Horsemen stomped in 44-7 loss to district rival Robertson

Oct. 23—LAS VEGAS, N.M.

One quarterback made all the difference Friday night — and it wasn't for the reasons some at Cardinals Field expected.

Las Vegas Robertson senior Matthew Gonzales did more than just dazzle the crowd and the St. Michael's Horsemen in a District 2-3A football game. The 5-foot-7 quarterback embodied all the things a championship-caliber signal-caller should possess — toughness, calm and confidence.

He was responsible for 299 yards of total offense, threw for four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Cardinals to an impressive 44-7 win that kept their hopes of securing the district title alive.

But Gonzales also embodies an important makeup that has been key to the success of Robertson's program over the past 16 years. While small in stature, much like the rest of his teammates, Gonzales was fearless in plunging headlong into the scrum at the line of scrimmage to pick up yards.

He carried the ball 25 times for 113 yards and capped the night with an 8-yard touchdown run in which he darted over the right side of the line of scrimmage and fell into the end zone with a pair of Horsemen tacklers wrapped around him.

Robertson head coach Leroy Gonzalez said he is most comfortable when the ball is in Gonzales' hands.

"I told him if they're running straight man [coverage] and you break outside, there is green grass," Gonzalez said. "I want you to run it more than throw it."

However, the passing element has become crucial in the growth of Gonzales, as well as the Robertson offense. He missed on just one of his nine passes and collected 186 yards.

Perhaps his most important completion came on the opening drive when he hit Isaiah Estrada for a 17-yard completion on a fourth-and-3 at the St. Michael's 21-yard line. It set up Estrada for a 4-yard touchdown run that gave the Cardinals (7-2 overall, 2-1 in 2-3A) a 7-0 lead they never relinquished at the 5:51 mark of the opening quarter.

"It gave us a really good advantage early," Gonzales said. "We had a couple of miscommunications up front [with the offensive line], but I knew we were going to convert that fourth down. It was the turning point because it gave us a huge advantage early in the game."

Meanwhile, the drive seemed to suck the life out of the Horsemen, who were missing 10 players because of COVID-19 quarantines after getting exposed to a student who tested positive for the coronavirus during the homecoming dance Oct. 16. One of them was quarterback Zach Martinez, and it forced head coach Joey Fernandez to take his best offensive weapon — senior wideout Devin Flores — and play him at quarterback.

Without the 6-2 Flores creating mismatches in the passing game, Robertson could clog the line of scrimmage with defenders and take away the running game.

"Having Devin out there would have made a big difference in our running because he takes two, three people out of the box," Fernandez said. "Having Zach out there would have made a difference, but we wouldn't have beat them with the way we came out tonight."

Fernandez saw a team that played timidly on defense, often failing to tackle Gonzales or other Cardinals runners on first contact. Robertson scored on every first-half possession except for the final one, and had a 26-0 lead at halftime.

St. Michael's (7-2, 2-1) managed just 29 yards of offense in the first half, with 15 of them coming on the opening drive that stalled at the Robertson 40.

Flores wasn't helped by his receivers, who dropped six passes — and some of them could have gone for big gains and helped stem the growing Cardinals tide.

Still, the defensive effort was lacking, and Fernandez said it was a matter of heart. Robertson had it; the Horsemen didn't.

"That is just the way those kids are — they're born that way," Fernandez said. "Our fight is just getting our kids to have it, and we didn't have it today. They beat us in every facet of the game. You gotta give them credit because they're not very big, but they play hard."

He made that point abundantly clear to his team after the game, pointing to his chest as he explained what truly was the difference.

Fernandez added that has to change, and fast. The Horsemen take on top-ranked and 2-3A leader Raton on Oct. 30. A loss could have serious impact on seeding for St. Michael's, which came into the game with a chance to solidify an argument for a top seed with a win. Now, the question of a top-five seed could be in jeopardy with another loss.

Meanwhile, Robertson could bask in the glory of one of its best performances in the season, and it could credit its tough, little quarterback for representing the "Cardinal Way."