attack with 315 yards. Badillo completed five of nine passes for 138 yards while he rushed for 112 yards on 19 carries.
Johansen averaged eight yards a carry as he carried the ball 13 times for 104 yards with two scores.
Ochieng finished with three catches for 107 yards while he rushed for 79 yards on five carries.
Miller led the Huskies’ rushing attack with 20 carries for 122 yards. Jenkins finished two for eight with 49 yards passing.
“It’s just a testament to our line, obviously our backs running hard. Just tickled to death. Great game. Hope Christian’s obviously a great team,” Montoya added.
NMMI 42, Hope Christian 27
HOPE 7 7 7 6
NMMI 6 9 20 7
FIRST QUARTER
NMMI — Jaikayo Brown 5 run (kick failed), 7:19
HOPE — James Jenkins 11 run (Logan Fuller kick), 2:30
SECOND QUARTER
NMMI — David WendeIn-Lankard 35 kick, 7:17
HOPE — Brent Miller 14 run (Logan Fuller kick), 6:06
NMMI — Simen Johansen 2 run (conversion failed), :22
THIRD QUARTER
NMMI — Darrell Ochieng 57 run (Juan Badillo kick), 9:29
HOPE — James Jenkins 4 run (Logan Fuller kick), 7:13
NMMI — Juan Badillo 14 pass to Norberto Valencia (conversion failed), 2:32
NMMI — Diego Hernandez 48 interception return (Juan Badillo kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
HOPE — Brent Miller 13 run (kick failed)
NMMI — Simen Johansen 16 run (Juan Badillo kick)
NMMI STATISTICS
Rushes-Yards: 47-315
Passing: 162
Comp-Att-Int: 6-11-0
HOPE STATISTICS
Rushes-Yards: 30-190
Passing: 49
Comp-Att-Int: 2-10-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: NMMI, Juan Badillo 19-112, Simen Johansen 13-104, Darrell Ochieng 5-79, Jaikayo Brown 6-15, David WendeIn-Lankard 2-5.
Passing: NMMI, Juan Badillo 5-9-0 – 138, David WendeIn-Lankard 1-2 – 24.
Receiving: NMMI, Darrell Ochieng 3-107, Norberto Valencia 3-55.