BERNALILLO — Crouched on one knee in the end zone at Bernalillo High School, some of the members of the Capital High School football team couldn't help but wince when the Spartans let loose with a cheer after the finish of their 53-0 win Friday night.

Some looked to the ground, but many looked across the empty field with a burning in their eyes, not daring to look away despite the bright numbers behind them on the scoreboard.

The Spartans (2-6 overall, 1-1 District 2AAAA) took advantage of Capital's miscues, converting five turnovers into four touchdowns.

The game was stopped by the mercy rule at 1 minute, 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

For Capital senior running back Anthony Segura, the game had a sickening feel of déjà vu.

Segura compared it to the team's 50-0 season-opening loss to Grants — a game that was also cut short by the mercy rule.

"Everybody was lost," he said. "[Friday] it felt like everything fell apart and we didn't know what we were doing, just like in the first game of the season.

"We lost the same way [Friday night]."

First-year head coach Charles Moss was succinct explaining the loss after his team broke its postgame huddle.

"It just comes down to execution, and we didn't execute," he said. "We just made too many mistakes."

The bad execution exhibited itself in turnovers on offense, giving Bernalillo a short field for all four of its first half touchdown drives.

On defense, the Jaguars were largely unable to contain shifty Bernalillo quarterback DeVante Thomas.

Thomas, who lined up as a running back as well as quarterback, amassed 257 yards of total offense and scored six touchdowns — three passing and three running.

His 34-yard run on fourth-and-two with 47 seconds left in the half concluded a 20-point second quarter for Bernalillo.

"Watching film, we saw he was the only guy Bernalillo had," Segura said. "No one else ran and Los Alamos pretty much shut him down. We didn't expect much from him because last year we shut him down. But that was a mistake."

Capital (1-7, 1-1) never seemed to find first gear on offense but was able to force Bernalillo to punt on its first two possessions.

The Jaguars' first possession finished with a punt then the nightmare began for Capital quarterback Gabriel Rincon.

On the Jaguars' second possession, Rincon was picked off by the Spartans' Donovan Aguilar — the first of three interceptions by the senior Spartan cornerback.

Capital's defense eventually forced a punt but on the next possession Aguilar picked off Rincon again and returned the ball to the Capital 34.

The Jaguars seemed poised to hold the Spartans again after being aided by a holding penalty on Bernalillo, but then Thomas connected with Aguilar on a 29-yard touchdown pass to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead.

Bernalillo dominated play in the second quarter, scoring three times as Capital managed meager drives of four, seven and three plays that ended with
a punt, a fumble and another punt before the Jaguars ended the half trailing 27-0.

Segura said the team would have to stay motivated and keep its fading hopes for a state playoff berth alive against Los Alamos next Friday at home.

"We just have to get back after it, have a really good week of practice," he said. "It's senior week so we can't have any distractions. We have to be focused."