The Homecoming festivities on Friday evening, October 15, were enjoyable after not seeing students get a chance to express themselves for the last year and a half. Unfortunately, the Royals were not able to keep their end of the bargain and deliver a victory, with the Varsity team losing to Will C. Wood, 27-14.

The first half was scoreless for both teams, but Armijo featured some defensive highlights, including both Dameion Regelado and Ziair McElvaine catching interceptions in the end zone to prevent Wildcat touchdowns and Aaron Castro scooping up a fumble to give the Royals good offensive field position.

After being down 14-0 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Kaiba Washington returned a kickoff 90 yards for a TD, narrowing the gap to only one score. After Wood scored on their next possession, Armijo responded again. The Royal scoring drive featured a 12-yard pass from Eddie Concepcion to Guy Fortson, a 15-yard run by David Singleton (recently returning from injury), and ended with a 36-yard deep ball from Concepcion to Regalado. Again, the Royals were within one score and had the potential to tie the game. Armijo eventually ran out of gas, though, and Wood took advantage, scoring on a big rushing play to put the game out of reach.

As a team, the Royals did not turn the ball over, which was an improvement from the last few weeks. Individually, Singleton rushed for 98 yards in his first action in over a month. Defensively, Isiah “Shoes” Medina led the way with 11 tackles, supported by Castro, Washington, and Keshaun Williams who each had six tackles.

The JV game also had a close halftime score of 6-0, but eventually lost 30-0.

In Armijo’s three league games so far, they have twice had a chance to tie or win with less than five minutes to play, which means they are close to making a breakthrough. For those who want to see if that big break comes on October 22, come watch the Royals play at Vanden where JV kicks off at 5:15 and Varsity kicks off at 7:30.