It was best to do a quick check.
There were no quicken heart rates in need of slowing down. Blood pressures hadn’t climbed, either.
“No, no,” St. Pius coach Curtis Flakes II said with a laugh. “We keep a cool enthusiasm and teach our guys not to panic. So, we’re good right now.”
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Hey, it never hurts to ask.
But one wouldn’t have faulted the Sartans — any of them — for a heightened level or two. Certainly not after Saturday’s 17-14 win over Lovington that clinched the District 2-4A championship. A game that came down to a touchdown run, another scoring scamper and a goal-line stand on back-to-back-to-back possessions.
“We live for games like this,” senior running back and New Mexico commit Hershul Olloway Jr. said. “… These hard games, I feel like it really battle tests you. It brings out your true character.”
A good way to look at it. After all, it was the kind of test Lovington (5-5, 4-2) wasn’t going to give away answers. Those had to be solved for.
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Certainly in the second half.
The Wildcats opened the third quarter with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that took seven minutes off the clock by the time quarterback Jude Madrid scored on a 7-yard run with 4:54 remaining in the frame.
Lovington 14, St. Pius 10.
The Sartans’ response?
A seven-play, 80-yard drive of their own in a little more than 3 minutes. Olloway accounted for five of those plays, including a 39-yard touchdown run that saw him start one way, cut back and dash up the visitor’s sideline.
St. Pius 17, Lovington 14.
Olloway finished with 26 carries for 238 yards, more than 100 of which came in each half. He rushed for 133 yards on 12 touches over the first two quarters. He followed that up with 105 yards on 14 carries in the final two.
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St. Pius running back and UNM commit Hershul Olloway Jr. on the Sartans’ regular-season finale, his performance and the momentum they have going into the playoffs. https://t.co/NoMHlxwbBa pic.twitter.com/lSSEeUzfIN
— David Glovach (@DavidGlovach) October 31, 2026
“Players like him are a generational talent,” Flakes said. “You rarely get those in your coaching career. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been coaching him since he was 5 years old and watching him is special.
“… He’s just elite and you expect him to do elite things, bring up his teammates and bring them along on the journey.”
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Lovington, however, was determined to make Olloway’s performance for naught.
And for 12 plays and the 72 yards they covered from the end of the third quarter through the first half of the fourth, the Wildcats gave themselves the chance to do so. The 13th play of that drive, the 1 yard that separated them from the end zone and the Sartans’ defense had a much different idea in mind.
Lovington gave the ball to Justin White on a fullback dive. He never crossed the line. Preston Urquidez, Nick Gomez and Lucas Saavedra combined to strip the ball out of his hands. Gomez recovered it in the end zone for St. Pius (8-1, 6-0).
It was White’s second touch of the game. The first came on the first play of that drive.
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St. Pius 17, Lovington 14. Still. Six minutes to play. Ball at the Sartans’ 20-yard line.
“Honestly, it’s kind of hard to remember,” Gomez said with a grin. “It was a blur. But we were all like — we all came together for that one play. Not just me, the entire defense. The ball just happened to come to me. I just remember being really happy.”
Those final 6 minutes? Those were for running out the clock.
Oh, it might have helped to get those heart rates down, too.
“We’re feeling great right now,” Olloway said. “To pull this game out, it’s a real testament to the kind of team we have.”
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David Glovach covers New Mexico United and other sports for the Journal. Reach him at dglovach@abqjournal.com or via X @DavidGlovach.
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