The Melrose Buffaloes celebrate their 8-man football state championship Saturday at Melrose. The Buffaloes defeated Tatum for the title.

Melrose’s Clint Barnard powers past Tatum’s defense as he runs down-field during the second quarter of Saturday’s 8-manfootball state championship game at Melrose High School. To view more photos from the game, visit fnm.mycapture.com.

Melrose’s Lane Draper drags Tatum’s Hunter Ray to the ground during the third quarter of Saturday’s game at Melrose High School in the New Mexico 8-man football state championship. To view more photos from the game, visit fnm.mycapture.c

MELROSE — The numbers didn’t lie, even when the Melrose Buffaloes faced the second-best team in the state.

The Buffs, who averaged 59.8 points a game in their 10 regular season and two playoff games, buried Tatum 52-8 on Saturday to claim the eight-man football state championship.

Tatum (7-5) came into the title contest in Melrose having knocked off third-seed Animas in the quarterfinals and second-seed Gateway Christian in the semifinals.

But top-seeded Melrose (13-0), which capped the first undefeated season in school history, rammed its way through the Coyote defense behind the Barnard brothers from the start.

“They’re very big, very physical — got a lot of seniors,” Tatum coach Gary Durham said. “We expected that that’s what they were going to try to do.”

Junior quarterback Clint Barnard and senior running back Call Barnard were the only ball carriers on the Buffaloes’ first drive, which traversed 53 yards in seven plays and ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by Melrose’s signal caller.

“That’s what we’ve done to pretty much everybody all year long. We run on them and, as soon as we get everybody in the box, we throw over the top,” said Call Barnard, who finished with 119 yards rushing.

Sure enough, in Melrose’s second offensive chance, Clint Barnard found a wide-open Zach Pack for a 22-yard touchdown toss and a 16-0 lead.

Melrose’s third drive was a long one. Getting the ball at their own 16, the Buffs methodically moved down the field in 10 plays and, after a 13-yard run by junior Haden Huber, went up 22-0.

“We’ve been working hard all year. We practiced with the lights on the last couple of weeks — staying late, working on stuff,” said Huber, who would later score his team’s last touchdown on a 5-yard fourth quarter run. “I think we deserved it.”

The Coyotes showed signs of moving the ball themselves, but dropped passes often squandered would-be Tatum drives. Early in the second quarter, Tatum quarterback Logan Medlin found Lionel Nunez for a 40 yard touchdown pass — the only score of the game for the visitors.

“We dropped a few passes. We were probably a little tight, a little nervous. That did hurt us,” Durham said.

Melrose answered in kind before that half was over. An interception by senior Lane Draper of Medlin gave the Buffaloes a short field at the 50 yard line. Nine plays later, Clint Barnard took a keeper out of the shotgun formation and ran 16 yards for another touchdown.

With the likes of junior Kole Tatum, ninth-grader Josh Broome and sophomore Hayden Moore helping control the line of scrimmage, Clint Barnard got loose for 171 yards on the ground to lead Melrose.

After the game, Dickie Roybal readily credited assistant Jack Props for preparing the defense to stop the Coyotes’ attack.

“We watched a lot of film on them and we pretty much knew what they liked to do,” said Roybal, who won his 100th career game with the school.
“Our kids were ready for it.”

EIGHT-MAN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

MELROSE 52, TATUM 8

1st Downs: M 22; T 10. Rushing: M 46-334 (Clint Barnard 18-171, Call Barnard 15-119, Haden Huber 5-29, Lane Draper 5-23, Zach Pack 2-(-9), Mitchum Rush 1-1); T 22-13 (Hunter Ray 9-29, Logan Medlin 12-(-16), Juan Cardenas 1-0). Passing: M 3-4-0--59 (Clint Barnard 2-3-0-44, Huber 1-1-0--15); T 13-27-2--135 (Medlin 13-26-2--135, Ray 0-1-0--0). Receiving: M 3-59 (Zach Pack 1-22, Sammy Lawrence 1-22, Ramon Arenivar 1-15); T 12-135 (Lionel Nunez 3-60, Ray 5-31, Ryan Glenn 2-23, Cardenas 2-21). Punts-Avg.: M 0-0; T 5-27.4. Penalties-Yds.: M 5-60; T 4-20. Fumbles-Lost: M 2-1; T 1-1.

Tatum 0 8 0 0 - 8
Melrose 22 8 14 8 - 52

Scoring: M, Clint Barnard 12 run (Call Barnard conversion run), 7:47/1; M, Zach Pack 22 pass from Clint Barnard (Clint Barnard conversion run), 6:37/1; M, Haden Huber 13 run (conversion run failed), 1:06/1; T, Lionel Nunez 40 pass from Logan Medlin (Medlin to Ryan Glenn conversion pass), 10:45/2; M, Clint Barnard 16 run (Call Barnard conversion run), 2:43/2; M, Call Barnard 32 run (conversion run failed), 6:25/3; M, Clint Barnard 27 run (Call Barnard conversion run), 3:00/3; M, Huber 5 run (Clint Barnard to Sammy Lawrence conversion pass), 9:50/4. Rec.: M 13-0; T 7-5.