Demons secure first winning season in a generation, hold off Albuquerque High 41-38

Oct. 24—Six sounds so much better than five.

It has been 23 years since the Santa Fe High Demons could celebrate six wins in a season — the barrier between a winning season and an average one — but the narrative of the 2021 Demons has been that winning has never been an easy concept.

As their head coach, Andrew Martinez, congratulated them on achieving that elusive goal after a 41-38 win over District 2/5-6A foe Albuquerque High that was much harder than it needed to be. He also found the motto that encapsulated the season.

The Demons ended the regular season at 6-4 overall, 2-4 in 2/5-6A.

"Winning is supposed to be hard," Martinez said. "But it shouldn't be this hard."

But winning is that hard at a school that has celebrated a winning season just three times over the past 35 years and owns two losing streaks of 35 games or more in that span. It's hard when the specter of losing casts as large a shadow as any opponent the Demons have faced in that time.

Yet, it feels so good when it happens, and it was an emotion the 20 seniors, who might have played their last prep football game, didn't want to let go.

After Martinez broke the postgame huddle, the seniors walked off the field at Ivan Head Stadium — only to walk back on it with family and friends to share the moment with photos and videos.

"[Six wins] feels so much better — so much better," senior quarterback Luc Jaramillo said.

"We got above the peak," senior running back Martell Mora added.

The peak was so long, but so far as the Demons spent all of October chasing that sixth win. They lost three straight games, each in unique fashion.

There was the 55-38 dud at Albuquerque Sandia on Oct. 1 in which a 27-second period in the second and third quarters turned a minuscule 14-13 deficit turn into a 34-13 mountain.

A week later, the Demons were within inches of the peak as they held a 21-6 lead on Clovis before the Wildcats scored 22 unanswered points to win 28-21, puncturing the team playoff chances.

Then came a 48-7 loss to district champion Albuquerque La Cueva, as the outcome was practically sealed on an 89-yard return on the opening kickoff. That set the Bears at the Santa Fe High 2-yard line and spurred a 28-point first quarter.

When nothing left to play for other than the faint hope of an at-large playoff berth and a winning record, the Demons played with the swagger and confidence that helped them build a 5-1 record.

They scored 28 unanswered points to turn a 12-7 deficit into a 35-12 lead midway through a third quarter that has been an Achilles' heel during the district season.

District teams outscored Santa Fe High 61-46 in the third quarter heading into the game against the Bulldogs. This time, the Demons were the ones doing the scoring. They scored touchdowns on both drives in the third to push a 21-12 halftime lead to 35-12 after Jaramillo connected with Mora for a 26-yard touchdown pass at the 3:56 mark.

Jaramillo had perhaps the best game of his prep career, throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns while also running for a touchdown. All of the yardage and scores came during a 10-for-11 stretch that started near the end of the first quarter and didn't end until he hit Isaiah Madrill for 16 yards to put the ball at the Albuquerque High 10 in the fourth.

The play set up Mora's 10-yard touchdown run to make it 41-18 with 10:40 left.

"I'm finding my rhythm," Jaramillo said. "I felt like, at the beginning of the year, I was just a little too uptight. Once I settled in and got my feet going, I was good."

Still, all of that set up the drama that ensued over the next 9:59.

The Bulldogs made a furious rally, scoring on three straight possessions to cut the lead to 41-38 when quarterback Daysean Fuentes scored on a 1-yard keeper with 43 seconds left and ran in the subsequent 2-point conversion.

Mora said the defense was tired from the up-tempo pace Albuquerque High operated in the fourth quarter. The no-huddle approach prevented Martinez from substituting as much and Fuentes' scrambling ability exhausted the Demons' defensive linemen.

"Everyone was tired," Mora said. "It was just effort. Everyone kept fighting and giving as much effort as they could."

Martinez said even though the Bulldogs (2-7, 0-4) scored, his red-zone defense did what it could to slow them down. Albuquerque High scored either on third or fourth down inside the 10-yard line.

Extending those drives a few extra seconds became precious in the end.

Another aspect that Martinez didn't want to overlook was special teams.

The Demons executed a perfect onsides recovery after taking a 28-12 lead in the third. On their final scoring drive, Daniel Wright took a punt fake 30 yards to extend the drive.

While the Bulldogs failed to convert all but their final point-after attempts, Santa Fe High kicker Molly Wissman made all but the last of her point-after kicks.

"We limited their returns other than one," Martinez said. "The onside, the fake, the kicking game, it was really good today and we needed that."

The goal of making the playoffs appears to be a long-shot, with the Demons sitting in fifth place in the district standings despite being ranked 12th in the MaxPreps.com rankings. Martinez said getting to the playoffs would be great, but getting to the mountaintop of a winning season made the maddening journey worthwhile.

"There was a lot of pressure on these guys all year, and that's hard," Martinez said. "I put a lot of pressure on them. They put a lot of pressure on themselves. Sometimes, it was just too much."

The reward, though, was the view from the winning side of the mountaintop.

It is beautiful.