Five 6A/5A Matchups We Can’t Wait To Watch In The Spring

As schools reveal their spring football schedules, some intriguing matchups between Class 6A and 5A schools are on the docket. Here are our favorites: <strong>Cleveland at Los Lunas (March 4)</strong>: This game has interesting subplots all over the field. The Storm are the reigning Class 6A champions and could be even better this season considering they return most of their offensive weapons from last year’s title team, including QB [player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"], WR/TE [player_tooltip player_id="26156" first="Tre" last="Watson"] (committed to Fresno State) and WR [player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"] (committed to UNM). And they just added dynamic RB [player_tooltip player_id="26178" first="Tyler" last="Jensen"] from la Cueva. But make no mistake, Cleveland’s potentially prolific offense will be tested by a Los Lunas defense spearheaded by the state’s No. 1 prospect, DE [player_tooltip player_id="26153" first="Tyler" last="Kiehne"], who is committed to UCLA. Los Lunas is coming off back-to-back appearances in the Class 5A championship games. <strong>Clovis at Roswell (March 5)</strong>: Plenty of talent will be on display at the Wool Bowl in Roswell in the season opener for both teams. Clovis, of course, features some of the top offensive talent in the state led by QB [player_tooltip player_id="26155" first="Chance" last="Harris"] and RB [player_tooltip player_id="26162" first="Jeston" last="Webskowski"]. The Clovis defense led by DL [player_tooltip player_id="26157" first="Jaden" last="Phillips"] and DB [player_tooltip player_id="26197" first="Braiden" last="Romero"] should be pretty good too. But they’ll have their hands full trying to stop Roswell’s high-powered rushing attack. The Coyotes are two-time defending Class 5A champions for a reason. <strong>Farmington at Rio Rancho (TBA)</strong>: A Four Corners school gets a shot to topple one of the big boys of New Mexico high school football. Rio Rancho, coming off a 6A title game loss to their cross-town rivals, has a new head coach in Gerry Pannoni but talent abounds everywhere. Rams RB [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"] is our top 2022 prospect after rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a sophomore in 2019. But the most intriguing matchup might be on the other side of the ball. Farmington QB [player_tooltip player_id="26172" first="Caleb" last="Carrillo"] knows how to throw the football and is one of the top signal callers in the state. A Rams secondary led by [player_tooltip player_id="26182" first="Jasper" last="Pennington"] and Tommy Lujuan will try to stop him. <strong>Mayfield vs. Las Cruces (TBA)</strong>: The landscape of Class 5A football changed when a drop in enrollment caused Mayfield to move from Class 6A. But the heated rivalry with Las Cruces, one of the most ferocious in the entire state, survives. Las Cruces has dominated the rivalry in recent years, and the Bulldawgs have the talent to make some noise in Class 6A, as they usually do. QB [player_tooltip player_id="26160" first="Marcos" last="Lopez"] is one of the top players in New Mexico (our #8 2021 prospect) and has been flying under the radar in recruiting. [player_tooltip player_id="26180" first="Mando" last="Villescas"] is short, powerful RB. His Mayfield counterpart, [player_tooltip player_id="26191" first="Derrick" last="Martinez"], leads the Trojans offense. <strong>Goddard at Hobbs (March 5)</strong>: How good is Goddard? The Rockets have three of our Top 18 2021 prospects – OL [player_tooltip player_id="26159" first="Larry" last="Luna"] (committed to New Mexico), DB [player_tooltip player_id="26169" first="Nathaniel" last="Stone"] and DL [player_tooltip player_id="26170" first="Fernando" last="Rubio"]. Goddard will be a force in Class 5A this upcoming season as they seek to dethrone cross-town rival Roswell. Hobbs is coming off a disappointing 2-8 season but they have one of Class 6A’s top defensive players in LB [player_tooltip player_id="26165" first="Roe" last="Forrest"]. QB [player_tooltip player_id="26211" first="Jarren" last="Lewis"] directs an improved Hobbs offense. You know Hobbs wants to get off to a good start before the district schedule kicks in. https://twitter.com/chs_wildcats/status/1286093080484098049 https://twitter.com/HobbsEaglesFB/status/1287185051373965312