It's hard to imagine Oct. 17 would be the season opener for any football team.

For the critics of the
Pojoaque Valley Elks and their soft schedule, however, Saturday's home game against Class AAA state title hopeful Raton might as well be the first game of the year.

The two teams have matching 6-1 overall records and are both 1-0 in District 2AAAA.

Yet Raton is ranked No. 2 in the state by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association and Pojoaque is unranked (the Elks are at least receiving votes, but did not crack this week's Top 10).

And while some coaches might downplay the importance of any one game over the next, Pojoaque's Quevin Redding isn't afraid to acknowledge what Saturday's game could represent.

"This is the biggest game in Pojoaque Valley school history," Redding said. "I told the guys, 'How you guys come out and play will determine how people perceive this program. If we get blown out, everything they've been saying about us and our schedule is right. If we compete, then respect will follow.' "

The Elks have played primarily lower-level schools and also-rans, but you can't deny their domination of that schedule.

They opened the year with a 63-0 win over Santa Fe Indian School (Class AAA); they beat 3-3 Wingate (AAA) 70-14; they beat 4-2 McCurdy (A) 50-14; and they beat Española Valley (AAAA) 44-5, a more lopsided margin than Capital had last week over the Sundevils.

So while neither Redding, nor any of his players, are looking for moral victories, if the Elks are able to look competitive against Raton, they would garner far more respect in defeat than they did with all of their school-record six wins.

A longer October?

There is no denying District 2AAAA has been one of the most lackluster districts in any classification in the state this year. But the woes have largely been confined to August and September.

The three teams contending for the district title — Bernalillo, Capital and Los Alamos — had a combined 2-11 record in August and September and were outscored by opponents 455-136 in those 13 games.

Since the calendar flipped to October, those teams are 5-1 and have outscored opponents 176-96.

Obviously a lot of that has to do with who those teams are playing, but there's no denying each team is playing its best football right now.

"Things are starting to click and the team is coming together as a team," Los Alamos head coach Bob Scott said in an
e-mail. "Our (district) race should be a good one with anyone having a chance to win it."

That's a lot of wins

When Clovis plays at Artesia tonight, it will pit two coaches with 526 combined wins (Clovis' Eric Roanhaus has 295, Artesia's Cooper Henderson has 231).

Of course both are chasing maybe my favorite high school coach ever in the cantankerous Jim Bradley and his 310 career wins.

Love him or hate him, Bradley has perfected running an entire program — from freshman year through graduation, year round, few stars, just results. And there are very few players who wouldn't run through a brick wall for Bradley.

His 310 wins come despite his spending five seasons coaching the New Mexico State Aggies 1973-77, where he has the best winning percentage (.427) in the past four-plus decades.

Actually, first-year NMSU coach DeWayne Walker has NMSU at 3-3, so his .500 career winning percentage is edging Bradley at the moment, but has yet to coach a full season.

Dwindling 0-fers

According to the New Mexico Activities Association, there are 10 football teams left in the state that have yet to win a game.

They are:

• Class AAAAA: Santa Fe High
• Class AAAA: Chaparral
• Class AAA: Thoreau
• Class AA: Dexter, Loving, Navajo Pine, Ramah
• 8-man: Menaul
• 6-man: Albuquerque Evangel Christian, Walatowa

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3060 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at grammerschoolblog.com.