DEDICATION
This effort is dedicated to Tom Atencio, Mike Mallery,
Larry Sanchez, Donnell Hunter, Martin Candaleria,
and to others who made that sacrifice…
… And to Pete Hurst and Jack Hasler who’s coaching records
have long been forgotten but whose inspiration
will always be remembered.
FORWARD
The idea to research and write this history of high school football in the Land of Enchantment came to me quite accidentally. I grew up in Aztec where I played football for a school rich in football tradition. After being out of the state for eight years, I returned to Albuquerque in 1977. To discover what I had missed as far as my old school was concerned; I found a well of information on microfilm at the libraries in Albuquerque. I went back to the year of 1965 when I played for the worst football team Aztec ever produced. My curiosity took me back even further and I discovered that our losses to Socorro, Grants, Bloomfield and Los Lunas were the first ever by the Aztec Tigers. The immediate questions were “Why was I not told of this in 1965? Would it have made any difference to me and my teammates if I had known about the Tiger heritage?”
I lived in the DukeCity until 1981 when I moved to Alaska. My research was completed and the book written at that time. Some material was updated and edited in the following ten years. When I returned to Colorado in 1988 the project has slowly gained momentum again and this is the result.
It has been said that the past dictates what will happen in the future. That is to say, our heritage is responsible for our sense of pride and values. Without knowledge of the past it is difficult to determine what direction will be taken in the future. For this reason I am submitting this information in hopes that it will become a source of pride to those young athletes that are not aware of the rich tradition of their school colors.
Gathering the information contained in this book was unbelievably difficult at first. I found that a rich tradition was less coveted than I had imagined. There are hundreds of books and thesis in our libraries concerning the history of New Mexico. Most deal with the romantic Kit Carson, William Bonney, or Mexican War eras. Some reflect the history of the atomic age in the state. But I could find literally no books on the history of education, much less school athletics, in New Mexico until I visited the special collection section of the UNM Library. Remarkably, there are few books about our communities since statehood in 1912.
Although sympathetic to my cause, I could get little information from the original high schools in the state. Even the New Mexico Activities Association could offer me no more than a list of state champions since 1950, a list, which I already had. It was sadly too late to get first hand information from those founding mentors who had dedicated their lives to forming the system as we know it today. Can you imagine how our history would have suffered if no one bothered to write down the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson or if no one could positively remember who it was that freed the slaves or won the battles? No wonder those “easterners” think we are not a part of the United States. No one has bothered to record our twentieth century history for their information.
Most of this book contains newspaper accounts of the events as they happened. Even these facts have been distorted over the years. For instance, most people believe the first football game played between two high schools was between MenaulSchool and AlbuquerqueIndianSchool. Wrong. Sportscasters concede that St. Michael’s and Santa Fe High played the oldest continuing game each year until they discontinued in 1985. Wrong again. In fact, there are at least six other rivalries that are older.
The most notable of newspapers was the Albuquerque Journal, which was the first in the state to publish accounts of all teams and games in the state on every given weekend. The change for the mythical state championship was covered almost exclusively by the Journal in the early years. Other community newspapers did well at covering their town high school but seldom published scores of other schools. Nevertheless, newspapers were the best source of information and, consequently, approximately 80% of the research material contained in this book was obtained from their accounts.
I do not profess to be a professional writer by any means. But I do feel that this book is presented in an unbiased way. Major emphasis is put on the winners and the near winners, the great and the important contributors to high school football in New Mexico. I tried to relate the sometimes-colorful stories that happened off the field but affected the course of football history anyway. But I purposely avoided the tragic issues of the infighting of politics that affects all phases of our society. There are no efforts to place blame for any eligibility violations, coach’s dismissals, or racial problems and I urge readers to reserve judgment on such issues without further research in those general accounts.
I would like to acknowledge the encouragement of people like Jim Boggio who held down the sports desk for KOAT-TV for over a decade and, while I was doing this research, Jim Hulsman of Albuquerque High, who is more commonly known as one of the leading and senior basketball coaches in the state but who is know to me because we share the same interest and, most of all, Chuck Ferris who kept this dream alive a decade after the research was complete. Also, the pictures of this book were accumulated from the many coaches whose stories and events grace the following pages.
Finally, you must know that 90% of this book was written and researched from 1977 to 1981. It has been the encouragement and persistence of Chuck Ferris and the interest of coaches and fans alike that has caused me to pick up the task, correct some errors and add the final years of the first century of high school football in the Land of Enchantment. The final motivating factor was that football in New Mexico was 100 years old on October 7, 1992. This book is intended to celebrate that event.
About the Author
The author is a New Mexico native from Aztec, Hagerman, Roswell and Albuquerque. Dan Ford was born in Roswell in 1948. He lived in Hagerman as a tot before his family moved to Aztec. He graduated from AztecHigh School in 1966 where he played quarterback for the Tigers. Ford went to NMMI in Roswell to play junior college football and quickly found out that he had reached a level beyond his ability. He became a banker and eventually lived in Albuquerque where he began the research for this book.
The Ford roots are in the PecosValley from Hagerman to Artesia.
After completing most of the research he moved with his family to Alaska where he continued his banking career. While in Alaska (1981-1988) they lived in Nome, Fairbanks and Juneau. He tells of making phone calls on Friday nights to Jim Boggio at KOAT-TV to announce the score of the Nome/Kotzebue football game. Of course, only 13 schools played football in Alaska at the time and neither Nome nor Kotzebue was in that group. While in Juneau Dan compiled a history of high school football in that young state. The Fords moved back to Bayfield, Colorado in 1988.
Dan has been married to his high school sweetheart, Cyndee, since 1969. They raised three children, Christy, Ross and Ben. Ross was Bayfield’s first two-time AllState player when he graduated in 1991. Ben is in the Colorado record books with 22 career interceptions and a state championship to his credit. He graduated from BHS in 1997. Christy lives in Seattle and has the biggest prize with two grandchildren for Cyndee and Dan.
Dan Ford has been a banker since 1969. He works as the Senior Vice President at Pine River Valley Bank in Bayfield. His passion has always been history and a love for high school sports. He is the self-proclaimed “Voice of the Wolverines” in Bayfield and can be found at the gym or on the field anytime that games are being played.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION ______i
FORWARD ______ii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ______iv
Chapter One ______1
“An Interesting Game is Anticipated”
Chapter Two ______17
Development Years
Chapter Three ______49
Working Toward A True Champion
Chapter Four ______85
The Playoffs
Chapter Five ______111
Artesia, Carrizozo & The Hornets
Chapter Six ______137
New Names, More Teams
Chapter Seven ______163
Clovis, Animas and 6-Man Football
INDEX ______195
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHS ______199
1