November Madness: Projecting the Playoff Fields (6A-3A)
The NMAA is scheduled to release the brackets for the 2021 high school football playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 30. Entering Week 10 of the regular season, here is our projected November Madness breakdown for each classification (Class 6A-3A). Class 6A…
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Continue ReadingThe NMAA is scheduled to release the brackets for the 2021 high school football playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 30. Entering Week 10 of the regular season, here is our projected November Madness breakdown for each classification (Class 6A-3A).
Class 6A
Top Four Seeds: Rio Rancho, Cleveland, La Cueva, Centennial
Definitely In: Las Cruces, Cibola, Volcano Vista, Hobbs, Eldorado
Probably In: Sandia, Clovis, Carlsbad
Probably Out: Santa Fe, Organ Mountain, West Mesa
Definitely Out: Atrisco Heritage, Albuquerque, Manzano
Comment: Barring an upset, the top four seeds are set in 6A. The winner of next Friday’s Rio Rancho-Cleveland showdown will be the No. 1 seed, while the loser falls to No. 2. La Cueva and Centennial can clinch district titles this weekend. Most of the drama in 6A is the middle tier (No. 5-8). At least one of the five teams listed in ‘Definitely In’ must go on the road in the first round. Organ Mountain has a chance to sneak into the post-season but they must beat Carlsbad and/or Las Cruces to get there based on the current MaxPreps poll. The Knights travel to Carlsbad Friday.
Class 5A
Top Four Seeds: Farmington, Los Lunas, Goddard, Artesia
Definitely In: Roswell, Mayfield, Belen, Santa Teresa, Piedra Vista, Deming
Probably In: Capital, Alamogordo
Probably Out: Los Alamos, Valley
Definitely Out: Highland, Miyamura, Del Norte, Chaparral
Comment: About all we know right now about Class 5A is Farmington and Los Lunas will probably be the top two seeds. After that, it’s a scramble for seeding with several important games looming, including the Santa Teresa-Mayfield battle Thur. night at the Field of Dreams and the Goddard-Artesia matchup Friday night at the Bulldog Bowl. The final two or three spots are up for grabs among several teams.
Class 4A
Top Four Seeds: Lovington, Bloomfield, Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius X
Definitely In: Moriarty, Ruidoso, Valencia, Silver, Kirtland Central.
Probably In: Aztec, Taos, Bernalillo
Probably Out: Portales, Pojoaque Valley
Definitely Out: Grants, Espanola Valley, Gallup, Shiprock
Comment: Based on strength of schedule (non-district slate filled with 6A and 5A schools), Lovington should be the No. 1 seed with Bloomfield close behind. An interesting question is how the NMAA handles Aztec. The Tigers are just 3-6, but they’re ranked No. 7 in the latest 5A poll, which would seem to put them comfortably into the field. Key battle with Kirtland Central Friday night. Aztec faced Farmington, St. Pius X and three Colorado schools in non-district play. Winner of the Albuquerque Academy-St. Pius X game next week could grab the No. 3 seed.
Class 3A:
Top Four Seeds: Raton, St. Michael’s Socorro, West Las Vegas OR Robertson
Definitely In: Hope Christian, NMMI, Dexter, Navajo Prep
Probably In: Hot Springs, Cobre, Santa Fe Indian
Probably Out: Tohatchi, Cuba, Thoreau, Zuni, Crownpoint
Definitely Out: Tucumcari, Hatch Valley, Newcomb, Wingate
Comment: Once you get past the top six teams or so, the 3A bracket is filled with question marks. At the top, Raton and St. Michael’s (10 Horsemen players won’t play at Robertson Fri. due to Covid protocols) will battle for the No. 1 seed next Saturday in Santa Fe. At the same time, cross-town rivals WLV and Robertson will clash in Las Vegas with the winner likely earning a top four seed. Hope Christian-NMMI play the district championship game Friday. The last three or four spots in the 12-team field are completely up for grabs as seen by the fact there are EIGHT schools in the Probably In/Probably Out categories.
Week 10 Thur. Night Schedule:
Cibola at Atrisco Heritage (Community)
Santa Teresa at Mayfield (FOD)
Moriarty at Espanola Valley
Hatch Valley at Hot Springs
Tohatchi at Navajo PrepMoriarty-EV was a late addition to the Thur. night schedule pic.twitter.com/w0OtRgoUQq
— Prep Redzone New Mexico (@PrepRedzoneNM) October 21, 2021
St. Michael’s head coach Joey Fernandez said he will be without about 10 players for Friday night’s District 2-3A football game against Las Vegas Robertson because of COVID-19 protocols.https://t.co/qQs3B4yuLh
— Santa Fe New Mexican (@thenewmexican) October 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/chs_wildcats/status/1451244773977767942
https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1451214031876812800