Beyond The Big Six: Class 6A dark horse teams

When Andrew Martinez, then the defensive coordinator at crosstown rival St. Michael’s, accepted the head coaching job at Santa Fe High School in January 2017 he knew exactly what he was getting into. At the time, Santa Fe had lost 24 straight games, many by 40 or more points. Interest in the program from athletes, parents and fans in the community had reached an all-time low. The Demons went 0-9 in Martinez’s first season but slowly and steadily behind a talented core of committed players, he’s rebuilt the program back to respectability. A year after mercifully ending a 35-game losing streak with a dramatic last second victory over Espanola Valley, Santa Fe went 4-6 and battled Capital for the district championship in 2019, and enthusiasm for the upcoming spring campaign among Demon players and coaches is running high less than two weeks before the scheduled start of practice. “When I took the job, we weren’t ready to compete consistently with anybody,” Martinez told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “But then all those freshmen and sophomores from my first two years have matured into juniors and seniors. Last year we could have easily won three or four more ballgames. We’ve seen a lot of growth and maturity.” This spring Santa Fe elevates to Class 6A, a move Martinez says was expected. With 48 upperclassmen on the 88-player roster (Santa Fe had about 40 players total in 2017), Martinez believes the Demons are ready to make some noise at the highest classification in New Mexico high school football. “We always had the mindset that when our guys were juniors and seniors we’re were going to be in 6A,” Martinez said. “We talked about it. Our guys are up for the challenge. We’re in a good position to compete and win ballgames. Our guys want to win. Right now, our guys expect to win and expect to do well. It’s a totally different mindset.” The Demons are led by the quartet of dual threat junior quarterback <strong>Luc</strong> <strong>Jaramillo</strong>, junior running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"]</strong>, senior linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26188" first="Matthew" last="Maestas"]</strong> and junior offensive lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26271" first="Ben" last="White"]</strong>. Jaramillo passed for 890 yards and nine touchdowns in 2019, while rushing for 285 yards on 93 carries. Mora did most of the heavy lifting in the run game with 851 yards on 129 carries (6.6 yards per carry) while catching a team-high 20 passes out of the backfield. “Martell is a guy who sets the tone for our team,” Martinez said. “He brings the energy. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He always thinks he can make a play to change a game. He’s a dual threat guy. He can run and catch the ball. He has great hands and length and very good speed. He’s our best athleteand most dynamic football player.” Maestas was a tackling machine in 2019 with 153 stops, second most in the entire state.  He’s going into his fourth season as a starter. Martinez said Maestas is talking with some school about playing at the next level. “He’s an outstanding football player,” Martinez said. “He had a very good season in 2019 even though he played with a broken ankle bone. He ended up having surgery after the season. He really epitomizes the guys we want in our program. He’s tough and hard-nosed. He’s a leader by example. I hope he gets to play his senior year.” Beyond the Big Five of Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, Clovis and La Cueva in Class 6A, the Demons have the look of a dark horse contender along with several other teams. Here are four more Class 6A teams that could be dark horse contenders for the state championship in the spring: <strong>Cibola</strong>: Just like Santa Fe, Cibola once struggled to gain traction as a competitive football program. But sophomore quarterback <strong>Aden Chavez</strong>, senior RB <strong>Slayd</strong> <strong>Campos</strong> and senior WR <strong>Elijah Spaulding</strong> have the Cougars on the rise. Cibola reached the 6A playoffs in 2019, an encouraging first step. Now Chavez, arguably the top 2023 quarterback in the state, gives the Cougars hope of going farther. <strong>Centennial</strong>: The Hawks have enjoyed a tremendous run under coach Aaron Ocampo since the school came into existence nine years ago. They moved up to Class 6A in 2016 and have proven resilient at the top level of New Mexico high school football, going 34-12 over the past four seasons and advancing as far as the Class 6A playoff quarterfinals three times. The offensive trio of QB <strong>Karsten Rueckne</strong>r, WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26175" first="Isaac" last="Gutierrez"]</strong> and RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26200" first="Silas" last="Carter"]</strong> have the Hawks hopeful. <strong>Volcano Vista</strong>: Fourteen months ago, Volcano Vista was the No. 1 seed for the Class 6A playoffs before losing to Rio Rancho in the semifinals. Well, the Hawks are still a talented football team even if they have some big pieces to fill. <strong>Johnny Herrera</strong> will play at the next level. He recently visited Macalester College in Minnesota and has also been offered by Kenyon College in Ohio. <strong>Eldorado</strong>: The Eagles can compete with anybody when it  comes to the best QB-RB duo in the class with senior QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26222" first="Nick" last="Petty"]</strong> and senior RB <strong>Elijah Goree</strong>. Both rank among the best players at their position in the Albuquerque Metro area. <strong>Xander Gibson</strong> is a quality receiver, averaging almost 23 yards per reception in 2019. So, the Eagles have the weapons on offense. If they stop people on offense, they could make a deep run in the playoffs. https://twitter.com/martellmora32/status/1349760300665372673