November Madness: Preview of Class 5A First Round Games

After a drama-filled Week 11 containing a half dozen winner-take-all district championship games, the first round of the state playoffs are finally here. There are a total of 16 games in Classes 6A-3A, four in each classification. Here is a look at the four first-round playoff games in Class 5A: <strong>Piedra Vista (9) at Santa Teresa (8) (Sat., 1 p.m.)</strong>: Piedra Vista makes the long 875+ mile round-trip from the Four Corners to the northwest suburbs of El Paso to take on the Desert Warriors in an intriguing 8-9 matchup. A pair of three-game winning streaks highlights Piedra Vista’s season. The second one preceded the 33-9 loss to Farmington in a winner-take all district championship game last Friday night. However, the Panthers led, 7-6, at halftime before fading in the second half. PV quarterback <strong>Logan Howell</strong> leads the offense. Santa Teresa finished the regular season with an 8-2 overall record, and went 2-1 in District 5A-3, finishing second behind Mayfield. Santa Teresa is led by dynamic senior QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="198070" first="Julian" last="Cobos"]</strong>, who has 1,225 rushing yards and senior RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26240" first="Adrian" last="Rodriguez"]</strong>, with 681 rushing yards. They have combined for 17 rushing touchdowns. <strong>Deming (10) at Belen (7)(Fri., 7 p.m.)</strong>: Belen (6-3) has written one of the best stories in Class 5A this season. When head coach Phil Lopez resigned in late June after just a few weeks on the job, the Belen High administration went into scramble mode and hired former Eastern New Mexico assistant Andrew McCraw as the new head coach. After an 0-2 start, McCraw led the Eagles to six straight victories before losing to rival Los Lunas last week. RB <strong>Sam Tibbs</strong> ignites the Belen offense with 672 yards and 8 TD on 141 carries this season. <strong>Diego Avila</strong> is a capable No. 2 RB (341 rushing yards.  Deming has a quality running back of its own in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134903" first="Joey" last="Reza"]</strong>. The Wildcats showed last week how dangerous of a football team they can be when they took Mayfield to overtime at the Field of Dreams before losing, 21-14. <strong>Valley (11) at Goddard (6)(Fri., 7 p.m.)</strong>: All rise, here comes the Judge. Valley (4-6) head coach Judge Chavez is one of the most charismatic figures in New Mexico high school football. Stand on the sidelines for any Valley football game and you’ll agree. But the Vikings, the Albuquerque-based alma mater of New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales, are back in the playoffs because they have some good football players. QB <strong>Caeden Jojola</strong> (951 yards passing + 467 yards rushing) and RB <strong>Rickey Henderson</strong> (567 yards rushing), both juniors, spark Valley’s offense. Goddard (5-4) rocketed out the gates with four consecutive victories to begin the season, including 6A foes Carlsbad and Hobbs. Since then Goddard has lost four of five, concluding the regular season with a hard-fought 16-14 loss to cross-town rival Roswell, so they’ll be looking to get back to their winning ways. QB <strong>Noah Reese</strong> and RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138088" first="Javyn" last="Morales"]</strong>, who has battled injuries this season, lead the Goddard offense. <strong>Los Alamos (12) at Mayfield (5)(Fri., 7 p.m.)</strong>: Los Alamos (5-5) was a surprise addition to the Class 5A playoff considering they were ranked No. 15 in the last MaxPreps poll prior to the unveiling of the bracket last Saturday night. Essentially, they jumped three teams (Alamogordo, Capital and Miyamura) to reach the postseason. But the Hilltoppers beat the final two teams – both district rivals - in the last two weeks of the regular season. QB <strong>Jakob Green</strong> was thrown for about 1,500 yards this season, while RB <strong>Teke Nieto</strong> has rushed for almost 700 yards for Los Alamos. Mayfield’s two-headed monster at running back – <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"]</strong> – will definitely challenge the Hilltoppers defense. When Mayfield QB <strong>Cesar Granados</strong> throws the football, WR <strong>Cameron Sowards</strong> is usually the target. The winner gets traditional power Artesia, the No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals. https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1454656629874384908 https://twitter.com/STHS_Football/status/1455763973933092869 https://twitter.com/DemingWildcat/status/1455213271301038082 https://twitter.com/goddardfootball/status/1455341633306644480 https://twitter.com/mhstrojans/status/1455621487449161728 &nbsp;