Super Sophomores: Top 10 2024 Prospects

We’ve reached Week 8 of the New Mexico High School football season.Who are some of the best performing sophomores (Class of 2024) this season? <strong>Stratton Shufelt, Cleveland</strong>: MaxPreps named Shufelt as the No. 1 player in New Mexico before the season started. Cleveland is 7-0 and arguably the No. 1 team in the state in part because of a strong defense in which Shufelt plays a leading role. Roaming sideline-to-sideline, Shufelt has the size, speed and strength to dominate games. New Mexico has already offered. <strong>Zakye Hawkins, Las Cruces</strong>: Hawkins made waves as a freshman on Las Cruces’ JV squad, but he’s stepped up this season as possibly the most exciting young receiver in the state. His leaping TD catch in the final seconds of the first half vs. Volcano Vista ranks as one of the best of the season so far. <strong>Aiden Granado, Silver</strong>: Granado emerged as one of Class 4A’s most promising young offensive players in the spring, and he has kept the momentum going in a big way since the fall season started. In Silver’s first 5 games, he had 807 rushing yards on just 46 carries. That’s an average of 17.5 yards per rush. <strong>Andres Aguirre, Albuquerque</strong>: One of the top young running backs in Class 6A, Aguirre has surpassed 100 yards rushing multiple times this season. In the Week 3 win over Del Norte, he had 170 yards rushing and scored 5 TDs. Last week, he amassed 123 yards rushing at Clovis. <strong>Brody Whitaker, ABQ Academy</strong>: Perhaps the top young linemen in the state. Week after week, Whitaker has posted impressive statistics on both sides of the ball. Right now, he’s No. 2 in the state in total sacks (7.0). By this time next year, Whitaker should be a coveted recruit. <strong>Landan Frost, Aztec</strong>: With eight touchdown passes in his last three games, Frost has developed into a quality signal-caller for Aztec. Through 7 games, Frost has thrown for nearly 1,000 yards and 12 TDs. As long as Frost keeps improving and stays healthy, Aztec looks set at QB for the next couple of seasons. <strong>Mateo Contreras, Robertson</strong>: The Cardinals are again a threat to win the Class 3A title with Contreras playing a starring role in the offense. He has 19 receptions for 346 yards and 4 TDs. <strong>Peyton Greathouse, Artesia</strong>: Greathouse is Artesia’s leading receiver after seven games. Is he the next great offensive player for the Bulldogs? <strong>DeMarcus Thompson</strong>, Lovington: Excels at both WR and LB for the Wildcats. Defensively, has 41 tackles with 5.5 TFL and 2 sacks. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26208" first="Isaiah" last="Ortiz"], West Las Vegas</strong>: Ortiz has emerged as one of the defensive leaders for surprising West Las Vegas. Ortiz had 40+ tackles at the midseason point and has added to that total since then. <strong>Honorable Mention</strong>: Mason Espinda, Bernalillo Koa Hoshijo, Las Cruces Kaleb Rodriguez, Loving Wyatt Gomez, Lovington Drew Welleto, Loving Taylor Torivio, Santa Fe Indian School Nicolas Chavez, Santa Rosa Connor Holland, Ruidoso https://twitter.com/BrodyWhitaker2/status/1446220452494393348 https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1444356980538179586 https://twitter.com/ColinDeaverTV/status/1428950297477529603