City Rankings: Top 5 Quarterbacks in Las Cruces/Southern NM

We’ve given you the top quarterbacks in classifications 3A-6A and the top five quarterbacks in the Albuquerque Metro area. We continue our City Rankings series with the top five quarterbacks in Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26160" first="Marcos" last="Lopez"], Las Cruces</strong>: Arguably the top player in the city of Las Cruces, Lopez is also one of the most dynamic playmakers in the entire state along with being one the most experienced. He is going into his third season as the Bulldawgs’ starting quarterback, one of the most visible seats in New Mexico high school football. Last season Lopez threw for 1,874 yards and accounted for 23 total touchdowns to spearhead the Bulldawgs to an undefeated District 6A-3 record and a spot in the Class 6A playoff quarterfinals. What he needs now is more college offers after DIII Hiram College in Ohio extended an offer less than a week ago. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26211" first="Jarren" last="Lewis"], Hobbs</strong>: The Eagles went just 2-8 last season, so some people around the state don’t know how good Lewis is or what he’s been doing in the far southeastern corner of the state. As a junior, Lewis threw for nearly 2,000 yards and completed 55 percent of his passes for 18 touchdowns. But Hobbs struggled to run the football and the defense surrendered 36+ points six times. Watch out, Lewis is a leading candidate for breakout player of the year in the state. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26201" first="Walker" last="Wenzel"], Silver</strong>: Nestled on the southern edge of the 3 million acre Gila National Forest within the largely rural southwestern region of the state, Silver City is home to one of the top dual threat signal callers in the state. Wenzel led Silver to the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs by throwing for nearly 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 817 yards and 8 touchdowns. It’s a close battle between Wenzel and Grant’s [player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"] for the title of Best Quarterback in Class 4A. Hometown Western New Mexico University has offered Wenzel. <strong>Aiden Prosser, Onate</strong>: The last few years have been difficult for Onate, which will change its name to Organ Mountain HS next year. The Knights finished just 1-9 in 2019, but Prosser’s performance towards the end of the season gives them hope for the future. The junior took over the starting QB role in Week 9 against Las Cruces and threw for 119 yards and one touchdown in his debut before leading Onate to its only win of the season the following week over Gadsden. Prosser will be higher on this list next fall. <strong>Ryan Villescas, Alamogordo</strong>: The fifth and final spot in our ranking boiled down to Villescas, [player_tooltip player_id="26168" first="Karsten" last="Rueckner"] of Centennial and [player_tooltip player_id="26212" first="Oscar" last="Gonzalez"] of Hatch Valley. We’ll go with Villescas in a close race. He threw for 745 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2019, and should be aided this coming spring by one of the top ground games in Class 5A led by 1,800-yard rusher [player_tooltip player_id="26190" first="Sean" last="Hays"]. The Tigers offense looks set to lead the team back into the 5A playoffs. <strong>Honorable Mention</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id="26168" first="Karsten" last="Rueckner"] (Centennial);  Matthew Lopez (Santa Teresa); Marco Munoz (Dexter); [player_tooltip player_id="26212" first="Oscar" last="Gonzalez"] (Hatch Valley); Ja’Brae Boyer (Estancia); [player_tooltip player_id="26223" first="Cord" last="Cox"] (Artesia). https://twitter.com/MarcosLopez_7/status/1315798523044982785 https://twitter.com/WalkerWenzel02/status/1290354114434461696 https://twitter.com/MarcosLopez_7/status/1260699673477517312