FORT SUMNER AND TEXICO, who have played for the last two Class 1A state football championships, appeared to be on a collision course again with both ranked first or second in 1A most of the season. While the Wolverines (5-0) have consistently steamrolled opponents, outscoring them 178-6, two-time champion Fort Sumner has hit a little bump in the road. The Foxes (4-2) have dropped two of their last three games. Veteran coach Mario Martinez said the loss in the first half of senior wide receiver-cornerback Roel Canales (dizziness) and sophomore tailback-inside linebacker Derek Dimitroff (sprained ankle) hurt the Foxes last week in a 34-13 loss at Clayton, ranked fifth in Class 2A. “We just don’t have any depth,” Martinez said, “and (the injuries) kind of threw a kink into things.” Martinez said Canales became ill during the game. “We thought it was a concussion, but it wasn’t,” Martinez said. “He hadn’t been feeling real good all week. His blood pressure got high when we got him to the hospital, but by later that night he was fine again.” Canales should be ready when the Foxes visit Escalante on Saturday, Martinez said. He described Dimitroff’s status as “day-to-day.” MEANTIME, TEXICO HAS RUN OFF 164 consecutive points since giving up a second-quarter touchdown at Bovina in its season opener. The Wolverines, who finally play their home opener in Friday’s 7 p.m. Homecoming game against Hagerman, have won their last four outings by scores of 28-0 (Dexter), 21-0 (Clayton), 69-0 (Cuba) and 40-0 (Tucumcari). Coach Mike Prokop acknowledged that he was a bit surprised by last week’s easy win. “Our kids played exceptionally well,” he said. “It was definitely one of our better games.” Hagerman (1-4) was the 2000 Class 1A state champion. Prokop said that while the Bobcats have struggled with a young squad and their third head coach in three years, they’ve played pretty well in a couple of games. MELROSE IS ALSO CELEBRATING its Homecoming on Friday as the Buffaloes prepare to entertain Clovis Christian. Both teams are coming off sound beatings last week — Melrose to defending state champion Tatum for the second time this fall (62-30), and CCS at Logan (58-6). The teams have had several common opponents — the Buffs have beaten Logan in overtime, while the Eagles lost at Tatum earlier and both squads have a win over Hondo. “They’re a very good team,” CCS coach Greg Darden said of Melrose. “I think it’ll be an interesting game; hopefully, we’ll show up better than we did against Logan.” Melrose coach Dickie Roybal noted that while the Buffs have beaten CCS the last two years, they’ve had to come from behind to do it. “They’ve got a few decent kids; it just looks like they’re young,” Roybal said. “But I know they always play hard against us.”