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OPINION: Tularosa has much for which to be thankfulNov 22, 2009 (Alamogordo Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- With Thanksgiving coming this week, there is much for which to be thankful. In Tularosa, folks are thankful for a successful fall season of high school sports. The volleyball team recently made it to the Class 2A state championship game in Rio Rancho, where they lost to eventual champion Texico. I had a chance to watch the Lady Wildcats play a couple of weeks ago at Tularosa High School and they were impressive. I used to cover sports in Ohio, where volleyball matches are a huge draw. I had the opportunity to cover some quality high school volleyball. In Ohio, it wasn't unusual to enter a gymnasium and see a packed house. Female sports, while not quite the big-money draw as their counterparts, still was able to display their talent for large numbers of people. While I watched plenty of good volleyball teams in Ohio, I believe the Lady Wildcats would have been able to hold their own against any of them. Then, on Friday night, sports writer Derek Stell and I anxiously awaited the result of the Tularosa football team's game against Texico. It was well past the Daily News' deadline for Saturday morning's newspaper, but we stuck around in hopes of being able to post a small story to our Web site. I call it an ironic twist of fate, but the Wildcats turned the tables on Texico and beat the perennial state football powerhouse 7-6 on a blocked extra-point attempt. That would have been a fantastic game to watch. Now that the Wildcats are in the Class 2A state title game this weekend, folks in the Tularosa Basin will have a chance to watch good high school football. You see, the Wildcats, being the No. 1 seed, will host the state championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bob Cerny Stadium, where they will face rival Lordsburg. Even if you're not a Wildcats fan, people in the Tularosa Basin should come out and support the team in their quest for the big prize. According to the New Mexico Activities Association Web site, Tularosa has won two state football titles the last coming in 2001 when the Wildcats beat Estancia 51-28. That team was coached by Bruce Dollar, who later went on to lead Alamogordo to a runner-up finish in the Class 5A state championship game against Mayfield. The Wildcats also won it all in 1954 in Class C. That team was coached by Bob Erwin and beat Kirtland, 38-7. The NMAA began its current playoff system in 1953. According to its Web site, schools claimed to be champions as far back as statehood in 1912, first through comparative scores, then by a formula based on records and strength of competition. In the late 1930s, the Gateway Bowl "supposedly matched the two strongest teams" before a system incorporating polls of sportswriters and coaches determined the best team. The Web site says no official championship was organized until 1950 when a new system was put in place. Alamogordo won the Class B title that year. Tularosa finished as runners-up in 1965, 1983, 1984 and 1994. All told, Saturday's game will be Tularosa's sixth appearance in a state title game. Head coach Bryan Jones has assembled a group of young men who have come together this season and played some of the best football in the basin. While Saturday's 7-6 score may be an anomaly, given the Wildcats' penchant for rolling over its opponents, don't expect another low-scoring affair when Lordsburg rolls into town. You can bet Tularosa will be a happening place this week with all the excitement of a possible state championship. Contact Michael Johnson at [email protected]. To see more of the Alamogordo Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.alamogordonews.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Alamogordo Daily News, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |