9:40 p.m. BLOOMFIELD 48 - Valencia 13. Check out complete coverage this weekend.
9:30 p.m. — Running clock will prevail here as Bloomfield will go on to victory. We'll update final scores here shortly.
Goddard beats Roswell 14-3.
9:28 p.m. — Running back Aaron Johnson picks up 15 on first down as clock rolls under 6 minutes in game. Nine yards on first down. Aaron Johnson picks up another Bloomfield first down. Another good run by Aaron Johnson gets the ball inside the 10. Running game all the time now for Bloomfield as clock rolls under three minutes. Bloomfield fourth and goal the 1. Run play up the middle and another Bloomfield score. Going for 2, Bloomfield is successful and the score 48-13. 2:19 to go.
9:20 p.m. — Valencia gets a short gain on first down. Bloomfield D comes up with a sack and loss of 10 on second down. Third down pass play falls incomplete. Valencia punt fair caught by Bloomfield at their own 47. 6:04 left in game.
FARMINGTON wins 28-6 over Santa Teresa.
9:17 p.m. — Another procedural penalty on Bloomfield off the timeout. Short gain on first and 15. Andrew Gordo picks up 8, bringing up third and short. Confusion in the backfield leads to a sack of Spencer and fourth down pass play comes up short as Valencia takes over at the 32 yard line with 7:50 to go in the game.
9:14 p.m. — Bloomfield penalty makes it 3rd and 14 from inside their 5. Third down pass play falls incomplete and Bobcats will punt from their end zone. Unless they let Jeremiah Sandoval run uncontested, which Valencia does and gets a first down. Aaron Johnson carries on the next play for a gain of 14, out to the 40. Gain of four on first down. Johnson for a short gain on second down. Catch by Matthias DeHerrera for another first down inside Valencia territory. Johnson gets 7 up the middle on first down. Spencer getting majority of reps at QB and they pick up another first down as clock starts to become a factor. Time out Valencia.
FHS leads 28-6 in the fourth quarter. Goddard leads Roswell 14-3.
Story continues
9:08 p.m. — No gain on first down by running back Aaron Johnson. Bobcats interchanging QBs much of the second half. QB keeper goes for no gain. Rascon gets a yard as third quarter comes to an end. Bloomfield 40-Valencia 13.
9:05 p.m. — Valencia starts next drive at their own 37. First down pass is incomplete. Garcia still out for Valencia at QB. Second down pass attempt to the outside is incomplete. Third down floater pass is complete for about 2, bringing up fourth down and a punt that rolls out of bounds to the 5 yard line. 1:20 to go in the third.
9 p.m. — Snell-Martinez picks up nine tough yards on first down, but a false start on second and short backs them up five yards. Spencer in at QB for the Bobcats as they pick up 4 on the next play. Bloomfield commits another procedural penalty making third and eight. Rascon on a keeper gets a first down, followed by a short gain and another big run by Snell-Martinez getting the ball inside the 10. Seitzinger breaks a couple of tackles and goes in for another Bloomfield TD. Extra point is no good, Bloomfield 40-13 with 2:23 left in the third.
8:56 p.m. — Valencia takes over at their own 27-yard line after ensuing kickoff. Short gain on first down. Jesse Seitzinger runs down Garcia for a sack and a loss of 4. Garcia had to be helped off the field after the play. No gain on third down, setting up fourth and 14 with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Punt is downed at the Bloomfield 45.
FHS leads Santa Teresa 21-6 after three quarters.
8:47 p.m. — Valencia gets an 8-yard gain on first down on pass to Jacob Farley, second down pass is short and incomplete. Third down run play gets 3 and a first down. Garcia completes a first down pass but it's coming back after a Valencia holding penalty. First and 25 for the Jaguars. Long pass between defenders is tipped away and falls incomplete. Another penalty against Valencia backs them up another 5 yards. Second down and 30 from their own 37. Garcia takes the snap and rolls to his left for a gain of 8. Garcia fumbles the ball when attempting to go up the middle, but play is negated after a face mask calls goes against the Bobcats. Third down pass goes out of bounds. Valencia goes for it on fourth down and Garcia is picked off by Jeremiah Sandoval who returns it about 66 yards for a Bloomfield TD. 6:32 left in the third quarter and Bloomfield has a commanding 34-13 lead.
FHS leads 21-6 late third quarter.
8:35 p.m. — Sharpe still in at QB for Bloomfield as they start near the 25-yard line, short gain on first down, then a pass interference penalty on Valencia moves the ball out to the 43. Short gain on first down followed by no gain on second down. Sharpe and Spencer exchanging snaps at the QB spot. Bloomfield forced to punt from their own 47. Fumbled snap, Sandoval runs with it and picks up a big chunk of yardage comes up just short of the first down. Valencia takes over at their own 45.
8:27 p.m. — Bloomfield will start the second half with the ball. Still 7-6 FHS over Santa Teresa with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.
8:15 p.m. — HALFTIME 27-13 Bloomfield. Meantime, FHS leads 7-6 at the half over Santa Teresa and Goddard leads Roswell 7-3 at the half.
8:10 p.m. — George Rascon with a big kickoff return out to the 42 yard line.
Bloomfield QB Sharpe is now under pressure thanks to good downfield coverage and his limited mobility in the backfield. Long pass attempt down the sideline is incomplete and Bloomfield backed up near their own zone where they punt it away. Valencia takes over inside the Bloomfield 15 after a personal foul penalty. Snell-Martinez gets 7 on first down, Sharpe is limping as he airmails an incomplete pass out of bounds and is replaced at QB by Marc Armenta, who hands off to Snell Martinez for a first down, then by Blake Spencer for a short gain.
Bloomfield moves the ball inside the Valencia after a personal foul penalty and under a minute to go. Sharpe comes back into the game and launches a pass down the right sideline which falls incomplete. Sharpe goes deep again and finds Rascon down to the goal line. Snell-Martinez then takes it in from a yard out with 15 seconds remaining in the half. The extra point attempt fails and Bloomfield leads 27-13.
8:02 p.m. — Now it's Bloomfield making the mistakes with a pass interference penalty moving the ball to the 7. Garcia gets nothing going up the middle. Garcia on a rollout attempt is brought down behind the line of scrimmage by Seitzinger, losing about 4 yards.
Garcia finds a receiver in the near corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD pass, the extra point is good and Bloomfield's lead is trimmed to 21-13 with 2:14 left in the half.
7:54 p.m. — Dumb penalty by Valencia after an incomplete pass, backing the Jaguars up to the 39 yard line. There was no need for the push after the play was over.
Big pass completion by Garcia to Josiah Rael is called back and Valencia forced to punt, and Bloomfield takes over at their own 21.
FHS leads Santa Teresa 7-6 late in the 2nd quarter.
7:49 p.m. — Bloomfield's next drive starts at their own 15 after a promising kickoff return was negated due to a penalty. Good gain on first down by Snell-Martinez, but Sharpe brought down in the backfield on second down. Third down play goes for no gain and Bloomfield forced to punt.
Valencia gets a big return from Liam Crews, taking the punt from his own 40 to the Bobcats 24.
7:45 p.m. — Valencia does get some positive yards and picks up a first down inside the 20. First down run gets a couple, but a Bloomfield penalty gets the Jaguars inside the 10. Nothing doing on 2nd and short after a run play off left tackle. Garcia found a receiver open in the end zone for the first Valencia TD. The 2-point conversion attempt fails badly and Bloomfield leads 21-6 with 8:20 left in the second.
7:39 p.m. — After the Valencia interception, their offense immediately goes backwards with a sack of QB Garcia and a run off tackle for little gain.
7:37 p.m. — First mistake of the night for the Bobcats, as Sharpe is picked off by Valencia. They'll have the ball at the Bloomfield 25.
7:36 p.m. — First quarter in the books. Bloomfield 21-0.
7:33 p.m.— Bloomfield has remained the aggressor from the start, getting after Valencia on all sides of the game. Seitzinger made a big open field tackle on special teams with the Bobcats already up 21-0.
Valencia can't get out of their own way. Three early penalties, a turnover, a shanked punt. Defensively, the Bobcats haven't overcommitted to anything, keeping things right in front of them.
That's another procedural penalty on Valencia, who simply have been off the mark early in the game.
7:26 p.m. — Ryan Sharpe found wide receiver Mark Armenta alone over the middle for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Bloomfield now has a commanding 21-0 lead with 4:20 left in the opening quarter.
7:25 p.m. — Farmington leads Santa Teresa 7-0 inside of a minute into the opening quarter.
7:20 p.m. — It didn't take long for Bloomfield to get on the board (twice) in the first six minutes of the opening quarter. A fumble recovery off of Valencia quarterback Rey Garcia was returned for a touchdown on the Jaguars opening drive.
After their second drive stalled at midfield, Valencia punted the ball away and Bloomfield's offense chimed in, with Jesse Seitzinger scoring from a yard out to make the lead 14-0 Bobcats. 6 minutes to go in the opening quarter.
6:45 p.m. — Getting set up here at Bobcat Stadium. Gonna be a good night for football. Bloomfield apparently planning to go with Ryan Sharpe as the starting quarterback, though that's all unofficial at this point. Drew Perez and Blake Spencer also ready to be at the quarterback position should they be needed.
Valencia head coach Wes Shank didn't make the trip with the team for tonight's game due to illness.
We'll be headed downstairs here in a bit to get some early game photos. Should be back in the press box soon enough and we'll have drive summaries and more going forward.
Also, we'll do our best to keep you up to date on other games happening across the county and around the state.
BLOOMFIELD — The 2021 State Football Championships resume tonight at Bobcat Stadium where Bloomfield takes on Valencia in the quarterfinals.
The 9-1 Bobcats are looking to avenge their lone loss this season, when the Jaguars beat Bloomfield back in September.
The second seed in the 4A tournament, Bloomfield is hoping a win tonight will carry them to the state Class 4A semifinals and a chance to return to the state championship game for the third time in four years.
More: Bloomfield High's Kovacs named District 1-4A coach of the year
Valencia (7-4 overall, 2-2 District 5-6-4A) came into the playoffs as the seven-seed and advanced to the quarterfinals last weekend beating Taos 53-23.
In Class 5A, the top-seeded Farmington Scorpions face eighth-seeded Santa Teresa tonight at Hutchison Stadium.
We'll have updates from the Farmington game as well as from Bobcat Stadium throughout the night.
Final pregame thoughts before Farmington faces Santa Teresa
Farmington High football players Sir Ryan Sandoval (56), Aaron Hewey (44) and Patrick Shay (2) lead the Scorpions onto the field before their game against Durango, Friday, Sept. 17 at Hutchison Stadium.
The 440-mile road trip made from one end of the state to the other — on the same day of a football game — can't be a good idea.
More: State Football Championships moving on to quarterfinals this weekend
Last week, three local teams made extended road trips, actually getting to their locations the night before their scheduled games, and all three teams lost.
While that doesn't guarantee a particular result, it certainly seems like less than favorable conditions.
Santa Teresa will need to come out strong on offense and at the same time, keep Farmington's offense, which averages more than 40 points per game, off the field. That's much easier said than done.
Final pregame thoughts before Bloomfield takes on Valencia
The view of the field from Bobcat Stadium from the press box
The Bobcats are 16-2 at home over the course of the last four seasons. Their only losses at Bobcat Stadium since 2018 came in the 2019 state championship game against Portales and against Valencia on Sept. 28, 2018.
More: 2021 New Mexico high school football playoffs schedule, scores
The winner of tonight's game will face either St. Pius or Ruidoso next weekend. Both Bloomfield and Valencia have faced St. Pius this season, with the Bobcats opening the season on Aug. 20 at home with a 29-26 win over the Sartans, while Valencia lost to St. Pius last month 40-6.
Steve Bortstein can be reached via email at SBortstein@Gannett.com, via Twitter @DTSBortstein or on the phone at (505) 635-2680.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: High school football playoff updates from Bloomfield and Farmington