Baker’s Dozen Preview: Top 13 Games for Week 8
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October is here and that means the New Mexico High School football season is entering the final stretch. Here are our Top 13 games for Week 8 (All games Friday night unless otherwise indicated) Game of the Week: Cleveland (6-0)…
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Continue ReadingOctober is here and that means the New Mexico High School football season is entering the final stretch. Here are our Top 13 games for Week 8 (All games Friday night unless otherwise indicated)
Game of the Week: Cleveland (6-0) at Cibola (3-3)(at Community)
Cibola’s strong first quarter-and-a-half against Rio Rancho last week (14-7 lead in the 2Q) brings a layer of intrigue into this matchup. Cibola has one of the top quarterbacks in the state ( Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM ) and elite wide receivers in Nathan Lopez Nathan Lopez 5'5" | 135 lbs | WR Cibola | 2022 State NM and Branden Castillo, but their chances of staying with the Storm for four quarters depends largely on how well the Cougars defense performs. If they run out of gas like they did against the Rams, Cleveland will probably put their usual 40-50 points on the scoreboard with QB Evan Wysong Evan Wysong 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Cleveland | 2023 State NM , RB Josh Perry Josh Perry 5'10" | 185 lbs | RB Cleveland | 2023 State NM and WR Nic Trujillo Nic Trujillo 6'1" | 160 lbs | WR Cleveland | 2023 State NM inflicting most of the damage.
Latest MaxPreps Football Poll
Updated 10/5/21
Class 6Ahttps://t.co/3iDxrkiEbm Rancho
2.Clevelandhttps://t.co/gmAMTxvl9p Cueva
4.Centennial
5.Cibola
6.Las Cruces
7.Hobbs
8.Volcano Vista
9.Eldorado
10.Carlsbad@MaxPreps— NMAA (@_NMAA) October 6, 2021
Las Cruces (3-3) at Hobbs (3-3): The Bulldawgs and Eagles are ranked No. 9 and No. 10 in the state, respectively, by MaxPreps, NO. 6 and 7 in Class 6A. Las Cruces opened district play last weekend by hammering Carlsbad, 42-13. This game is Hobbs’ district opener. Las Cruces has relied more and more on a strong running game led by QB Dallas Boyd Dallas Boyd 5'10" | 175 lbs | QB Las Cruces | 2022 State NM as the season has progresses. In last week’s win over Carlsbad, Las Cruces had four times as many rushing attempts as pass attempts. Hobbs, meanwhile, relies on dual threat QB Colton Graham Colton Graham 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Hobbs | 2022 State NM , who has thrown for 921 yards and rushed for 296 yards in six games. Diego Baeza Diego Baeza 5'5" | 160 lbs | RB Hobbs | 2023 State NM will get some carries too.
Robertson (6-1) at Raton (7-0): District 3A-2 is one of the best in the state, regardless of classification, and this tasty matchup proves it. Raton, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A by MaxPreps, traveled to West Las Vegas last weekend and knocked the Dons from the ranks of the unbeaten with a hard-fought 14-7 victory. Cayden Walton Cayden Walton 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Raton | 2023 State NM could be the best running back in the state after Rio Rancho’s Zach Vigil Zach Vigil 5'9" | 190 lbs | RB Rio Rancho | 2022 State NM . Robertson’s Matthew Gonzales Matthew Gonzales 5'5" | QB Robertson | 2022 State NM is another talented dual threat QB that doesn’t attract a lot of attention, but he’s thrown for 597 yards and rushed for 531 yards. Robertson’s top rusher is freshman Jesse James Gonzales, who has 618 yards on the ground.
Latest MaxPreps Football Poll
Updated 10/5/21
Class 3A
1.Ratonhttps://t.co/NJlgi3W2Sw. Michael’s
3.Socorro
4.West Las Vegas
5.Robertson
6.Hope Christian
7.Dexter
8.NMMIhttps://t.co/84VPc80R8a Springs
10.Cobre@MaxPreps— NMAA (@_NMAA) October 6, 2021
Centennial (5-1) at Carlsbad (2-4): Centennial has won five straight games since the season opening 49-21 defeat at the hands of Cleveland. Hawks QB Ian Lopez Ian Lopez QB Centennial | 2022 State NM and RB Mikah Gutierrez Mikah Gutierrez 5'8" | 160 lbs | RB Centennial | 2023 State NM are one of the best QB-RB combinations in the state. Gutierrez has a streak of 6 straight games of 120+ rushing yards. The Hawks must maintain focus with Las Cruces looming next Thursday night. Carlsbad has lost four of five games since opening the season by beating Artesia convincingly in the Eddy County War. The Cavemen have been held to 19 points or less in each of those 5 games, so the offense is struggling to score points.
Goddard (4-1) at Mayfield (2-4) (FOD): The last time we saw Goddard the Rockets were battling Los Lunas tooth-and-nail for four quarters before falling a field goal short in a 17-14 loss. The Rockets, though, are still ranked No. 3 in Class 5A behind Farmington and Los Lunas. This is their final non-district tuneup before jumping into district play next week. Mayfield has lost three straight games, two to Class 6A city rivals Los Cruces and Centennial. MaxPreps still thinks a lot of the Trojans, though, ranking them No. 6 despite their 2-4 record.
Latest MaxPreps Football Poll
Updated 10/5/21
Class 5A
1.Farmington
2.Los Lunas
3.Goddard
4.Artesia
5.Roswell
6.Mayfield
7.Deming
8.Belen
9.Santa Teresa
10.Piedra Vista@MaxPreps— NMAA (@_NMAA) October 6, 2021
St. Pius X (4-2) at Bernalillo (4-3): Another strong district is 4A-5, which features these two teams plus Valencia, Albuquerque Academy and Grants. St. Pius X features one of the top running backs in the state, senior Marco Ybarra Marco Ybarra 5'10" | 190 lbs | RB St. Pius X | 2022 State NM , who has 934 yards rushing on 136 carries. He’s averaging about 23 carries per game, so it’s clear how much the Sartans rely on him. Bernalillo must find some offense after three consecutive low-scoring losses.
Albuquerque Academy (6-1) at Valencia (5-2): Right on cue, the second huge District 4A-5 matchup of the week and this one features the two teams with 1-0 district marks, so the winner has the inside track to the title. They’re also ranked No. 3 and No. 4 in MaxPreps for Class 4A. Academy features two of the most talented offensive players in Class 4A: QB A.J. Rivera A.J. Rivera 6'2" | 195 lbs | QB Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM and WR Kellan Gehres Kellan Gehres 5'10" | 150 lbs | WR Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM . Valencia has bene one of the surprise teams this fall.
Latest MaxPreps Football Poll
Updated 10/5/21
Class 4A
1.Lovington
2.Bloomfield
3.Albuquerque Academy
4.Valencia
5.Silver
6.Ruidosohttps://t.co/qKGUP9P3Rv. Pius X
8.Moriarty
9.Kirtland Central
10.Aztec@MaxPreps— NMAA (@_NMAA) October 6, 2021
Clovis (1-4) at Santa Fe (5-2): With the regular season now past the halfway point, this is a must-win game for both teams. Santa Fe has been a much better team at home at Ivan Head Stadium than on the road, and they must return to Albuquerque next week to face La Cueva. The Demons hope RB extraordinaire Martell Mora Martell Mora 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Santa Fe High | 2022 State NM is healthy. Clovis needed a miracle to pick up their first win of the season a week ago over Albuquerque. Will that win give the Wildcats some momentum? We’ll find out.
Volcano Vista (4-2) at Atrisco Heritage (3-3): Volcano Vista’s final three games are against Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Cibola, so they have to win this win to get that important 5th victory. They bring one of the most explosive passing offenses into the contest led by QB Josh Gerardo Josh Gerardo 6'1" | QB Volcano Vista | 2022 State NM , who’s on our list of the 10 top candidates for the New Mexico Heisman. Because of forfeits, Atrisco has played just four games so far this season. Freshman WR Latavious Morris is a rising star.
Jal (5-1) at Eunice (4-2): The top two ranked teams in Class 2A according to MaxPreps battle in the southeastern corner of the state. The Carreon bothers are the main stars for Jal, while Eunice’s offense is as explosive as ever with QB Conagher Pierce Conagher Pierce 5'11" | 190 lbs | RB Eunice | 2022 State NM (1,000+ passing yards) directing the show.
Silver (5-1) at Taos (2-4): We wrote this a couple of weeks ago and we’ll write it again – Silver might be the best team in New Mexico that nobody is talking about. The Fighting Colts are 5-1 and ranked No. 5 in Class 4A by MaxPreps. So, they’re squarely in the championship hunt. But they’ll be tested by the 7-hour, 370-mile one-way trip to Taos.
West Las Vegas (5-1) at Dexter (3-2): How West Las Vegas responds to last week’s 14-7 loss at home to Raton will tell us a lot about the Dons and whether they’re Class 3A championship material. WLV is still ranked No. 4 in Class 3A behind Raton, St. Michael’s and Socorro. Juan Fuentes Juan Fuentes 5'11" | ATH Dexters | 2022 State NM (595 rushing yards) fuels Dexter’s productive run game.
Sandia (2-4) at Albuquerque (2-4) (Thur. at Milne): A sneaky important game in District 6A-2 at Milne Stadium Thursday night. It could fairly be described as an elimination game for the Class 6A playoffs. The loser would pick up their 5th loss and would have a major uphill climb ahead of them. Sandia could go to 2-1 in district play with a win, while Albuquerque is looking for its first district win after an 0-2 start. Two stars on display: Sandia RB Malachi Thymes Malachi Thymes 5'8" | 165 lbs | RB Sandia | 2023 State NM and Albuquerque DE Landon Williams Landon Williams 6'3" | 225 lbs | DL Albuquerque | 2022 State NM .
Best of the Rest
Moriarty at Ruidoso: Another important Class 4A battle.
Piedra Vista at Capital: Both teams fighting for Class 5A playoffs spots.
Miyamura at Farmington: The Scorpions look to improve to 8-0.
Organ Mountain at Gadsden: Organ Mountain strives to keep improving.
Eldorado at Manzano: Key game for the Eagles after losing to La Cueva last week.
Other Games
Crownpoint at Socorro (Thur.)
Del Norte at Belen
Rio Grande at Santa Teresa
Valley at Highland (Milne)
Santa Rosa at Clayton
Aztec at Gallup
Espanola Valley at Navajo Prep
St. Michael’s at Santa Fe Indian
Bloomfield at Shiprock
Portales at Hatch Valley
Capitan at Tularosa
Thoreau at Newcomb
Roswell at Dumas (TX)
Peyton vs Payton pick your poison ☠️ @PeytonGreathou2 @paytonDeans12 pic.twitter.com/oN7veNzkxE
— BulldogFootball 🏈🏆x32 (@artesiafootball) October 2, 2021