New Mexico Heisman: Top 10 Contenders, Semifinals Edition
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Player of the Year? Boring. We’ll leave bland descriptions to the good folks at Gatorade. We wanted to bring a little pizzazz to our award honoring the best player in the state of New Mexico. So, we’ve glamorously dubbed it…
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Continue ReadingPlayer of the Year? Boring. We’ll leave bland descriptions to the good folks at Gatorade. We wanted to bring a little pizzazz to our award honoring the best player in the state of New Mexico. So, we’ve glamorously dubbed it ‘The New Mexico Heisman.’ After the quarterfinal round of the 2022 state playoffs, here are our Top 10 candidates for our newly minted award:
TOP THREE CANDIDATES (Alphabetical Order):
Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM , Cibola: Cibola saw its season come to an end in a quarter final loss to district rival Rio Rancho last Friday night. In 11 actual games (the Cougars are credited with a forfeit win over Highland) , Chavez threw for 3,075 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 62.1 percent of his passes. He leads the state in total passing yards (by a wide margin) and TD passes. In fact, only one other QB in the state has as many as 26 TD passes.
Zach Vigil Zach Vigil 5'9" | 190 lbs | RB Rio Rancho | 2022 State NM , Rio Rancho: If there’s a leading contender for the New Mexico Heisman, it’s Vigil. And if Rio Rancho wins the Class 6A title, the award will be his. He’s been piling up the yards all season long and his numbers would be even more gaudy if the Rams hadn’t lost two games due to covid issues with opponents. His Heisman moment came in the final regular season game when he rushed for 323 yards and multiple TDs against rival Cleveland. The Storm dealt the Rams a heartbreaking one-point loss but not before Vigil, a New Mexico commitment, made his point.
Cayden Walton Cayden Walton 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Raton | 2023 State NM , Raton: Tucked away in the far northeast corner of the state along the Colorado-New Mexico border, Walton isn’t well known south of Santa Fe. But you could make the argument he’s the state’s second best running back behind Vigil. Walton IS the state’s leading rusher with 1,809 yards and 24 TD. Raton is 11-0 and the No. 1 seed in the Class 3A playoffs. The Tigers face a rematch Saturday afternoon at No. 4 St. Michael’s.
REST OF TOP 10
Aidan Armenta Aidan Armenta 6'3" | 190 lbs | QB La Cueva | 2023 State NM , La Cueva: The Bears’ junior quarterback slipped a bit after tossing three interceptions in the first half in last week’s win over Volcano Vista. But he bounced back nicely in the second half, throwing a pair of fourth quarter TD passes to Exodus Ayers Exodus Ayers 6'2" | 175 lbs | ATH Proctor Academy | 2024 State New E . If La Cueva finds a way to knock off Rio Rancho Friday night, Armenta could catapult back into the top three.
Paul Cieremans Paul Cieremans 5'10" | 195 lbs | QB Los Lunas | 2023 State NM , Los Lunas: Positioning himself to become a leading New Mexico Heisman contender in 2022, Cieremans has joined the prestigious (and exclusive) l1,000-1,000 QB club: 1,000+ yards passing and 1,000+ yards rushing. In 11 games, he has thrown for 1,232 yards and rushed for 1,049 yards while leading the Tigers to an unbeaten 11-0 record.
Brandon Furbee Brandon Furbee 6'3" | QB Farmington | 2022 State NM , Farmington: The Scorpions are 11-0 and the No. 1 overall seed for the Class 5A playoffs. Furbee has led them to the perfect record and could climb into the top three if the Scorpions win the Class 5A state title.
Evan Wysong Evan Wysong 5'10" | 165 lbs | QB Cleveland | 2023 State NM , Cleveland: Did Wysong have his ‘Heisman Moment” late in the first half of Saturday’s quarterfinal game against Hobbs when he faked a jet sweep, raced left, turned the corner and took off like a rocket past the Hobbs secondary and down the sidelines for a 73-yard go-ahead TD? Wysong leads the Storm into the Field of Dreams Friday night against Las Cruces.
A.J. Rivera A.J. Rivera 6'2" | 195 lbs | QB Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM , Albuq. Academy: The Chargers saw their 2021 season come to a disappointing end at Moriarty last weekend, but there’s no question Rivera enjoyed an MVP-like season as a junior with 2,531 passing yards and 23 TD in leading Albuquerque Academy to a 9-3 record.
Isaac Hinson Isaac Hinson 6'0" | 185 lbs | WR Lovington | 2022 State NM , Lovington: Hinson is one of a core group of players that helped lead Lovington to the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A playoffs. Hinson has been a two-way standout all season long as one of the Wildcats’ ‘Fantastic Four’ on offense and one of the top defensive backs in 4A. Lovington hosts Moriarty Saturday.
Nathan Lopez Nathan Lopez 5'5" | 135 lbs | WR Cibola | 2022 State NM , Cibola: The most impressive thing about Lopez, besides his toughness and competitiveness, is that he’s the runaway state leader in receptions with 88. The next highest number is 67 ( Kellan Gehres Kellan Gehres 5'10" | 150 lbs | WR Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM , Albuq. Academy). So, Lopez has at least 21 more receptions than anybody else in New Mexico. His prep career is over but he was enjoyable to watch.
Honorable Mention: Dallas Boyd Dallas Boyd 5'10" | 175 lbs | QB Las Cruces | 2022 State NM (Las Cruces); Martell Mora Martell Mora 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Santa Fe High | 2022 State NM (Santa Fe); Adam Aguilera Adam Aguilera 5'8" | 160 lbs | WR Lovington | 2022 State NM (Lovington); Josh Gerardo Josh Gerardo 6'1" | QB Volcano Vista | 2022 State NM (Volcano Vista); Aidan Granado Aidan Granado 5'9" | 170 lbs | RB Silver | 2023 State NM (Silver); Ian Lopez Ian Lopez QB Centennial | 2022 State NM (Centennial); Kieran Cordova Kieran Cordova 5'10" | 145 lbs | WR Volcano Vista | 2022 State NM (Volcano Vista); Dominic Esquibel Dominic Esquibel 6'2" | 225 lbs | RB Pojoaque Valley | 2022 State NM (Pojoaque Valley); Marco Ybarra Marco Ybarra 5'10" | 190 lbs | RB St. Pius X | 2022 State NM (St. Pius X); Kellan Gehres Kellan Gehres 5'10" | 150 lbs | WR Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM (Albuq. Academy); Damien Gallegos Damien Gallegos 5'8" | RB West Las Vegas | 2022 State NM (West Las Vegas); Matthew Gonzales Matthew Gonzales 5'5" | QB Robertson | 2022 State NM (Robertson); Mikah Gutierrez Mikah Gutierrez 5'8" | 160 lbs | RB Centennial | 2023 State NM (Centennial); Kaden Trevino Kaden Trevino 5'11" | 175 lbs | WR Hobbs | 2023 State NM (Hobbs); Dylan Quartieri Dylan Quartieri 6'1" | QB Raton | 2022 State NM (Raton); Andres Madrid Andres Madrid 5'11" | 175 lbs | RB Santa Rosa | 2023 State NM (Santa Rosa); Kaden Valdez Kaden Valdez 5'11" | 175 lbs | WR Volcano Vista | 2022 State NM (Volcano Vista).
The People's Champ! @nathanlopezNM @_NMAA 2X Record books@cibolafootball @CoachRodWill @IBthecoach https://t.co/BiiJZqbOAB pic.twitter.com/EHkP61yyJm
— Aden Chavez (@AdenChavez08) November 15, 2021
5 touchdowns tonight for @UNMLoboFB commit @zacharyvigil21 @_RRHSathletics moving on the State Semis after beating Cibola 44-20
Highlights on @KOB4 @NMGameDay pic.twitter.com/1KBJx4ZypL
— Brandon Ortega (@Brandega) November 13, 2021