Baker’s Dozen: Week 5 Preview of Top 13 Games

Week 5 of the once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) abbreviated spring season is almost here and it could aptly be titled, “Bowl Weekend.” Some very intriguing cross-regional matchups dominate the slate. It all gets started Thursday afternoon at UNM Stadium in Albuquerque. So, we get three days of high school football. It should be an action-packed weekend for high school football fans around the state. After this, we’ll have to wait 4 months before we see high school football again. Here is a look at our Top 13 games of Week 5: <strong>Game of the Week</strong>: <strong>Cleveland vs. Las Cruces</strong> (Sat, 4 p.m. at UNM Stadium) Had the season been played in the fall, this could have been the Class 6A state championship game. Both teams have emerged from the first four weeks of the spring schedule as two of the state’s best squads. Start with the quarterbacks: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26160" first="Marcos" last="Lopez"]</strong>. Davison just wins but is underrated. Lopez is capable of taking over games by himself, as he did last week against Centennial. Both quarterbacks are playing the final games of their high school careers. Strong ground games power both offenses. Defenses? Yeah, they’re good too. <strong>Farmington vs. Mayfield</strong> (Fri., 6 p.m. at UNM Stadium): Classic 5A matchup between teams on polar opposites of the state. Their offenses are also different. Unbeaten Farmington has one of the top passing attacks in the state led by quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26172" first="Caleb" last="Carrillo"]</strong> (929 passing yards + 17 TDs in 4 games) and receiver <strong>Peyton Halliburton</strong> (17 receptions for 343 yards, 4 TD). Mayfield has a powerful running game led by <strong>Jose Montoya</strong>, who rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns last week against Onate. <strong>Rio Rancho at Goddard</strong> (Sat., 2 p.m. at Wool Bowl): Intriguing inter-classification battle between Class 6A and 5A teams. Both teams are coming off surprising losses to cross-town rivals in Week 4. The fact Rio Rancho lost to Cleveland wasn’t surprising, actually, but the final score was: 42-0. Goddard looked dominant in their first two games against Artesia and Lovington, but last week’s rivalry loss to Roswell shocked many. Which team bounces back and finishes the spring season on a positive note? <strong>Bernalillo at Grants</strong> (Fri., 7 p.m.): Led by Fort Lewis College-bound LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26210" first="Ayden" last="Madrid"]</strong>, Bernalillo has one of the state’s best defenses. The Spartans have allowed just seven points in three games. Grants features top 2022 QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"]</strong> (472 passing yards + 5 TD), RB <strong>Terrell Hocker</strong> (574 yards and 7 TD on 36 carries) and impressive array of receivers. Strength vs. strength. Quite a battle looming. <strong>Roswell at Clovis</strong> (Fri., 7 p.m.): Roswell’s spring season threatened to go sideways after a stunning two-touchdown loss at home to Artesia on March 19. However, the Coyotes righted the ship with an impressive win over rival Goddard last weekend and look to be back on track. Losses to Cleveland and Rio Rancho had Clovis sitting at 1-2 before a satisfying 55-20 victory over Carlsbad last week evened the Wildcat’s record at 2-2. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26162" first="Jeston" last="Webskowski"]</strong>, headed to UNM in a couple of months, accounted for five touchdowns and 366 yards of offense. <strong>Eunice vs. Texico</strong> (Fri., 2 p.m. at UNM Stadium): Appropriate the Game of the Year in Class 2A will be played at UNM’s Stadium, albeit on Good Friday in the afternoon. Both teams are led by talented quarterbacks. Eunice’s <strong>Hayden Dean</strong> has 660 yards passing and 334 yards rushing. <strong>Gabe Dickerman</strong> has led the Wolverines to a 4-0 start. <strong>Eldorado at Cibola</strong> (Sat., 5 p.m. at Community): No team in New Mexico has played vastly different games like Eldorado. Their opener was a shootout 47-43 loss to Volcano Vista. Last week, the Eagles’ rivalry game against La Cueva turned to into a defensive slugfest with Eldorado prevailing 7-0. Cibola has played just one game, but they have the state’s top 2023 QB in [player_tooltip player_id="118805" first="Aden" last="Chavez"] and plenty of offensive weapons. Should be fun. <strong>Lovington vs. Bloomfield</strong> (Thur., 5 p.m. at UNM Stadium): Speaking of high-powered offenses, Lovington brings one of the best in the state to UNM’s Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Senior <strong>Jared Jeffrey</strong> is a two-way threat. Bloomfield’s defense has been the main story for the Bobcats. Except for the loss to Farmington, Bloomfield’s defense has played very well. We’ll see if the Bobcats can slow down Lovington’s offense. <strong>Alamogordo at Artesia</strong> (Fri., 7 p.m.): Alamogordo’s [player_tooltip player_id="26190" first="Sean" last="Hays"] (468 rushing yards in 4 games) is one of the state’s top 2021 running backs. WR [player_tooltip player_id="26164" first="Braxton" last="McDonald"] of Artesia will play at the next level. The Tigers make the trip through the Lincoln National Forest for the battle at the Bulldog Bowl. <strong>Los Lunas at Belen</strong> (Sat., 1 p.m.): Rivalry game in Valencia County. Los Lunas has posted impressive victories over La Cueva and Capital. Sophomore QB Paul Cieremans is a promising young QB. Belen has mercy-ruled Highland and Valencia in its first two games. How good are the Eagles? We’ll find out Saturday. <strong>Carlsbad at Centennial</strong> (Sat., 2 p.m. at FOD): Both teams are coming of losses. Carlsbad fell to Clovis while Centennial battled the Las Cruces Bulldawgs tooth-and-nail for four quarters for the right to be called the best HS football team in Las Cruces. [player_tooltip player_id="26168" first="Karsten" last="Rueckner"] and [player_tooltip player_id="26175" first="Isaac" last="Gutierrez"] are dynamic playmakers for the Hawks. <strong>Volcano Vista at La Cueva</strong> (Sat., 5 p.m. at Community): Volcano Vista’s defense has surrendered 92 points in the first two games, so the struggling La Cueva offense (blanked last week vs. Eldorado) might find some relief this week. Better late than never. If the Bears must get untracked offensively because slowing down the high flying VV offense led by exciting QB Johnny Herrera could prove challenging. <strong>Piedra Vista at Capital</strong> (Sat., 3 p.m.): Capital RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26186" first="Luke" last="Padilla"]</strong>, his school’s all-time leading rusher by a wide margin, plays his final game for the Jaguars and will soon be off to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Co. Interestingly, all four of Piedra Vista’s games this spring have produced a shutout. Two up, two down. If you’re the Panthers, you’d better score some points because blanking Capital on their home field is unfathomable. <strong>Other Games To Watch (Games Friday night unless otherwise indicated)</strong>: Socorro vs. Dexter (Thur., 1 p.m. at UNM Stadium) Onate at Hobbs (Thur., 6 p.m.) Hope Christian at Hatch Valley (Thur., 6 p.m.) Kirtland Central vs. Silver (Fri., 2 p.m. at Los Lunas) West Mesa at Sandia Manzano at Albuquerque High Rio Grande at Atrisco Heritage Taos at Moriarty Miyamura at Aztec Jal at NMMI Crownpoint at Shiprock Valley at Valencia (Sat.) St. Michael’s at Raton (Sat.) St. Pius X at Portales (Sat. at ENMU) Gadsden at Ruidoso (Sat.) Santa Teresa at Deming (Sat.) Del Norte at Highland (Sat.) https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1376019081791336451 https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1376017938851848198 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;