Weather Delays then Los Lunas Outlasts Alamogordo 13-6 5A Quarterfinal

LOS LUNAS — Alamogordo waited out two weather delays and clawed within a point late, but No. 4 Los Lunas held on for a 13-6 win over the No. 5 Tigers on Saturday in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

The loss ends Alamogordo's season at 7-5, the program's best finish in years and a big step forward in its first season in Class 5A.

A long afternoon in Los Lunas

The game was scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff but was pushed back by weather before it began. Once play started, neither team scored in the first quarter.

Los Lunas broke through with 2:03 left in the second quarter when Luke Cieremans threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Andres Cordova. The extra point made it 7-0 at halftime.

Just as the second half was about to begin, a lightning strike sent both teams back off the field. Play didn't resume until about 3:35 p.m.

Alamogordo came out of the delay ready. With 1:29 left in the third quarter, senior Nathanael Cereceres hit Tristan Bowman for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Los Lunas blocked the extra point, keeping a 7-6 lead going into the fourth.

That blocked kick ended up deciding the game. Brad Mallory scored on a 2-yard run with 1:52 left to make it 13-6. The extra point missed, but Alamogordo couldn't get the tying score, and time ran out with the Tigers facing third-and-10.

Alamogordo's season

Alamogordo dropped from 6A to 5A this fall and made the most of it. The Tigers finished 7-5 overall and 5-2 in District 2-5A, good for third in a league that includes state powers Roswell and Artesia.

The season didn't start smoothly. After opening with wins over Santa Fe (41-33) and at Goddard (28-27), Alamogordo lost to Clovis, Organ Mountain, Roswell and Artesia and sat at 2-4 at homecoming. From there the Tigers won four straight to finish the regular season 6-4, including a 23-14 win at Gadsden in which they ran for 372 yards.

They opened the playoffs with a 54-0 shutout of district rival Chaparral, then nearly upset Los Lunas on the road.

How it compares

This was coach AJ Cisco's best season in at least six years. Going into the year, the Tigers had won a combined 18 games over the previous five seasons:

• 2026: 7-5 (5-2 district, 5A), lost in state quarterfinals
• 2025: 4-6 (1-5 district, 6A), missed playoffs
• 2024: 2-8 (1-5 district, 6A)
• 2023: 5-5 (2-3 district, 6A)
• 2022: 5-6 (2-3 district, 6A)
• 2021: 2-8 (0-3 district)

Last year, a 48-43 loss to Clovis on the final night of the regular season kept the Tigers out of the 6A playoffs. Before that season, local outlet 2nd Life Media wrote that a 6-4 record would be the program's best since 2011.

What's next in 5A

Los Lunas moves on to face No. 1 Roswell in the semifinals. The Coyotes beat Santa Fe 49-19 on Friday and have scored at least 42 points in eight straight games.

In the other semifinal, No. 3 Artesia meets No. 2 Piedra Vista. Artesia held off Gadsden 38-35 on Saturday, and Piedra Vista shut out Goddard 50-0.

The NMAA has the semifinals set for Nov. 20-21 and the state championship for Nov. 28. Sites and kickoff times have not been announced.

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