Four Socorro Boys Stand Out In North-South All-Star Football Game

By Polo C’ de Baca
For the Mountain Mail
LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The South was completely dominant in the North-South All-Star football game Saturday from the first quarter and on, winning 34-6.
“They did a great job,” said Socorro football coach Damien Ocampo. “All the Socorro kids played strong. I didn’t see Daniel Boykin make a mistake. Adam Casey was solid. I didn’t see one bad snap, after that long of a layoff during the season. They played Elias (Mora) at every position on the field, it looked like.”
Socorro’s Andre Gonzales also played a vital role for the South.
The South All-Stars moved the ball effectively on the ground and through the air as quarterback Michael Trujillo of Portales hit his target with regularity.
The North was held deep in its own territory and could never put together a series of winning plays, not showing any life until midway through the final quarter.
“I thought it was a good game,” Ocampo said. “I thought it was pretty clean. The kids on both sides competed as well as they could.”
Ocampo credited the South players and their coaching staff. He was notably pleased with the players who represented Socorro.
Mora faced one of the best linemen in the state, Emory Atterberry from St. Mike’s.
“He was pretty tough; he was a really big guy, but our defense worked well together,” Mora said.
Mora had a sack and caused another fumble and a turnover.
“That’s the kind of player he is,” Ocampo said. “He’s a big strong kid who plays very, very smart. He literally shut down the side. Elias dominated.”
Gonzales had a big catch and a big knockdown in the end zone to save a touchdown.
“I just stayed with him all the time and knocked it away when it came down in the end zone,” Gonzales said.
Boykin said it was a good experience to play with the best of the state’s graduating seniors.
“It’s good to play with the best players around,” Boykin said. “It’s an honor and all that, so it was good to represent Socorro.”
“It was a great game,” Socorro defensive coordinator Chuck Zimmerly said. “I was really looking forward to having a good display of sportsmanship. Last year’s game was disappointing because of all the unsportsmanlike penalties. This year it was a much, much better experience for the kids.”
The first score for the South was late in the first quarter, and the South extended its lead to 13-0 going into halftime.
The South led 21-0 with 10:04 left in the third quarter. A pass to Justin Calder of Lovington put the South up 27-0, and a touchdown pass put the South up 34-0 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter.
Manny Trujillo of St. Mike’s ran the ball 68 yards to score the North’s first and only touchdown of the game with 8:01 to play.
Mora played linebacker, wide receiver, punted and played special teams.
“The kids seemed to have enjoyed themselves, which is really important,” Zimmerly said. “We had great representation of fans here. We had 33 kids from the high school with us.”
The team made the trip after traveling to Roswell, where they played in a seven-on-seven camp.

Four Socorro Boys Stand Out In North-South All-Star Football Game