Warriors take first step toward State Championship

Warriors captains together at midfield for potentially the final home game coin flip of their career in a Socorro football jersey.
Greg Byrd | El Defensor Chieftain

The Warriors kicked off the 2021 NMAA State Championships at home, posting a win against the Dexter Demons. A 41-0 shutout sealed the deal for Socorro as they move on to the final four semifinals this weekend.

Despite the dominating victory on the score board, head coach Damien Ocampo projected frustration after the win.

“I have mixed feelings,” he said. “I’m happy we’re in the final four. I think we belong there. But with all of the mistakes, we can’t play this way and hope to win. I’m pretty frustrated right now with self-inflicted mistakes and if we don’t clean that up, I guarantee we don’t have a chance to move on in the playoffs.

The Warriors came out of their locker room ready to go. The Demons were making mistakes on the field early. Senior Erick Brock lost a fumble in the red zone that was recovered by the Warriors. Senior Jordan Armijo had a strong 5 yard rush to start the scoring for Socorro. Junior Marcus Armijo had a fumble that he was able to recover in a pile up. Marcus made up for it with a big touchdown, making it 14-0 as the first quarter ended.

Emotions began to rise as players settled into the game. Junior Damien Greenwood was called for unsportsmanlike conduct as his teammates had to shove him off of the field. Visiting Dexter fans were also warned by the referees multiple times for their language toward Warriors players.

“These kids are kids out there,” Ocampo said. “But I was hearing their stands cursing at our kids at a level we don’t normally see. There was a lot of stuff happening out there tonight on the sidelines that just wasn’t right. It was unsportsmanlike and our kids let it get to them and started doing foolish things on their part. I heard nothing from their coaching staff, they’re a great group. But we got flagged twice for pointing at the score board for some reason. Yet, when fans are yelling at us we shouldn’t even be responding.”

Animosity continued with a scrum along the visiting team’s sideline. Multiple Warriors players received unsportsmanlike penalties with senior Adadrian Jackson dancing around on the field after the brief incident.

After halftime the Warriors came out ready to finish things off. Jordan Armijo made a big pic to end a Dexter drive in the red zone. Jackson joined in with a big 1st play score to make things 32-0. Socorro kept its foot on the gas on the way toward making it to a final four game.

Lineman Moises Castillo was not happy after the game ended in the locker room.

“Our team didn’t play great tonight. There were mental mistakes from both sides of the ball for us that we need to work on. But there was also definite animosity between these teams.

“This is the first time some cheap stuff has happened to me personally in a game. A lot of grabbing and face masks that weren’t called. That’s alright. It was the definition of a battle.”

Marcus Armijo scored the final touchdown on a short run that ended the game. Socorro heads to Las Vegas Saturday to face off against the 9-2 Robertson Cardinals.