LA JUNTA — Tonight Alamosa goes on the road to face La Junta in a battle of top rated contenders. La Junta is coming off a championship winning campaign and is fresh off a 42 point shut out of Gunnison. While impressive the win did nothing to move them from their number three spot. Alamosa is no stranger to big wins taking it to Florence to the tune of a 43-point shutout and a gapping Buena Vista by 30 points last week they recently cracked the CHSAA state rankings at number 9 with 28 votes.

Offensively the Tigers use a powerful rushing attack led by 190-pound senior Wyatt Buhr. Buhr ran for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half of the Tigers 42-point win. La Junta’s passer Jon Nuschy seems to be accurate in his limited action going 3-4 for 70 yards and a near perfect 156.3 passer rating. Despite this his strength also lies in the run, Nuschy tallied 109 yards to the Tiger’s 319 yard day and added two touchdowns. So the Moose defense is likely to see a hefty dose of both.

Alamosa fields a more balanced offensive attack with John Lujan under center. Lujan can cut and run if need be having rushed for 3 touchdowns already, but averaging just 30 rushing yards per game, he uses his arm more than his legs. Lujan is posting 126.5 yards passing per game right now and has two touchdowns through the air.

Senior Reis Martinez handles the rushing duties for the Moose. Martinez runs angry for 145 pounds and is posting 143 yards a game. Martinez has also registered 3 touchdowns so far and is good for a first down with every touch averaging a 9.9 yards per carry average.

Spectators didn’t see much of the La Junta receivers but Riley Remick figures to see more targets down the stretch with the Tiger’s lone receiving touchdown and interception in their first game. The Moose utilize mainly senior Angelo Ramirez and junior Chad Jackson for their aerial attack. While Ramirez leads the team in receptions with 5, Jackson leads in yards with 111 thanks to a 67 yarder he took to the house last week.

Defensively both teams boast some pretty scary numbers La Junta allowed just 101 yards of total offense to Gunnison on September 1st and registered a defensive touchdown and an interception closing the day plus 1 in the turnover difference. Alamosa is averaging 3.5 takeaways a game for a plus 4 turnover difference with 4 sacks and has registered a safety to boot.

With both teams raring to get a shot at a real contender this promises to be a very telling game for both sides. Action kicks off tonight in La Junta at 7 p.m.