Baker's Dozen Preview: Top 13 Games of Week 6

Here are our Top 13 games for Week 6 of the 2021 New Mexico high school football season (All games Friday night unless otherwise indicated) Game of the Week: Goddard at Los Lunas It’s the Game of the Year (so far ) in Class 5A. Goddard (4-0) is ranked No. 1 in the latest MaxPreps 5A poll, while Los Lunas (5-0), coming off an impressive home win over 6A Cibola, is No. 3. Between them is undefeated Farmington (5-0). The Rockets pulled out a thrilling 30-27 victory over 6A Hobbs last weekend, but star running back [player_tooltip player_id="138088" first="Javyn" last="Morales"] was injured on the second half kickoff and sat out the rest of the game. If he doesn’t play, Goddard will certainly miss his blazing speed. This game begins a critical two-game stretch for the Rockets if they want to stay atop the 5A polls. After a bye, Goddard faces Mayfield at the Field of Dreams on Oct. 8. The Los Lunas defense came up big on multiple occasions in the win over Cibola. First, they had a Pick-6 for a touchdown in the first half before a goal line stand in the final minutes preserved the seven-point margin. Dynamic dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id="137885" first="Paul" last="Cieremans"] showed off his skills with a long TD pass and 123 yards rushing. Through five games, Cieremans has 592 rushing yards and accounted for 17 touchdowns, an average of more than three per game. Few – if any – quarterbacks in the state have been better this season than Cieremans. If Los Lunas wins, they should finish undefeated as their four district rivals lag far behind the Tigers. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-205742" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-22-at-20-46-18-New-Mexico-Class-5A-High-School-Football-Rankings-Football-MaxPreps-300x270.png" alt="" width="300" height="270" /> Rio Rancho vs. Carlsbad (at Portales): This neutral site game was scheduled a couple of weeks ago after both teams had earlier games cancelled due to Covid. Can anybody stop the Rio Rancho offense? Carlsbad will be the latest team to try. The Rams averaged over 50 points per game in their first three contests, including last Saturday’s 61-7 whacking of Organ Mountain at the Field of Dreams. [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"] is the state’s No. 1 RB and so far has lived up to the hype. QB Dominick Priddy is a two-sport star and his elite athleticism shows. Rio Rancho’s defense? Among the best in the state, though Carlsbad has enough talent on offense to test the Rams. Cavemen WR [player_tooltip player_id="135081" first="Jonathan" last="Fuentes"] will test the Rams’ secondary. Lovington at Artesia: Lovington brings their high-flying aerial circus to the Bulldog Bowl. The Wildcats are ranked No. 2 behind Bloomfield in the latest MaxPreps Class 4A poll. Quarterbacks Wyatt Gomez and Ashton Aranda have combined for 1,130 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air this season. Speedy [player_tooltip player_id="26256" first="Adam" last="Aguilera"] has 34 receptions for 474 yards and 3 TD, while two-way standout [player_tooltip player_id="26233" first="Isaac" last="Hinson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="134985" first="Tayten" last="Hilliard"] have combined for 35 receptions and nearly 500 yards. Artesia had its three-game winning streak snapped last week in a home loss to Cleveland, but look for the Bulldogs to shake off that loss quickly. This one has the potential to become a shootout. Mayfield at Roswell: How much does MaxPreps respect these two programs? Well, Mayfield is 2-3 against a mostly 6A non-district schedule and Roswell is 1-4 after beating Carlsbad last week, yet the two teams are ranked No. 6 (Mayfield) and No. 5 (Roswell) ahead of multiple three and four-win teams. Trojans RB [player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"] brought his A-game against Las Cruces last week with over 90 yards rushing and a receiving TD. Roswell has one of its youngest teams in years, but has steadily gotten better as the year has progressed. That includes QB Rich Arreola, who ran for a 28-yard TD against Carlsbad. Bloomfield at Valencia: These two teams are a combined 8-2. Bloomfield is the No. 1 team in Class 4A in the latest MaxPreps poll. But an injury to QB Ryan Sharpe could be a concern. If he can’t play, freshman Ryan Spencer will get the call after an admirable job last week against Miyamura. Valencia had its three-game winning streak snapped last week at Santa Teresa. Junior QB Rey Garcia directs the Jaguars offense. La Cueva at Clovis: We haven’t heard much from Clovis this season and here’s why: the Wildcats haven’t played since Sept. 3 and two of their three games have been against Texas schools. Except for one game, Clovis has struggled on offense, being blanked twice by Hobbs and Frenship (TX). La Cueva, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A, has rebounded nicely from the mercy-rule loss to Rio Rancho in Week 2 with three straight victories. QB [player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"] is enjoying a solid junior campaign. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-205743" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-22-at-20-49-15-New-Mexico-Class-6A-High-School-Football-Rankings-Football-MaxPreps-300x276.png" alt="" width="300" height="276" /> Los Alamos at West Las Vegas (Thur., 7 p.m.): An intriguing 5A vs. 3A contest in northern New Mexico. Los Alamos is 3-2 after last week’s 51-0 whitewashing of Gallup. They begin district play next week. West Las Vegas has been one of the surprise teams of 2021 as the Dons have won their first four games after not playing for almost two years. A win here would set them up for Week 6’s showdown with Raton. Volcano Vista at Sandia (Wilson): Volcano Vista has had an uneven year with wins over Manzano and Albuquerque neutralized by losses to Las Cruces and La Cueva. Hawks WR [player_tooltip player_id="198052" first="Kieran" last="Cordova"] has 15 receptions for 363 yards and two TDs. Sandia hasn’t won since the season opener against Valley. Aztec at St. Pius X (Sat., 1 p.m.):The main reason to watch this game is to see 2022 St. Pius X RB [player_tooltip player_id="26257" first="Marco" last="Ybarra"] run with the football. Ybarra has 817 rushing yards in 5 games. Can the Aztec defense top him? The Tigers will try to snap a three-game losing streak. Eldorado at Albuquerque (Milne): Eldorado’s two losses have come to Rio Rancho and Cibola. [player_tooltip player_id="198231" first="Aidan" last="St. John"] is one of the top running backs in Class 6A. Eagles looked good in last week’s district opener vs. Santa Fe. RB Andres Aguirre (192 rushing yards) leads the AHS offense. Socorro at St. Michael’s (Sat., 1:30 pm): The season-ending injury to St. Michael’s QB [player_tooltip player_id="134997" first="Lucas" last="Coriz"] took some steam out of this 3A matchup, but it’s still a pretty good one. Socorro is the No. 2 team in Class 3A behind Raton. Belen at Capital: Belen makes the trip to Santa Fe to take on the Jaguars. Belen has won its last two games, including last Friday’s OT home win over Piedra Vista. Sam Tibbs is Belen’s leading rusher with 232 yards on 64 carries. Capital, also 2-2, looks to get back on the winning track after the loss to city rival Santa Fe on Sept. 10. Best of the Rest Manzano at Santa Fe: Demons’ RB/DB [player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"] is a leading Player of the Year candidate. Miyamura at Moriarty: Pintos posted impressive win over Bernalillo last week. Bernalillo at Taos: Spartans make the long trip to the mountains in northern New Mexico. Texico at Eunice: Battle between Class 2A heavyweights. Clayton at Raton: Tigers are new No. 1 team in MaxPreps’ 3A poll. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-205746" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-22-at-20-52-38-New-Mexico-Class-4A-High-School-Football-Rankings-Football-MaxPreps-300x277.png" alt="" width="300" height="277" /> Other Games Del Norte at Farmington Deming at Alamogordo Silver at Chaparral Tohatchi at Crownpoint Navajo Prep at Cuba Cobre at Dexter Santa Fe Indian at Espanola Valley Hot Springs at Gadsden Pojoaque Valley at Gallup Grants at Kirtland Central Shiprock at Newcomb Tucumcari at Robertson Ruidoso at Santa Teresa Portales at Rio Grande Escalanat at Albuq. Academy Hatch Valley at Hope Christian https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1439965541842706434 https://twitter.com/Sartan_football/status/1439802418271686659 https://twitter.com/RatonFootball/status/1440828413728546821