New Mexico prospects continue to excel on national stage

More and more, New Mexico high school football players, many of them holding college offers, are making a splash on the national scene. Last weekend, two players from Grants, 2022 quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"]</strong> and 2021 WR <strong>Bryan Hernandez</strong> competed in separate events in Phoenix, AZ and Orlando, FL, respectively. Furbee attended the invitation-only, QBUniverse camp, which included teaching from elite quarterback coaches from around the country, classroom instruction and fast-paced on-field drills. About 65 quarterbacks ranging in age from elementary school to senior sin high schools participated in the camp. “The experience was amazing,” Furbee told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “I learned a lot of things that will help me better myself as a person as well as a quarterback. It was a camp to get some work in and possibly learn new things. Many of the quarterbacks were very talented but with my arm strength and accuracy I was able to compete with all of them.” Because he has yet to play his junior season, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Furbee is still in the early stages of his recruitment. As a sophomore in 2019, Furbee threw for 1,611 yards and 20 touchdowns, completing 60 percent of his passes. “Right now, I’m just trying to get my name out there,” Furbee said. “I’m doing the best I can to email as many coaches as possible. I’ve gotten a few responses from some big schools telling me that they will be watching me my Junior year. So, I’m hoping we can play!” 2023 La Cueva QB <strong>Aidan Armenta</strong>, currently a sophomore, also participated in the camp and performed sensationally, being named one of the top performers overall and in his age group. Armenta is tracking to become one of the top 2023 prospects in the state of New Mexico. He’ll compete with senior [player_tooltip player_id="26220" first="Ryan" last="Cook"] for the starting QB job at La Cueva when practice gets underway on Feb. 1. While Furbee and Armenta were impressing the coaches in Phoenix, Hernandez was 2,200 miles away in Orlando, FL competing in the All America Classic all-star game at the Citrus Bowl. He made his presence felt by catching a 24-yard touchdown pass. “The experience was awesome,” Hernandez told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “It was a once in a lifetime event. The game was fast-paced, so I wasn’t really much faster than anybody else out there. You just had to make the better play. I tried to be a team role player by just giving 100 every time and it paid off in the end with a touchdown.” In addition to staying in Orlando, Hernandez and the other players traveled to Tampa and toured Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and enjoyed the Gold Coast beaches. Hernandez currently holds four offers: Luther College, University of La Verne, University of Jamestown (N.D.)  and the Papago Pumas Junior College program in Phoenix. In a testament to the amount of talent on Grants, Furbee and Hernandez aren’t the only prospects on the team that will play college football. 2021 LB <strong>Cyler Aragon</strong> has been offered by the University of Jamestown and Greenville (IL) University, while 2021 DE <strong>Mike Trujillo</strong> and 2021 TE/DE <strong>Shane Barron</strong> have both been offered by the University of La Verne. https://twitter.com/BrandonFurbee2/status/1345933210966921216 https://twitter.com/AidanArmenta/status/1345891327536295936 https://twitter.com/BranTheMan_23/status/1344709253651705858