ALBUQUERQUE — It was an end for Michael Garcia.

Is it a beginning for Pojoaque Valley football?

Two paths that had been convergent for the past two seasons parted ways on a rainy Saturday afternoon. After Garcia threw his final pass as the Elks' quarterback — an interception by Albuquerque Academy defensive back Elliott Hansen — the Elks said goodbye to the 2009 season and an era that seemed too short for both.

The fifth-seeded Chargers withstood a shaky opening 12 minutes before scoring the final 52 points of the Class AAA first-round playoff game and securing a 59-13 win at Richard Harper Memorial Stadium. Thus ending the Elks' second postseason berth in its
15-year varsity history.

Garcia was a participant to both, having played as an eighth-grader in an 80-8 pasting at the hands of Lovington in a 16-team format in 2005.

In between the two games came three head coaches, a player protest that almost wiped out the 2007 and a question of whether the program would ever stand on its own feet.

This postseason appearance hinted at hope that the Elks (6-5) could compete.

"It is a progression for this program," Garcia said. "Everything has worked out for this program and I hope it keeps going up and up."

For about 6 minutes, "up" looked like it might happen sooner than expected.

After Nicholas Zamora took the opening kickoff to the Academy 40-yard line, Garcia completed two passes to cover the remaining distance. The second was a
28-yard fade route to Luke Salazar for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 22 seconds into the contest.

Academy, while stunned, never flinched. The Chargers' single-wing offense responded with a six-play, 69-yard jaunt downfield — all on the ground — with Cassidy West-Santos scoring from 2 yards out for 7-7 at 9:19.

Garcia wasn't done with his hot hand, as he completed all three passes while taking the Elks 80 yards. The last 58 were covered by a Garcia-to-Salazar connection for another touchdown. Timothy Cowen missed the extra point, but it was 13-7 at 6:35 of the first.

"Those were the things we told them were going to happen," Pojoaque head coach Quevin Redding said. "They're gonna play man-to-man. We ran some crossing routes, stuff like that and we had some guys open. We had a window of opportunity."

As quickly as it opened, Academy (9-2) sealed it shut over the next 18:35. The first sign of trouble came when Kevin Clauss hit a wide-open Nash Phillips with a
33-yard pass down the right sideline to the Pojoaque 12. West-Santos again completed the drive with a scoring run, this one from 3 yards, and the successful point-after kick made it 14-13.

The highlights of the next Academy drive — after the Elks went three-and-out — were a 43-yard run by Kase Rattey and then a 14-yard touchdown pass from Klauss to West-Santos for 20-13 with 1:16 left in the quarter.

Pojoaque's next drive again stalled, and Klauss supplied the crushing blow. He took Cowen's 39-yard punt at the Academy 34, followed his wall to the left then went down the left sideline untouched for a 66-yard touchdown and 27-13 with 11:44 left in the half.

The Chargers applied as much pressure as they could on Garcia. They came away with six sacks and forced Garcia to scramble instead of pass. After a 7-for-7 start, Garcia completed only five of his last 18 passes. He threw for 180 yards and touchdowns, and the interception he threw was only the third of the season.

"Stuff happens, and we all have to deal with adversity," Garcia said. "They started picking up the blitz and stuff happened all around and we couldn't do anything to stop it."

Perhaps this year, but the signs show that Pojoaque is crawling its way to respectability. The roster, which had 37 players suited for the finale, was the largest in several years. Redding has to fill the holes left by Garcia, receivers Robert Vigil, Tom Nakotte and Jeremy Martinez, fullback Joseph Branch and linemen Cowen, Lawrence Duran and Justin Sandoval — who are all seniors.

Redding also can be the coach to break a string of coaches who have never gotten to Year Three of their stint at Pojoaque.

"It's hard to change (the culture of football at Pojoaque)," Garcia said. "But I think it's something that can keep improving as long as we keep winning."

Contact James Barron at 986-3045 or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at thereadbarron.com.