Week 10 in Review: Top Performers

Week 10 of the New Mexico High School football season was filled with plenty of exceptional performances. Here are some of the top performers (in alphabetical order): <strong>Andres Aguirre, Albuquerque</strong>: Aguirre is one of the top 2024 prospects in the state and he proved it again at Santa Fe Saturday, rushing for 189 yards on 21 carries plus 3 receptions for 40 yards. <strong>Carlos Archuleta, Rio Rancho</strong>: The Rams held the explosive Volcano Vista offense to 7 points, none after the 1^st quarter, as Archuleta intercepted 3 passes, one for a Pick-6 midway through the third quarter. <strong>Rich Arreola, Roswell</strong>: The Coyotes QB ran for a TD and threw for another as Roswell built a 28-0 second quarter lead over Alamogordo at the Wool Bowl. Arreola threw another TD pass in the third quarter as Roswell cruised to the win. <strong>Juan Badillo, NMMI</strong>: Badillo threw for 138 yards and rushed for 112 yards on 9 carries as the Colts came up with a huge 42-27 victory over Hope Christian that put them in the driver’s seat in District 3A-4. <strong>Jake Barrera, Artesia</strong>: The Bulldogs’ top rusher helped Artesia pull away from Goddard in the second half with a pair of 67-yard TD runs and a 10-yard TD run. Two of his scores came in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs scored a pair of TDs for the 35-21 victory. <strong>Brandon Cabaniss, La Cueva</strong>: Keyed the Bears’ 47-6 rout of Manzano with 83 rushing yards on 10 carries. La Cueva clinched the District 6A-2 title with the victory. <strong>Ondalis Cardenas, Lovington</strong>: The freshman (2025 class) continued to impress by rushing for a season high 154 yards on 16 carries as Lovington took another step closer to a district title with a 46-14 win over Ruidoso. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola</strong>: Chaves, our No. 1 2023 prospect, is on this list nearly every week and for good reason. Last Thursday he threw for 269 yards and 3 TD in Cibola’s 48-33 win over Atrisco Heritage. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"], Mayfield</strong>: Cox scored 2 touchdowns in the first half as Mayfield jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first 10 minutes ad cruised to a 41-7 victory over Santa Teresa Thursday night at the Field of Dreams. Cox and backfield partner [player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"] each rushed for 100+ yards. Cox has several runs of 10+ yards. <strong>Dontrelle Denetso, Navajo Prep</strong>: Navajo Prep took a major step towards clinching the District 3A-1 title with a 58-16 rout of Tohatchi as Denetso scored 3 TDs in the first half. The eagles led, 38-8, at halftime and cruised home from there. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135303" first="Dominic" last="Esparza"], St. Pius X</strong>: Esparza contributed on both sides of the ball to the Sartans’ 39-8 win at Grants. He caught 4 passes for 63 yards and intercepted a pair of passes by Grants with 105 return yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"], Robertson</strong>: The Cardinals senior led Robertson to a 44-7 victory over rival St. Michael’s by accounting for 299 yards of total offense, throwing for 4 TD and running for one more. He carried 25 times for 113 yards. The victory kept Robertson’s district title hopes alive. <strong>Kayden Gonzalez, Farmington</strong>: Gonzalez gave the Scorpions an early 14-0 lead over Capital with a 95-yard Pick-6. Farmington went to post an impressive 55-0 win over Capital. The Scorpions face Piedra Vista in a district championship game Friday night. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="208691" first="Mikah" last="Gutierrez"], Centennial</strong>: The Hawks clinched the District 6A-3 title with a 35-18 victory over Hobbs  and Gutierrez had a vital role in the win by rushing 30 times for 222 yards and 1 TD. Between Gutierrez and dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id="26267" first="Ian" last="Lopez"], Centennial has two key offensive weapons ready for the 6A playoffs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26233" first="Isaac" last="Hinson"], Lovington</strong>: Hinson again showed why he’s one of the top two-way players in the state regardless of classification. He caught 7 passes for 146 yards and 4 TD while making 7 tackles on defense. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26241" first="Luc" last="Jaramillo"], Santa Fe</strong>: The Demons’ senior quarterback had one of the best games of his career against Albuquerque High, throwing for 246 yards and 3 TD as Santa Fe secured its first winning season in 23 years. <strong>Caeden Jojola, Valley</strong>: The Vikings dominated Rio Grande on the ground with 224 rushing yards in a 42-7 victory. Jojola led the way with 76 rushing yards and 1 TD on 8 carries. <strong>Bryson Medieros, Centennial</strong>: Medieros caught 2 TD passes as the Hawks beat Hobbs, 35-18, to clinch the district title and most likely a top four seed for the Class 6A playoffs. <strong>Cuauhtemoc Mejia, Mayfield</strong>: The Trojans’ defense came to play in the 41-7 victory over Santa Teresa with Mejia doing the most damage. He forced two turnovers and scored on a fumble recovery. The Mayfield defense flipped momentum late in the second quarter when they stopped Santa Teresa on fourth down in the red zone. <strong>Dominick Priddy, Rio Rancho</strong>: The Rams QB ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for 2 more as powerhouse Rio Rancho improved to 7-0 with a 57-7 win over Volcano Vista. <strong>Marquise Renfro, Atrisco Heritage</strong>: Renfro did everything he could offensively for the Jaguars in their 48-33 loss to Cibola. He rushed for 136 yards on 16 carries. <strong>Darryn Romero, Los Lunas</strong>: Romero had three interceptions in unbeaten Los Lunas’ dominant 57-0 win over Del Norte. Overall, the Tigers intercepted six passes and returned 4 for touchdowns in the rout. <strong>Jesse Seitzinger, Bloomfield</strong>: Rushed for 100+ yards and 2 TD in Bloomfield’s lopsided win over Gallup. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="198283" first="Diego" last="Snell-Martinez"], Bloomfield</strong>: Snell-Martinez rushed for 118 yards and 1 TD as Bloomfield prepared for its district championship game matchup with Kirtland Central by walloping Gallup, 54-2, for its third straight win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="189577" first="Dalton" last="Speis"], Sandia</strong>: The Matadors did something few teams have been able to do over the years – go into Leon Williams Stadium in Clovis and rout the Wildcats. Speis threw 2 TD passes off reverses as Sandia tied Eldorado for 2^nd place in District 6A-2. <strong>Matt Suazo, Taos</strong>: Suazo, one of the more unheralded players in Class 3A, scored 4 touchdowns in the first half when the Tigers took a 30-14 lead on the road over Pojoaque Valley before eventually prevailing 37-22. Taos has won 5 straight games and faces Moriarty in a winner-take-all district championship game Friday night. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26251" first="Zakk" last="Thomas"], Kirtland Central</strong>: Thomas made the big play at the right time, scoring on a 10-yard run in OT to give Kirtland Central a 20-14 OT win over Aztec that propels the Broncos into a District 4A-1 winner-take-all championship game against Bloomfield on Friday. Thomas scored 2 TD on the night as the Broncos won their fourth straight game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"], Hobbs</strong>: Trevino has been Hobbs’ main go-to guy all season long and he amassed 7 receptions for 154 yards and 1 TD in the loss to Centennial. In 7 games this season, Trevino has 37 receptions for 626 yards (16.9 yards per catch) and 6 TD. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], Rio Rancho</strong>: Nobody embodies Rio Rancho’s dominant season more than Vigil, who has successfully defended his crown as the state’s top 2022 running back. In the Rams’ 57-7 trouncing of Volcano Vista, Vigil rushed for 126 yards and 3 TD on 18 carries and caught a TD pass as the Rams remained unbeaten heading into Friday night’s epic showdown with cross-town rival Cleveland. <strong>Brandon West, Cleveland</strong>: West returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a TD to hand the Storm the only points they would need in a 54-0 victory over West Mesa. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138054" first="Erik" last="Wolf"], Moriarty</strong>: Wolf led Moriarty’s balanced rushing attack in a 59-6 road victory over Espanola Valley Thursday night. Wolf surpassed 500 rushing yards on the season. He’s one of three Moriarty ball carriers with 250+ rushing yards on the season. https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1452123514857656325 https://twitter.com/Croker65/status/1452027808096702469 https://twitter.com/ramonloya77/status/1452009628267601926 https://twitter.com/Deven38716576/status/1452362363022151684 https://twitter.com/jonathanfu2nt2s/status/1452318483685969932 https://twitter.com/zacharyvigil21/status/1451976905687650309 https://twitter.com/Alexandra481929/status/1451949127378538500