Week 1 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff
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Week 1 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here are some of the best performances, best games and fascinating numbers from the opening weekend. Team of the Week: Hobbs. The Eagles got Ken Stevens’ second season…
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Continue ReadingWeek 1 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here are some of the best performances, best games and fascinating numbers from the opening weekend.
Team of the Week: Hobbs. The Eagles got Ken Stevens’ second season as head coach off to a rousing start with an emotional 21-0 road victory at rival Clovis. Hobbs came this close to beating the Wildcats in the spring and would have won except for a couple of special teams breakdowns. This time, Hobbs finished the deal, especially defensively as Clovis mustered just 200 yards in total offense.
The only run of more than nine yards for Clovis came on the fake punt. Both teams were shorthanded with multiple players sidelined due to COVID contact tracing. Hobbs beat Clovis for the first time since 2013, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Wildcats, and for just the second time since 2000. Last time Hobbs won at Leon Williams Stadium? 1999. Cue that classic Prince song.
Honorable Mention: Farmington (routed Roswell at Wool Bowl); Los Lunas (blanked Piedra Vista); Raton (emphatic road win at Eunice); Carlsbad (won Eddy County War).
Player of the Week: Exodus Ayers, La Cueva. The outcome of Saturday afternoon’s Cibola-La Cueva clash at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque was supposed to boil down to one of two 2023 quarterbacks: Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM of Cibola and Aidan Armenta Aidan Armenta 6'3" | 190 lbs | QB La Cueva | 2023 State NM of La Cueva. But Ayers, also an outstanding basketball player, stole the show by scoring three touchdowns: 16-yard run, 77-yard TD catch and an acrobatic 30-yard TD catch in right corner of the end zone. Armenta described Ayers to the Albuquerque Journal as an “athletic specimen” He’s right.
Honorable Mention: Martell Mora Martell Mora 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Santa Fe High | 2022 State NM , Santa Fe; Alexavier Carreon Alexavier Carreon 6'1" | RB Jal | 2023 State NM , Jal.
Best Team Offensive Performance: Jal and Texico. Fans attending Friday night’s game between Jal and Texico probably thought they were watching a track meet instead of a football game. The two teams raced up and down the field all game long, combining for 119 points and well over 1,000 yards of total offense. Jal QB Alexavier Carreon Alexavier Carreon 6'1" | RB Jal | 2023 State NM had a game for the ages (more below). The Jal offense amassed 647 total offensive yards, 586 rushing.
Best Team Defensive Performance: Farmington. Many teams over the years have tried and failed to stop Roswell’s running game. The Coyotes have championship banners from 2018 and 2019 as evidence. The Scorpions, though, made the 6-hour trip to the Wool Bowl and their defensive line absolutely stonewalled the Coyotes’ ground attack.
Honorable Mention: La Cueva (Two interceptions + sacked Cibola QB Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM five times + held Cibola to 71 yards in second half )
Best Game: Bloomfield 29, St. Pius X 26. The Bobcats and Sartans engaged in a classic back-and-forth Class 4A thriller in the Four Corners. St. Pius X was leading midway through the fourth quarter and driving in Bloomfield territory when a key holding call on third-and-10 stalled a Sartans drive inside the Bloomfield 25. Bloomfield took over and drove for the game-winning TD on a 7-yard run by Bobcats QB Ryan Sharpe with 1:01 left. 4A playoff preview? Probably.
Best Finish: Las Cruces 27, Volcano Vista 20. Volcano Vista trailed the Bulldawgs by two touchdowns with less than two minutes left at the Field of Dreams after Las Cruces QB Dallas Boyd Dallas Boyd 5'10" | 175 lbs | QB Las Cruces | 2022 State NM powered his way into the end zone from 39 yards out for a seemingly comfortable 27-13 lead. However, Volcano Vista drove the length of the field in just over a minute to score a TD. With less than 30 seconds left, the Hawks recovered the onside kick. Volcano Vista QB Josh Gerardo Josh Gerardo 6'1" | QB Volcano Vista | 2022 State NM heaved three passes into or to the shadow of the end zone in the final moments, but all three passes were knocked away.
Best Rivalry Win: Carlsbad. For the second time this year, the Cavemen beat rival Artesia in the Eddy County War, In the spring, the two teams battled tooth-and-nail for 48 minutes before Carlsbad prevailed, 35-34. This time, the Cavemen dominated the Bulldogs from start to finish for a convincing 31-6 victory. In doing so, they spoiled the debut of Jeremy Maupin as Artesia head coach. The Carlsbad defense forced six turnovers and stymied the Artesia offense most of the night. Cavemen junior QB Dane Naylor Dane Naylor QB Carlsbad | 2023 State NM threw a touchdown pass, ran for a touchdown and kicked a field goal in the second half when Carlsbad outscored Artesia, 17-0. His 22-yard scoring run in the third quarter on a 4th and 19 play was the biggest play of the game.
Las Cruces Takes Early Lead: Three schools from Las Cruces went 3-0 against Albuquerque Public Schools in Week 1. Las Cruces beat Volcano Vista (see above), Mayfield walloped Manzano, 40-13, in a game delayed 70 minutes because no officiating crew was assigned to the game and Organ Mountain (formerly Onate) beat Albuquerque High, 35-14. If you want to include Saturday’s Cleveland-Centennial game into the equation, Las Cruces schools were 3-1 against schools located in the Great Albuquerque Metro region.
Road Warriors: The weekend featured several impressive road wins. Farmington beat Roswell for the first time in 70 years at the Wool Bowl. . .Los Lunas showed they are one of the top Class 5A teams by forcing five turnovers in a 42-0 win at Piedra Vista. . .Raton made the LONG (400+ miles each way) journey to Eunice and went home with a 35-0 victory. . .Silver traveled to Kirtland Central and pulled out a 28-21 win over the Broncos, spoiling the debut of KC head coach Jeff Schaum. . .St. Michael’s made the 90-minute trip to Taos and held the Tigers to a field goal in a 30-3 win. The Horsemen limited Taos to 138 total yards with five sacks and one forced fumble while amassing over 400 yards in total offense. . .Capital traveled to Grants and beat the Pirates, 55-20, in a battle of debut head coaches. Former assistant Joaquin Garcia was promoted to Jaguars head coach in June.
Reloading, Not Rebuilding: Before the season, we asked this question about Cleveland. Were the Storm rebuilding or reloading after winning the state title in 2019 and dominating the spring? Turns out, it’s the latter. The Storm went to Las Cruces and crushed Centennial, 49-21, showing no signs of slowing down offensively despite losing a number of key players, including Gatorade Player of the Year Luke Wysong Luke Wysong 5'10" | WR Cleveland | 2021 State NM , older brother of current Storm QB Evan Wysong Evan Wysong 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Cleveland | 2023 State NM . Cleveland jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and led, 35-14, at halftime. The Storm scored touchdowns on all three of their second quarter possessions. Morale of the story? If you thought Cleveland would take a step back, forget it.
Will Farmington Go Undefeated?: The Scorpions’ convincing win at Roswell raises an interesting question: Will Farmington finish the 10-game regular season unbeaten? They might. Week 2 opponent Belen will be playing its first game and must make the 4-hour trip to the Four Corners. After that, Farmington faces Highland (the Hornets have severe personnel issues), Aztec, Durango (Co.), Del Norte, Los Alamos, Miyamura, Capital and Piedra Vista. Out of that group, Durango probably has the best chance to knock off the Scorpions.
Run The Ball!: If we learned anything in Week 1, it’s this: teams able to run the football consistently usually won their games. Best examples: La Cueva outrushed Cibola, 175-37. The Bears had 118 yards rushing in the second half. Also, Eldorado overwhelmed the West Mesa defense with a strong ground attack, amassing 228 rushing yards, 202 in the first half when the game was decided.
Seven Rushing Touchdowns: Here’s an eye-opening statistic from Week 1: Jal QB Alexavier Carreon Alexavier Carreon 6'1" | RB Jal | 2023 State NM , younger brother of 2022 Jal OL Roger Carreon Roger Carreon 6'5" | 305 lbs | OL Jal | 2022 State NM , rushed for 7 touchdowns in Jal’s wild 63-56 victory over Texico Friday in a battle of Class 2A giants. Carreon also scored on a fumble recovery in his first career start at QB. It was a 43-yard TD run by Jal RB Jacob Lujan Jacob Lujan 5'8" | RB Jal | 2023 State NM that proved to be the difference.
Welcome Back, Robertson and West Las Vegas: Because their school districts opted out of the spring season, Robertson and West Las Vegas played their first games in nearly two years this past weekend. WLV hosted Highland on Thursday night, prevailing 34-8. Friday, Robertson traveled to Ivan Head Stadium in Santa Fe for a matchup with the Class 6A Demons and lost by the same score. The Cardinals made life difficult for Santa Fe in the first half as the Demons led just 6-0 midway through the second quarter. But the Demons’ superior depth and too much Martell Mora Martell Mora 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Santa Fe High | 2022 State NM (180 rushing yards, 4 TD) allowed Santa Fe to pull away in the second half.
Fun Facts: Santa Fe won a season opening game for the first time in 23 years Friday night when they beat Robertson, 34-8, at Ivan Head Stadium. . .Fear the Elks? Pojoaque Valley’s recent football history has hardly been stellar (9-41 record between 2015-20), but the Elks have now outscored their last two opponents, 102-0. Pojoaque ripped Shiprock, 52-0, Friday night. . .Two title-winning teams from 2019 clashed Saturday at Milne Stadium in Albuquerque. Hope Christian (Class 3A champions two years ago) built a 20-0 lead in the third quarter over Portales (2019 Class 4A champs) before holding on for a 28-14 win. . .Los Alamos and Espanola Valley combined for 99 points in a highly entertaining 57-42 win by Los Alamos. . .For the first time in history, all four Santa Fe-based schools started the year 1-0. Santa Fe, Capital, St. Michael’s and Santa Fe Indian School all posted Week 1 victories.
Week 2 Lookahead (Aug. 26-28):
Alamogordo at Los Lunas
Las Cruces at Cibola
Volcano Vista at Manzano (Wilson)
El Paso (TX) Franklin at Cleveland
Rio Rancho at La Cueva (Wilson)
Belen at Farmington
West Mesa at Centennial (FOD)
Eldorado at Mayfield (FOD)
Jal vs. Raton (at Tucumcari)
Deming at Organ Mountain
Carlsbad at Goddard
Hobbs at Artesia
Capital at St. Michael’s
#TEAM #GoldStandard pic.twitter.com/hVduCsniQ3
— Hobbs Eagles Football (@HobbsEaglesFB) August 21, 2021
Can’t beat these views and starting the year 1-0! #GoEagles 🦅🏈
📸 @BethanyKOAT pic.twitter.com/Ysc8XqQn2W
— Shawn Mooney (@SAMOONEY2) August 23, 2021
If you want to watch the complete 60-minute FB game between @lvtwildcatsfb and @STHS_Football from Friday, here you go:https://t.co/K86xkjps9F pic.twitter.com/mkBJy5ulGM
— Prep Redzone New Mexico (@PrepRedzoneNM) August 22, 2021
Love Friday nights!!!! pic.twitter.com/EXq7DrPq6u
— Mike Furbee (@furbee_mike) August 22, 2021
Raton made the 800+ mile round trip to Eunice and came away with the impressive 35-0 win. Gotta be a battle in Class 3A this year. Plenty of good teams in that classification. https://t.co/FnVQNz6wyP
— Prep Redzone New Mexico (@PrepRedzoneNM) August 22, 2021