Sometimes, subliminal messaging can be an effective motivational tool.
Santa Fe High head coach Andrew Martinez told senior receiver and defensive back Santiago Villaseñor he was primed to make big plays and to be ready for those moment.
That’s exactly what Villaseñor did Friday night in the season opener against crosstown rival Capital. He had a huge catch that set up a touchdown, recovered a fumble that led to his own touchdown and set the tone for a 21-0 win at Ivan Head Stadium.
In a game that was a sloppy, defensive battle, Villaseñor was a huge playmaker when the moment arose, and he thanked his coach for that.
“He told me I’m a big player and I gotta make big plays on the field,” Villaseñor said. “I just had to do what I had to do.”
The big plays began early in the second quarter when the Demons smelled opportunity. After a short pooch punt by Capital quarterback Ace Bachicha, who took over for an injured Deaven Montaño, placed the ball at the Capital 35-yard line, Santa Fe High quarterback Isaiah Juarez hit Villaseñor on a 32-yard play that put the ball at the Capital 3.
Then came a fortunate bounce that seemed to indicate this was going to be a good night for the home team. Junior tailback Jasper Nelson plowed through a hole over the left side and was about to cross the goal line when the ball popped loose on a hit by Capital cornerback Angel Gonzalez.
Under normal circumstances for the Demons, the Jaguars would have recovered. This time, Nelson chased after the loose pigskin and recovered it for a touchdown with 8:44 left for a 7-0 lead.
Villaseñor came up bug in the third quarter when he recovered a fumble by Capital punt returner Santiago Martinez at the Jaguars 20 and returned it to the 9. Even though the drive came up empty when a bad snap undid kicker Evan Martinez’s 22-yard field goal try, the Demons needed one play to force another Jaguars turnover when Daniel Rodriguez fumbled and Santa Fe High linebacker Max Encinias recovered at the Capital 5.
It took two plays, but Juarez connected with Villaseñor for a 9-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead with 7:40 left in the quarter. The senior admitted afterward he ran the wrong route, but Juarez made the adjustment.
Again, this mistake would have led to an incompletion in the past, but this time cooler heads prevailed.
“We need to keep our heads up and we just wanted to make plays,” Villaseñor said. “On that play, I ran the wrong route. but I just got open. Isaiah is a playmaker and I’m really proud of him today.”
Juarez was one of three Demons quarterback to take snaps during the game — a plan that was intentional by Martinez. He said Juarez, starter Jose Rivera and third-stringer Jeremiah Larranaga are all good enough to play and he wanted to get a good look at them.
Each had their moments against the Jaguars.
Juarez stood out the most as he went 7-for-9 for 57 yards and a touchdown while also running for a team-high 41 yards. Rivera threw for the final score — a 22-yard strike to tight end Nathan Christensen on the final play of the third for a 21-0 advantage.
Larranaga come on midway through the final drive of the first half and completed three of four passes for 33 yards as the Demons moved the ball from deep in their own territory to the Santa Fe High 44 before punting the ball away with 11 seconds left.
Martinez said one of the trio will play their way into the starting role, and he liked what he saw against the Jaguars.
“We just have to make sure we keep them all engaged,” Martinez said. “This will play out at some point, and we’ll settle down. But if this helps us win, I don’t care how we do it.”
The constant on the night for the Demons was a stout defense that held Capital to just 58 yards of offense. Their effort was helped greatly by the departure of Montaño, who injured his left ankle late in the opening quarter when Christensen hit him as he threw a ball away.
He needed help to limp off the field, but tried to come back early in the second quarter. That proved foolhardy when he re-aggravated the injury on his second play when he said he heard it pop as he tried to scramble.
In stepped in Bachicha, a sophomore, but he struggled for most of the game. At one point, he completed eight of his first 13 passes for a total of nine yards and finished 12 of 23 for 29 yards. he wasn’t helped by four or five dropped balls by the Jaguars when he took over.
Capital head coach John Michael Salazar said Bachicha tried his best, but he isn’t quite up to speed on the offense like Montaño is.
“We need to do a better job of getting him simpler reads in the offense,” Salazar said. “Some of the things that we had him running were a bit more advanced, where it’s a three-step progression. We just need to keep it to a one or a two.”
That might be the Jaguars coach’s own subliminal message as Bachicha will likely be the starter for the foreseeable future.
It worked for Martinez on Friday.