Warrior quarterback Marcus looks for running room against Cobre.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

BAYARD — Socorro is headed to the Class 3A football playoffs after the Warriors recorded their seventh shutout of the season with a 29-0 victory over Cobre on Oct. 29.

The win was Socorro’s fourth straight blanking of an opponent, but there was little satisfaction for coach Damien Ocampo and his staff as they witnessed their Warriors win an ugly game.

“We got our butts handed to us today in certain spots,” Ocampo said.

Not one to pull punches, Ocampo was honest with his team after the Warriors posted a quick 12-0 lead.

“I’m not questioning our effort as a team because I thought our guys tried hard,” Ocampo said. “We had a lot of guys who tried hard, and we’re banged up. We had some guys that had to step up today, which is excellent.”

Cornerback Colton Dow got things started for the Warriors when Socorro forced Cobre to punt away its first possession, and the ball came squirting off the foot of the punter. The short boot was collected by Dow, who returned it 20 yards for the touchdown.

Senior quarterback Marcus Armijo set up his 3-yard touchdown with a magnificent run on a fourth-down play that put the Warriors on top 12-0.

Ocampo hoped to pile up some points with an aggressive approach, but the Warriors’ second extra-points pass also failed to hit home.

The second quarter featured Armijo scoring on a five-yard run, and Kaden Dow’s 32-yard field goal gave Socorro a 22-0 advantage at halftime.

Warrior fans expected more of the same in the third quarter, but Socorro came out of the locker room slightly stale. It was also the second straight week the Warriors have not run the ball well in the second half.

“We struggled today for a lot of reasons. One reason is they’re (Cobre) is a lot better up front than people think. I mean, they’re good. They’re big, and they’re physical,” Ocampo said.

There were other reasons the Warriors were slowed down.

“We need to overcome some injuries. There’s a lot we need to overcome. And this could be a great lesson for us because we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Ocampo said.

There may have been a little psychological warfare with the “no officials” scheduled on Friday and having the game rescheduled to Saturday.

The Warriors also had to transport their ice for three hours because the Cobre ice machine was on the blink.

A turnover and Cobre recovering the second-half kickoff added to Socorro’s problems and allowed the Indians to hang around, but Armijo broke free on the inside and beat everyone to the corner on a 45-yard gallop and a 29-0 final.

History Made by Seniors

The 2022 Socorro seniors are the first Warriors to finish their careers without a district loss, and Socorro has won five straight league crowns. Socorro averaged 45.2 points per game while giving up just 6.3 points a contest.

The undefeated seniors include Warren Chewiwi, Warren Kurtnaker, Colton Dow, Caden Moreland, Marcus Armijo, Garrick Gutierrez, Brian Armijo, Xamien Aguilar, Angel Whitt, Nathaniel Nunez, Daniel Cabrera and Damien Greenwood.

The Warriors will have a bye in the first round of the 3A playoffs and host the Tatum/Dexter game-winner.

Russell Huffman | Assistant Editor