More was at stake than just momentum as the Santa Fe High football team lined up for a third-and-six play early in the fourth quarter.

A quarterback was trying to keep his starting spot. Richard Pacheco knew the position could belong to someone else by Monday. He also knew that he was the cause of his own dilemma.

But in one play — a 34-yard pass from Pacheco to wideout JoJo Sandoval — Pacheco restored his name. In the process, he also restored order to what had been a chaotic second half and helped the Demons to a 50-35 win over Capital in both teams' final nondistrict game at Jaguar Field Saturday.

The win helped Santa Fe High maintain momentum heading into District 2AAAAA play with a three-game winning streak after an 0-3 start. For Pacheco, the second half was a test of his resolve as well as his confidence.

Before Pacheco's completion, the senior had been on the sidelines for the previous three drives as Capital sliced a 28-0 Santa Fe High lead to 28-21 early in the fourth. He was there because he lacked confidence in teammates not named Anthony Ratliff, Isaiah Anaya or Adam Salazar.

It formed earlier in the game when Pacheco went to Sandoval, but he ran the wrong route. It was exposed when he tried to hook up with Ratliff instead of Sandoval, but Capital safety Marcus Barela intercepted the ball. The Jaguars eventually turned it into a Barela 1-yard touchdown quarterback sneak for 28-13 with 6:34 left in the third.

Out went Pacheco and in went Anaya, who was playing with a sprained ankle.

"The first time I went to (Sandoval), there was a miscommunication," said Pacheco, who completed 7 of 12 passes for 76 yards. "So I didn't feel confident going back that way again. The coaches wanted me to go the other way (on the throw to Ratliff) and I didn't. So they brought in Isaiah."

With the Demons one incompletion away from turning the ball back over to Capital, Pacheco summed up the courage to go back to Sandoval. His throw was perfect — over Sandoval's left shoulder — and the fellow senior secured it and dashed out of bounds at the Capital 34-yard line.

The tension that had built up during the Jaguars' comeback was soothed and three plays later, Ratliff scored on a sweep right from 13 yards for a touchdown. Pacheco's quarterback sneak on the 2-point try was good and the Demons were up 36-21 with
6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining.

It was followed by Demons safety Johnny Bowles' second interception return for a touchdown in as many games, as he grabbed Barela's screen pass to Gary Chavez and returned it 22 yards for 44-21.

"I think some of the guys were playing tight," Santa Fe High head coach Mike Mares said. "I think they were playing an emotional game and I hate playing an emotional game. I think once that (play) happened, the guys kinda loosened a little bit."

Mares also felt Pacheco took a big step in becoming a leader on offense.

"We talked about how when a team loses, the blame falls on two guys: The coach and the quarterback," Mares said. "You have to accept that and let things go and relax and play."

The Demons appeared to be a loose, confident group just minutes into the second half. Capital (2-4) had the ball for two plays and both times Santa Fe High ended up with it. First, Barela fumbled a snap and Ratliff recovered at the Capital 21. Santa Fe High needed four plays before Salazar scored from 2 yards out for 21-0 with 10:05 left in the third.

Barela was victimized again as he scrambled on a broken play and lofted a pass that landed in Demon linebacker Edward Trujillo's hands, who then raced into the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown with 9:56 to go and 28-0.

That was when everything started to go wrong for Santa Fe High

"I think we were getting big heads," lineman Robert Johnson said.

"We thought we had the game in the bag," Ratliff added.

One 76-yard touchdown run from Capital running back Nate Garcia on the ensuing drive shouldn't have had such a drastic change, but it did.

"You could see guys' heads dropping," Ratliff said. "And you're trying to tell guys it's one play. Just move on to the next play."

Then came Pacheco's pick and Anaya's insertion, but the Demons had minus-16 yards of total offense. Capital trimmed the deficit with a nine-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run from Barela. Nate Garcia's run on the 2-point try was good and with 11:14 left, it was 28-21.

"I'm proud of the guys," Capital head coach Steve Castille said. "The game could have gone two ways after 28-0. It could have gotten even uglier or we could have played football the way it's meant to played, and that's what I told them."