REC: West Mesa prospects commit; Jal OL talking to Power 5

Two 2021 Albuquerque (NM) West Mesa standouts have committed to Eastern New Mexico. After flying under the radar for most of the current recruiting cycle, running Back/Wide Receiver <strong>Ja’Calvin Newsom</strong> and RB <strong>Joseph Thompson</strong> announced their pledges to the Div. II Greyhounds earlier this week. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Newsom will play running back or slot receiver for ENMU. “I chose Eastern New Mexico because I felt I could bring my talents and play alongside some great players and coaches,” Newsom told Prep Redzone New Mexico. Combining a 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame with good speed, Thompson is a bigger running back that should thrive in Portales against Division II competition. “The coaches and staff at ENMU seem like the right fit for me,” Thompson said.  “The coaches reached out to me and really wanted me to become one of the leading running backs on the team. They saw my footwork, power and speed on film and that’s what they want from me.” West Mesa head coach Anthony Ansotigue said both Newsom and Thompson could have drawn more recruiting interest but were hurt by the lack of a football season in the fall. Moreover, West Mesa has posted 2-8 and 1-9 records the past two seasons. Eastern New Mexico, though, did their homework and started recruiting both players back in the spring. “It’s tough for people to see value and think there’s good, productive players at schools like West Mesa,” Ansotigue said. “These two guys have stood out. If they were at a more prominent school with more talent around them, they would have been more heavily recruited and more people would know about them. Eastern was on these guys from the get go.” Ansotigue believes ENMU’s triple option offense is a perfect fit for Newsom’s skill set. “With Ja’Calvin’s skill set and him being a big, physical downhill runner, I think he’s going to excel in that triple option offense,” Ansotigue said. “JT is overall a little more athletic because he’s taller, close to 200 pounds and he’s probably faster. He has great hands. He could be an athlete type in that offense.” <strong>2022 JAL OL ATTRACTING POWER 5 INTEREST</strong>: At the moment, 2022 Jal offensive lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26228" first="Roger" last="Carreon"]</strong> holds offers from New Mexico, Illinois State and UNLV. But that will likely change over the next few months. Since being named MVP at the prestigious Trench Bullies camp two weekends ago, Carreon has communicated with five Power 5 programs: Texas Tech, UCLA, Stanford, Texas A&amp;M and Cal. Expect that Power 5 list to grow over the coming months as Carreon intends to keep going to camps throughout the spring and summer heading into his senior campaign in the fall. “It really feels great to be back on the field,” Carreon told Texas Tech website RedRaiderSports.com shortly after the Trench Bullies camp. “I’m from New Mexico, so we haven’t had our season yet. This was a chance to play some football. “I’ve had conversations with (Texas Tech) coaches and they mentioned they are definitely watching me and how they have interest in me. They also asked me several questions about myself and my family, and they really liked that I’m from a small town.” According to RedRaiderSports.com, Carreon “showed great footwork and strength at the camp last week, and already has a great frame and size for an underclassmen.” The same assessments can be found on several other team websites that covered the Trench Bullies camp. https://twitter.com/Jacalvin4/status/1353809469705084928 https://twitter.com/JosephT92802932/status/1353809415523213313 https://twitter.com/Roger_52_/status/1351574021318602752