Week 10 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 10 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here are some of the best performances, best games, fascinating numbers and other fun stuff from the tenth weekend of the 2021 season. One weekend remains in the regular season: Team of the Week: Robertson. We have some turmoil in District 3A-2. Robertson assured next Saturday afternoon will be overflowing with Week 11 drama by trouncing shorthanded St. Michael’s 44-7 Friday night in Las Vegas. Cardinal QB [player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"] threw 4 TD passes, ran for another and accounted for 299 total yards to keep Robertson’s hopes of a district title alive. Gonzales, who stands just 5-foot-7, ran the ball 25 times for 113 yards. Because of Robertson’s impressive victory over the Horsemen, there could be a 3-way tie atop the district standings by late Saturday afternoon. In order to reach that point, unbeaten Raton must lose to St. Michael’s in Santa Fe and Robertson must beat bitter city rival West Las Vegas. Under the scenario, point differential would decide the winner. Honorable Mention: Mayfield (beat Santa Teresa); Valencia (beat Bernalillo); Sandia (beat Clovis on the road); NMMI (beat Hope Christian for district title); Artesia (beat Goddard). Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id="208691" first="Mikah" last="Gutierrez"], Centennial. The workhorse Gutierrez rushed for 222 yards and 1 TD on 30 carries to key Centennial’s district-clinching 35-18 victory over Hobbs Friday night at the Field of Dreams. The Hawks grabbed a 21-6 halftime lead as Gutierrez rushed for 100+ yards and 1 TD and the Centennial defense force three turnovers. After a long kickoff return to open the second half, Centennial scored another TD to put the game out of reach for the Eagles. Honorable Mention: [player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"], Robertson. Best Team Offensive Performance: Moriarty. What’s most impressive about Moriarty (5-2) isn’t that the Pintos are a great rushing team because they are. It’s that they willingly share the wealth, and Thursday night’s 59-6 win at Espanola Valley was best evidence of that. Nobody rushed for more than 100 yards as Moriarty amassed 418 yards in a full-fledged ground assault. Leading rusher [player_tooltip player_id="138054" first="Erik" last="Wolf"] had exactly 100 yards on just 5 carries, while [player_tooltip player_id="135110" first="Cayden" last="Dunn"] (76), Andres Lopez (62) and [player_tooltip player_id="138055" first="Matthew" last="Romero"] (58) surpassed 50 yards on the ground. Moriarty is averaging 262.3 rushing yards per game, with three players over the 250-yard mark. Moriarty’s rushing attack is so prolific few teams want to play them in the 4A playoffs. Before that, the Pintos host Taos in a winner-take-all district championship game Friday night. Best Team Defensive Performance: Los Lunas. The Tigers intercepted SIX Del Norte passes and returned four for touchdowns in a 57-0 victory for Los Lunas (9-0, 3-0) that set the stage for Week 11’s winner-take-all district championship game against rival Belen (6-2, 3-0). The Eagles routed Highland on Friday. Best Game/Best Finish: Kirtland Central 20, Aztec 14 (OT). Kirtland Central (5-4 overall, 3-0 district) RB [player_tooltip player_id="26251" first="Zakk" last="Thomas"] took a pitch from Broncos QB Tyler Beach and scampered into the left corner of the end zone from 10 yards out in overtime to give Kirtland Central a hard-fought win over its regional rival. The defensive-dominated game featured a Pick-6 by each team. For Aztec, it was yet another frustrating loss. The Tigers have lost 4 games this season by 6 points or less. With a 3-7 record, this latest close defeat could keep Aztec out of the Class 4A playoffs. The Tigers entered Week 10 ranked No. 10 in 4A by MaxPreps. Best Rivalry Win: Artesia 35, Goddard 21. Another district with a potential chaotic situation at the end of the regular season? District 5A-4. If Artesia beats Alamogordo on Friday and Goddard beats cross-town rival Roswell, three teams would finish with 2-1 district records. One week after the heartbreaking 30-29 loss to Roswell, Artesia put themselves in position to claim a share of the district title by handling Goddard at the Bulldog Bowl. Artesia took the lead for good at 14-13 with 6 seconds left the second quarter when QB Nathan Taylor connected with Zaden Lopez for a 10-yard TD pass. Jake Barrera’s 67-yard TD run gave the Bulldogs a 21-13 lead going into the fourth quarter. He added two more TD runs in the fourth. Things You Need To Know: After scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half to cruise to a 41-7 victory over Santa Teresa, Mayfield (5-4) can clinch the District 5A-3 title with a win over Deming Friday night. . .Despite winning six games for the first time in 23 years and posting just their third winning record in 35 years, Santa Fe (6-4) is a long shot to make the Class 6A playoffs as an at-large team because they’ve beaten just two 6A schools this season. The Demons finished 2-4 in District 6A-2 after outlasting Albuquerque, 41-38, Saturday afternoon at Ivan Head Stadium. In the end, the failure to protect a two-touchdown lead at home in the second half against Clovis and their struggles on the road will likely prove costly for the Demons. . .How dominant has Farmington been in Class 5A this season? Friday night’s 55-0 win over Capital marked the Scorpions’ fourth straight shutout win by the mercy rule. The last time Farmington surrendered a point was Sept. 17 against Durango (Co.). The last time the Scorpions allowed a point to a New Mexico opponent was Week 2 against Belen. Yeah, Rock You Like A Hurricane. . .Bloomfield (8-1, 3-0) totaled 550+ yards of total offense in a 54-2 win over Gallup to set up the district championship game against Kirtland Central on Friday night. . .Lovington can clinch the District 4A-3 title and a possible No. 1 seed in the 4A playoffs with a victory over Portales in Week 11. . .Carlsbad stayed alive in the 6A playoff hunt with an important 34-20 victory over Organ Mountain, a loss that likely eliminated the Knights from post-season consideration. . .Another team that has risen from the ashes like the mythological Phoenix: Taos. The Tigers lost their first four games of the season but have now won five straight following Saturday’s 37-22 victory at Pojoaque Valley. The Tigers led, 8-7, after the first quarter before scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter for a 30-14 halftime lead. Taos faces Moriarty in a winner-take-all district championship game on Friday. . .One of the hottest teams going into the Class 3A playoffs might be Navajo Prep. The Eagles beat Tohatchi, 58-16, Thursday night for their fourth straight win and a 7-2 overall record. A victory over Newcomb (2-7) in Week 11 would clinch the district championship for Navajo Prep. . .NMMI took a major step towards clinching the District 3A-4 championship with a 42-27 victory over Hope Christian in Roswell. NMMI faces Tucumcari (1-8) Friday night and a victory there would clinch the title for the Colts. . .District 3A-5 would also have a 3-way tie in the final district standings if Crownpoint beats Cuba and Thoreau beats Wingate in Week 11. Let The Hype Begin: If you thought weeks ago that the Class 6A regular season would boil down to the Week 11 ‘Clash of the Titans’ between heated cross-town rivals Cleveland (9-0) and Rio Rancho (7-0), you were right. Both teams have rarely been tested this season. Combined, they have won seven games by the 50-point mercy rule. In Week 10, Cleveland pounded West Mesa, 54-0, and played every single senior (28 of them) on the roster. Here’s the scary part about the Storm: Underclassmen scored the majority of the points. QB [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"] and RB [player_tooltip player_id="138204" first="Josh" last="Perry"] are both back in 2022. Cleveland built a 28-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised from there. Rio Rancho, meanwhile, was tied with Volcano Vista, 7-7, after the first quarter before scoring the final 50 points of the game. RB [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"] rushed for 3 TD and QB Dominick Priddy ran for 2 scores and threw for 2 others. DB Carlos Archuleta intercepted three passes for the Rams, returning one for a Pick-6. District Championships Secured: Two teams in Class 6A have already secured district championships heading into Week 11 of the regular season: 6A-2: La Cueva (8-1) 6A-3: Centennial (8-1) Winner Take All District Championship Games: Week 11 will feature at least six winner-take-all district championship games with the prevailing team earning a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. One of those games will, of course, be the much-anticipated showdown between Cleveland and Rio Rancho, both of whom are unbeaten. The winner of that game will earn the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs while the loser must likely settle for the No. 2 seed. 6A-1: Cleveland (4-0) at Rio Rancho (3-0), Oct. 29 5A-1: Farmington (3-0) at Piedra Vista (3-0), Oct. 29 5A-5: Belen (3-0) at Los Lunas (3-0), Oct. 30 (1 p.m.) 4A-1: Kirtland Central (3-0) vs. Bloomfield (3-0), Oct. 29 4A-2: Taos (2-0) at Moriarty (2-0), Oct. 29 4A-5: Albuquerque Academy (3-0) vs. St. Pius X (3-0), Oct. 28 (at Community) Additional Key Week 11 Games (Oct. 28-30): In addition to the above district championship games, many other key games affecting the playoff pictures in all four classifications (6A-3A) will be played as well in Week 11. Deming at Mayfield (Thur.) Manzano at Sandia (Thur.) Clovis at Eldorado (Thur.) Hope Christian at Dexter Ruidoso at Silver Pojoaque Valley at Espanola Valley Volcano Vista at Cibola Los Alamos at Capital Socorro at Hatch Valley Roswell at Goddard Organ Mountain at Las Cruces (FOD) Portales at Lovington Santa Teresa at Chaparral Alamogordo at Artesia Bernalillo at Grants Carlsbad at Hobbs Tucumcari at NMMI West Las Vegas at Robertson (Sat.) Raton at St. Michael’s (Sat.) Atrisco Heritage at West Mesa https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1452126757553799169 https://twitter.com/dallas2boyd/status/1452399514518704128 https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1452123514857656325