Week 4 Preview: Top 20 Players To Watch Saturday

Week 4 of the once-in-a-lifetime (hopefully) abbreviated spring high school season continues Saturday with about two dozen games on the schedule. One intriguing game has been added: Los Lunas will travel to Capital High in Santa Fe for a 7 p.m. kickoff Saturday night. Both Los Lunas (Valencia) and Capital (Santa Fe) had previously scheduled rivalry games cancelled. Here are our 20 players to watch in Week 4’s Saturday games. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26186" first="Luke" last="Padilla"], Capital</strong>: The top 2021 prospect in Santa Fe ran all over Los Alamos and Pojoaque Valley ( 5 touchdowns in Capital’s 59-6 win) in the Jaguars’ first two games, but Los Lunas should provide a stiffer – and very intriguing – test. <strong>Paul Cieremans, Los Lunas</strong>: Add another name to the growing list of talented 2023 quarterbacks in the state of New Mexico. Cieremans led Los Lunas to a 31-20 victory over La Cueva last weekend by throwing for one touchdown and running for two more, one of them an 85-yarder. <strong>A.J. Rivera, Albuquerque Academy</strong>: Speaking of 2023 quarterbacks, Rivera has followed up his encouraging freshman campaign in 2019 with a solid sophomore season. In three games, he’s thrown for 534 yards and 5 TDs. Academy has Moriarty next. <strong>Emmanuel Aragon, Belen</strong>: Aragon was the offensive star for Belen in last week’s rout of Valencia, scoring three touchdowns. Belen faces Highland at home and the Hornets’ defense allowed only a single touchdown to Valley in their season opener. <strong>Hayden Dean, Eunice</strong>: Dean has staked his claim to being the state’s top dual threat quarterback with 435 yards passing (73.7 completion pct.) and 209 yards rushing in the Cardinals’ first three games. The NMMI defense rose up and held Hope Christian to 7 points a week ago. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"], Mayfield</strong>: The Trojans amassed 215 rushing yards in cruising past Deming, 28-7, last week at the Field of Dreams. Cox had 140 of those yards, including a 49-yard TD scamper. Cox and Derek Martinez are a productive backfield duo. <strong>Joseph Johnson, Onate</strong>: The Onate defensive standout had a Pick=-6 in last week’s loss to Las Cruces. He’ll be counted on to contain Mayfield’s proflic ground assault. If the winless Knights can limit the Trojans on the ground, they’ve got a chance to pull the upset. <strong>Gabe Dickerman, Texico</strong>: If Eunice is the No. 1 team in Class 2A this spring, who’s No. 2? Probably unbeaten Texico. Dickerman accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) in last week’s 43-21 win over Santa Rosa. Loving is winless and has allowed 147 points in 3 games. Let’s hope for a Texico-Eunice battle on ‘Bowl Weekend.’ <strong>Cayden Walton, Raton</strong>: After the stunning loss to Taos, Raton bounced back with a 36-12 win over Estancia. Walton had a 22-yard TD run and numerOus other 10+ yards runs in the victory. Walton should do the same thing against Tucumcari’s defense on Saturday. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26250" first="Daymon" last="Lujan"], St. Michael’s</strong>: The Horsemen finally got to play a game last week after the first two games were cancelled when a team member tested positive for Covid. Lujan rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in a huge 48-3 win on the road at Taos. This week St. Michael’s is scheduled to play Espanola Valley, which has struggled with numbers. <strong>Rayshawn Whitney, Tohatchi</strong>: The Cougars are 3-0 and square off with Crownpoint (2-1) in a key Class 3A battle. Whitney had 113 yards rushing and a nice halfback option pass in a recent win over Shiprock. <strong>Jordan Armijo, Socorro</strong>: The undefeated Warriors defense has allowed just seven points in three games this spring. Next up is Tularosa on the road. <strong>Terrell Hocker, Grants</strong>: Hocker accounted for 26 points (4 TDs and a 2-pt conversion) in last week’s 51-0 victory over Gallup. Grants has plenty of offensive weapons – Hocker, QB [player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"], WR Bryan Hernandez and more – going into Saturday’s clash with Kirtland Central. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26251" first="Zakk" last="Thomas"], Kirtland Central</strong>:  After rescuing the Broncos last week with three touchdowns when they trailed Miyamura 21-7 early in the fourth quarter, Thomas and undefeated Kirtland Central face Grants. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26162" first="Jeston" last="Webskowski"], Clovis</strong>: Even though the Wildcats have the state’s top 2021 running back, the offense has struggled to score points. The offensive line has struggled to open running lanes. Granted, Clovis has played Cleveland and Rio Rancho in its last two games, but the Wildcats’ offense must do better. Penalties hurt them last week. <strong>Johnny Herrera, Volcano Vista</strong>: The Hawks’ QB had himself quite a game in Volcano Vista’s 47-43 shootout win over Eldorado last Saturday. Herrera threw for 381 yards and 6 TDs, two to Kaden Valdez and two to Kieran Cordova. The winning points came on Valdez’s stunning kickoff return in the closing seconds. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118805" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola</strong>: Arguably the state’s top 2023 prospect finally gets a chance to showcase his already immense but still developing skills after Cibola’s scheduled opener against Sandia was cancelled due to COVID protocols. Chavez will compete on the national stage at several camps this summer. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26201" first="Walker" last="Wenzel"], Silver</strong>: Wenzel and the Silver offense are looking for a bounce back game against winless Ruidoso after scoring just six points against Alamogordo last week. <strong>Uriel Mendoza, Carlsbad</strong>: He scored the game-winning TD on a 10-yard run with 11 seconds left to lift Carlsbad to a 27-21 win over Hobbs last week. Cavemen are at Clovis Saturday. If Carlsbad wins, they will finish the abbreviated spring regular season with a 3-1 record and should earn a spot in a bowl game next weekend. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119147" first="Jacob" last="Miranda"], Sandia</strong>: The Matadors finally get a chance to play a game after last week’s scheduled opener against Cibola was cancelled. Miranda is fast (4.6 seconds in 40) and quick. Sandia will be relying on him to generate some offense. https://twitter.com/SFPS_ATHLETICS/status/1375582167447707648 https://twitter.com/scoutSMART_/status/1375451785809293319 https://twitter.com/mhstrojans/status/1375152704897474565 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;