Week 2 Preview: 20 Players To Watch In Saturday’s Games

Week 2 of the once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) abbreviated spring high school season gets underway Friday night with 17 games. Nearly two dozen games are scheduled for Saturday (Note: Deming-Silver has been postponed. Deming will reportedly face Pojoaque Valley at Los Lunas HS). Here are our players to watch in Week 2’s slate of Saturday games: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26164" first="Braxton" last="McDonald"], Artesia</strong>: The state’s best receiver had 14 receptions for 170 yards and two acrobatic TD receptions in last weekend’s shootout loss to Carlsbad. McDonald’s matchup against Goddard DB [player_tooltip player_id="26169" first="Nathaniel" last="Stone"] will be worth the price of admission. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26223" first="Cord" last="Cox"], Artesia</strong>: The Bulldogs’ senior QB completed 23-of-36 passes for 374 yards and 2 TDs in the loss to Carlsbad. Impressive statistics for his starting debut. He looks to keep the momentum going against Goddard. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26169" first="Nathaniel" last="Stone"], Goddard</strong>: The Eastern New Mexico signee is one of the state’s top defensive backs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26170" first="Fernando" last="Rubio"], Goddard</strong>: Rubio, who has also signed with ENMU, leads the Rockets’ pass rush. If Goddard wants to slow down the Artesia passing attack, Rubio must find a way to affect the QB. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26210" first="Ayden" last="Madrid"], Bernalillo</strong>: The state’s single season record holder for most tackles leads the Bernalillo defense against Gallup, which was blanked by Kirtland Central in last week’s spring opener. If Madrid and the Bernalillo defense bring the proper mindset, Gallup will find it tough to score. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26186" first="Luke" last="Padilla"], Capital</strong>: The 2021 Fort Lewis College signee makes his debut along with his Capital teammates against Los Alamos. Padilla had a great year in 2019 when he emerged as one of the state’s top running backs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26160" first="Marcos" last="Lopez"], Las Cruces</strong>: The top quarterback in southern New Mexico and his Bulldawg teammates debut in the spring season with a rivalry matchup against Mayfield. Lopez’s dual threat skills should be on full display. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26180" first="Mando" last="Villescas"], Las Cruces</strong>: In order to take some of the pressure off Lopez, Las Cruces will look to Villescas to bolster the ground game. He averaged 10.6 yards per carry in 2019. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26191" first="Derrick" last="Martinez"], Mayfield</strong>: The Trojans’ answer to Villescas. He has patiently waited his turn at running back for Mayfield and now he gets his opportunity. Great running back duel on the docket at the Field of Dreams. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26212" first="Oscar" last="Gonzalez"], Hatch Valley</strong>: One of the top quarterbacks at the Class 3A level will lead the Bears against Tularosa. <strong>Marcquis Henry, Aztec</strong>: One of the top young quarterbacks in the state is looking for a bounce back game against Kirtland Central after last week’s shutout loss to Farmington. The Aztec O-Line must play better. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26189" first="Armando" last="Silva"], Roswell</strong>: The Roswell defense is going to have to figure out a way to stop the high-flying Carlsbad offense and the Coyotes best defensive player will seek to dominate the interior from his defensive tackle spot. <strong>Jesse Rodriguez, Carlsbad</strong>: His height and weight are listed at 5-foot-7, 130 pounds, but he sparked the Cavemen’s offense against Artesia with a long TD run. Can he do it again against Roswell’s stout defense? <strong>Luc Jaramillo, Santa Fe</strong>: The Demons’ dual threat quarterback will be the central figure for a Santa Fe offense looking to score enough points against Class 6A power Rio Rancho Saturday. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26188" first="Matthew" last="Maestas"], Santa Fe</strong>: We all know the Rio Rancho offense possesses plenty of firepower. Who will stop them? Maestas is the anchor of the Santa Fe defense. He was a tackling machine in 2019 with 153 tackles, second most in the state. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], Rio Rancho</strong>: Arguably the state’s top 2022 running back is looking to get his junior season off to a positive start. He knows college coaches are watching. Few NM players could benefit more from a spring season than Vigil, who clearly possesses next level talent. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26229" first="Cayden" last="Romero"], Rio Rancho</strong>: Of course, in order for Vigil to work his magic, he needs blockers in front of him. Romero is one of the top 2022 offensive linemen in the state. New Mexico has already offered. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26234" first="Dylan" last="Quartieri"], Raton</strong>: People are starting to notice the 2022 Raton QB. He’s been invited to the Hawaii Tiki Bowl in Honolulu and he recently took a virtual tour of Carleton College in Minnesota. Raton’s offense has the potential to be very explosive. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"], Cleveland</strong>: NOBODY should benefit more from the spring season from a recruiting perspective than the Cleveland QB. All he does is win football games, but college coaches have been slow to respond. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26162" first="Jeston" last="Webskowski"], Clovis</strong>: In a Clovis-Cleveland Saturday afternoon matchup filled with college level athletes, Webskowski will be one of the brightest stars. But the Wildcats offensive line struggled against Hobbs. Now they go up against the Storm. Getting Webskowski and the ground game going is vital for Clovis. https://twitter.com/CHSStormFB/status/1364784395916345350 https://twitter.com/chs_wildcats/status/1370536236922904579 https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1369443114050592778 https://twitter.com/LCPSnet/status/1369843185258803204 &nbsp; &nbsp;