Moriarty Dominates Pojoaque Valley Behind Dennisson’s Big Night

MORIARTY, N.M. — Royce Dennisson delivered a dominant two-way performance Friday night, rushing for three touchdowns and snagging two interceptions to lead third-ranked Moriarty to a decisive 34-8 victory over No. 7 Pojoaque Valley.

Dennisson set the tone early for the Pintos (2-0), opening the scoring on a 25-yard touchdown burst with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter. After Moriarty’s defense clamped down with consecutive interceptions by Dennisson and Tanner Denomme, Dennisson struck again as time expired in the opening period, cutting loose for a 28-yard score to push the lead to 13-0 following Frankie Romero’s extra point.

The Pintos continued to assert their will on both sides of the ball. Despite having another long Dennisson touchdown run erased by a penalty, Moriarty extended the margin to 20-0 on a 1-yard plunge by Mateo Manley-Griego. Cash Carpenter added Moriarty’s third interception of the evening, and Mario Romero broke free for a 20-yard touchdown scamper with 32.3 seconds left in the third quarter to give the host Pintos a commanding 27-0 cushion.

Moriarty’s swarming defense effectively neutralized Elks quarterback Josh Gonzales, who had rushed for 265 yards against Taos a week earlier. The Pintos held Gonzales under 100 rushing yards on the night, though the dynamic signal-caller managed to get Pojoaque Valley (1-1) on the board in the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 27-8.

Dennisson put the contest completely out of reach with 7:56 left in the game, ripping off a 58-yard touchdown run. After briefly exiting the field with muscle cramps following the score, he returned to punctuate his night with a second interception.

“I thought our kids played extremely hard,” Moriarty head coach Gabriel Romero said. “They were flying around the field—offensively, defensively, special teams. We came out to make a statement tonight that we were the better team, and I think we did that.”

Romero praised Dennisson’s resilience and physical play.

“He had a big game,” Romero said of Dennisson. “He had some hard runs where he had to put a shoulder down and make people miss, run through people. He kind of raised the bar for himself tonight.”

Moriarty will remain home next week to host Class 4A Albuquerque Academy (1-1).