Weekly News and Notes – Memorial Day Edition

Manzano football coach Phillip Martinez has resigned to become the new defensive coordinator for Rio Rancho under second-year head coach Gerry Pannoni. Martinez coached the Monarchs for three seasons (2018-20) after they won the Class 6A state title in 2017 with Jordan Byrd, now at San Diego State, playing quarterback. Martinez is joining the Rams at a good time. Rio Rancho should have one of the top teams in Class 6A this upcoming season as they possess plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. <strong>LOVINGTON WIDE RECEIVERS IMPRESS</strong>: Class 4A Lovington will have one of the best wide receiver units in the entire state this coming fall season, and two of those receivers impressed analysts at a recent camp in Colorado. Here is what sister site Prep Redzone Colorado wrote about 2022 WR [player_tooltip player_id="26256" first="Adam" last="Aguilera"]: “Aguilera is another undersized WR that has a special set of skills that make him dangerous with the ball in his hands. He is quick, shifty, and slippery with the ball in his hands. Adam’s kick return ability is evident when he weaves through traffic after catching a pass.” WR Tayton Hilliard received honorable mention recognition. Aguilera (No. 4) and Hilliard (No. 2) are both ranked among our Top 5 wide receivers in the updated 2022 rankings. Lovington’s [player_tooltip player_id="26233" first="Isaac" last="Hinson"], who excels on both sides of the ball, is No. 1. The Wildcats have three of the top four wide receivers in the state in our 2022 ranking. <strong>NOTES</strong>: -- Less than two days after another impressive camp performance by 2022 Jal OL [player_tooltip player_id="26228" first="Roger" last="Carreon"], Nebraska began expressing interest in Prep Redzone New Mexico’s #1 rising senior prospect. Carreon holds one Power 5 offer (Oregon State) but more could be on the way soon. -- Eight New Mexico players participated in last week’s Blue-Grey All-American Bowl at AT&amp;T Stadium (a/k/a Jerry’s World) in Arlington, Texas. Shiprock offensive lineman Jayson Ayze was on the East team. He plans to play football for Div. III Plymouth (NH) State. Land of Enchantment players on the West team included Artesia WR [player_tooltip player_id="26164" first="Braxton" last="McDonald"] (PWO at NM State), West Mesa RB/WR Ja’Calvin Newsom (Eastern New Mexico), Goddard DL [player_tooltip player_id="26170" first="Fernando" last="Rubio"] (ENMU), Clovis OL [player_tooltip player_id="26203" first="Johnny" last="Jimenez"] (NMMI), St. Pius DL [player_tooltip player_id="26193" first="Aaron" last="Deller"] (St. Ambrose), Los Lunas OL [player_tooltip player_id="26192" first="Christian" last="Griego"] (ENMU) and Silver QB/DB [player_tooltip player_id="26201" first="Walker" last="Wenzel"] (Western New Mexico). -- Six-foot-7, 290-pound Shiprock OL Shiyazh Pete has committed to New Mexico State. -- 2022 Volcano Vista QB [player_tooltip player_id="26247" first="Josh" last="Gerardo"] plans to attend a camp at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Tex. on June 14. -- 2023 Cleveland WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"] will attend three camps: 1) Texas Tech on June 6^th; 2) University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Co. on July 10 and 3) Eastern New Mexico in Rio Rancho on July 20. -- 2022 Santa Fe RB/LB [player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"] plans to attend five camps in June: 1) Hunter Hughes Heritage High Camp in Frisco, Tex.; 2) SMU; 3) Blue-Grey All-American combine in Denver; 4) Air Force; 5) Top 200 in Albuquerque. -- 2023 Cibola QB [player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"] will compete in the Elite 11 regionals in Los Angeles this coming weekend (June 6). Vanderbilt of the SEC has invited Chavez to camp in Nashville. https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1399153875584655362 https://twitter.com/TrustMyEyesO/status/1396310580072525826 https://twitter.com/JoshGerardo2022/status/1397643439404044290 https://twitter.com/martellmora32/status/1397370814807351296 https://twitter.com/WysongEvan/status/1397379419807764482 https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1397551786072883203