Baker's Dozen Preview: Top 13 Week 5 Games

Here are our Top 13 games for Week 5 of the 2021 New Mexico high school football season (All games Friday night unless otherwise indicated) Game of the Week: Cibola at Los Lunas We’ve had this one circled since they released the schedules back in July. Battle of two of the top quarterbacks in the state: [player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"] (Cibola) and [player_tooltip player_id="137885" first="Paul" last="Cieremans"] (Los Lunas). What makes the matchup particularly intriguing is they are distinctly different quarterbacks. The 6-foot-5 Chavez is a classic pocket passer, making him a perfect fit for a college that runs a pro-style offense. In three games, Chavez has thrown for 946 yards and 9 touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id="134963" first="Nathan" last="Lopez"] (25 receptions) and [player_tooltip player_id="137936" first="Branden" last="Castillo"] (21) are his favorite targets. Both had big games last week. How important is Cieremans to the Los Lunas offense? In four games he has rushed for 469 yards and 9 touchdowns while throwing for 561 yards and 6 touchdowns, putting him over the 1,000-yard mark in total yards. We know Los Lunas will try to run the football as the Tigers average just over 250 rushing yards per game. Malachi Roybal (239 yards) and Karlos Cieremans (216) will get opportunities to carry the football as well. Cleveland at Artesia: The Bulldog Bowl, already one of New Mexico’s best environments, will be rocking from top to bottom as the Storm, arguably the state’s top team (MaxPreps has Cleveland at No. 1 with rival Rio Rancho No. 2) make the long trip to oil country. What haven’t we said already about Cleveland? Not much. The offense has an array of weapons, while the defense has athletes who can run sideline-to-sideline, giving opposing offenses little breathing room to operate. QB [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"] is another talented dual threat quarterback with the ability to burn defenses with his arm or his feet. Artesia has bounced back nicely from the opening game loss in the Eddy County War with consecutive victories over Hobbs, Belen and Deming. Expect the Bulldogs to pound the football at the Storm defense with RB [player_tooltip player_id="26264" first="Jacob" last="Barrera"] carrying the load. Santa Fe at Eldorado (Sat., 1 p.m.): Albuquerque Journal preps writer James Yodice said it best about this game: “Been a LONG time since Santa Fe came to Albuquerque for a prep football game with this kind of importance.” Indeed, undefeated Santa Fe’s biggest game in years arrives as district play begins. The Demons are a factor in Class 6A due in large part to [player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"], who’s undoubtedly one of the top three candidates for Player of the Year honors through four weeks. Mora has amassed over 1,000 all-purpose yards and 13 touchdowns. If Santa Fe has skeptics, that’s understandable considering they’ve played teams from 3A, 4A and 5A, but none from 6A. Eldorado is looking to get back on track after losses to Rio Rancho and Cibola in their last two games. RB [player_tooltip player_id="198231" first="Aidan" last="St. John"] will try to keep pace with Mora in the run game. Las Cruces at Mayfield (FOD): This rivalry may have lost a little off its fastball in the past few years, but it’s still one of the best rivalries in the state and considered by many high school football experts as historically one of the best rivalries in the country. Both teams are coming off disappointing losses last week when the Bulldawgs fell to Cleveland, 42-7, while Mayfield was trounced by Centennial, 56-23. Dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"] is the main weapon in Las Cruces’ offensive arsenal. Mayfield has a solid ground game behind [player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"] and [player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"]. Hobbs at Goddard: A very intriguing 6A vs. 5A matchup at the Wool Bowl. Hobbs has won two straight and three of its first four games. Common theme? All three wins have been by shutout. Only Artesia has managed to score on the stout Hobbs defense. Three Eagles rushers have 150+ yards on the ground, so they possess plenty of weapons. Goddard RB [player_tooltip player_id="138088" first="Javyn" last="Morales"], arguably the state’s fastest player, has blazed his path to a great season on both sides of the ball for the unbeaten Rockets. He had 137 yards rushing on just 10 carries in last week’s win over a Texas team. Durango (Co.) at Farmington: This game could be one of the few times this season Farmington is challenged offensively and defensively. The Scorpions are ranked No. 5 overall in the state and No. 3 in Class 5A. They have outscored their opponents by the gaudy margin of 202-19, and none of those 19 points have been scored against the Scorpions defense. QB [player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"] has been impressive since transferring from Grants. Durango is the defending Class 3A champions in Colorado. Centennial at Atrisco Heritage (Sat., 1 p.m.): Centennial makes its second trip to Albuquerque in three weeks. This time, they’ll arrive as arguably the top team in Las Cruces and the No. 2 team in southern New Mexico behind Goddard, according to MaxPreps. QB [player_tooltip player_id="26267" first="Ian" last="Lopez"] and RB Mikah Gutierrez are dynamic performers for the Hawks. Atrisco Heritage is technically 3-1, but two of those wins have come by forfeit. Last week they earned their first win with a 27-14 victory over Valley. Rio Rancho at Organ Mountain (Sat., 1 p.m.): Rio Rancho takes their show on the road to Las Cruces for a matchup with suddenly struggling Organ Mountain. Rio Rancho has one of the most prolific offenses in the state with RB [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"] leading the way. Both teams are coming off unscheduled byes. Rio Rancho was supposed to play Clovis last week but the Wildcats were unable to play due to covid protocols. Organ Mountain had been scheduled to play Highlands, who opted to travel to Pojoaque Valley instead. The Knights fell to Mayfield in their last game following their first 2-0 start in more than a decade. Lovington at Denver City (Tex.): Class 4A Lovington travels across the border for a showdown with a nearby Texas school. The Wildcats were blanked last week by Class 6A Hobbs. But they possess plenty of firepower with an abundance of talent at wide receiver. Sandia at La Cueva: Who’s the highest ranked Class 6A team by MaxPreps behind Cleveland and Rio Rancho? La Cueva. The Bears have shown their mettle with back-to-back impressive wins over Las Cruces and Volcano Vista. [player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"] is one of the top 2023 quarterbacks in the state. Sandia opened the season with an encouraging victory over Valley but have fallen back a bit in their last two games, losses to Centennial and West Mesa. Piedra Vista at Belen: Piedra Vista (3-1) now occupies the No. 6 spot in the MaxPreps Class 5A ranking following last week’s 34-7 victory over Kirtland Central, and the Panthers now make the four-hour trip to Belen (1-2). The Eagles picked up their first win of the season last week, downing Miyamura, 23-7. Roswell at Carlsbad: Roswell coach Jeff Lynn predicted back in July that the youthful Coyotes could hit a few speed bumps along the way this season, and so far he’s been proven right. The Coyotes are 0-4 with losses to Farmington, Lovington, Hobbs and Los Lunas. Not exactly Little Sisters of the Poor. Carlsbad features an array of talent on the offensive side of the ball. They beat El Paso (TX) Coronado, 19-0, last week to improve to St. Pius X at Portales: St. Pius X B [player_tooltip player_id="26257" first="Marco" last="Ybarra"], the state’s fifth leading rusher with 651 yards in four games, is worth the price of admission by himself. He’s coming off a sensational 300+ yard effort against Taos last week. In four games, he has 651 rushing yards, putting him on a 1,600-yard pace, and 11 touchdowns. Portales and winning go hand-in-hand, but so far the Rams have struggled this season. They’ve been competitive in every game, but are 0-3. Best of the Rest Volcano Vista at Albuquerque: Volcano Vista’s ‘Special K’ unit at wide receiver back in action. Valley at Deming (Thur.): Both teams are probably better than their respective 1-3 records. Valencia at Santa Teresa (Thur.): Valencia is 3-1. So is Santa Teresa. Will this be the [player_tooltip player_id="198070" first="Julian" last="Cobos"] Show? Bloomfield at Miyamura: Bloomfield has quietly become of the best Class 4A programs in the state. Alamogordo at Gadsden (Thur.): If they handed out a ‘Hard Luck’ Award to a team, Alamogordo would be the runaway winner after consecutive one-point losses in the final seconds. Other Games Rio Grande at West Mesa Moriarty at Bernalillo Cobre at Ruidoso Bayfield (Co. ) at Aztec Socorro at Estancia Dexter at Eunice NMMI at Hot Springs Gallup at Los Alamos Escalante at Raton Espanola Valley at Robertson Taos at Shiprock Thoreau at Pojoaque Valley Kirtland Central at Pagosa Springs (Co.) Tucumcari at Santa Rosa Texico at Farwell (TX) Clayton at Albuquerque Academy (Sat.) Grants at Hope Christian (Sat.) https://twitter.com/AlamoFootball/status/1437841913483202561 https://twitter.com/AHSBulldogFB1/status/1438325716651626496 https://twitter.com/Coach_Ridenour/status/1438514600396214276 https://twitter.com/Sartan_football/status/1438514029408833552 https://twitter.com/Croker65/status/1438484948525010959