NMMI Sports Press
The extra fans in the stands from homecoming couldn’t help spur the New Mexico Military Institute football team to a victory over Class AAA’s second-ranked team in the state, as the Demons downed the Colts 42-7 in the first District 4 match for both teams.
The Demons scored on their opening possession, needing nine plays to traverse 68 yards for the touchdown.
They scored again before the end of the first half after a bad snap on an NMMI punt attempt gave Dexter a short field, needing just three plays to enter the end zone from the Colt 22 yard line.
The Demons posted another seven points at the 5:11 mark in the second quarter with another nine-play drive, this one totaling 60 yards.
NMMI’s first and only score of the game came when junior tailback Charles Lewis broke through the opposition secondary for a 27-yard rushing TD.
The Demons added one more touchdown before halftime to make it a 28-7 contest heading into the locker rooms, then another pair of TDs in the third period to force a running clock for most of the fourth quarter.
The NMMI offense, which had been averaging 5.2 yards per carry before last week’s loss at Hope Christian, managed just 65 yards of total offense, 63 yards of which were gained by Lewis on 15 attempts.
Despite giving up over 400 yards of offense, the NMMI defense recorded nine tackles for losses, including sacks by junior defensive tackle Riley Robertson and freshman defensive end Nathaniel Rushing.
With the loss, the Colts drop to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in district with two games remaining in the regular season. They’ll travel to Tularosa next week to take on the 4-4 Wildcats, who bested the Rattlers at Tucumcari for a district-opening win this week, 34-21.
Kickoff for the Tulie game is scheduled for 7 pm on Friday, Oct. 26.