November Madness: Top Performers in First Playoff Round

The first round of the 2021 New Mexico High School football playoffs was filled with plenty of exceptional performances. Here are some of the top performers (in alphabetical order): <strong>Diego Avila, Belen</strong>: Putting the exclamation point on an 11-carry, 167-yard rushing performance, Avila scored the winning TD in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard run as the Eagled nipped Deming, 25-21. <strong>Juan Badillo, NMMI</strong>: Badillo completed 7-of-8 passes for 173 yards and 3 TD and rushed 7 times for 60 yards to lead NMMI to a 48-8 victory over Thoreau in Class 3A action. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"], Las Cruces</strong>: The Bulldawgs star is one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the state. In a convincing 42-7 victory over Clovis, Boyd ran for two TD and passed for another to help the Bulldawgs secure a rematch with Centennial in the Class 6A quarterfinals. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138093" first="Alexavier" last="Carreon"], Jal</strong>: Carreon, younger brother of Boise State commit OL [player_tooltip player_id="26228" first="Roger" last="Carreon"], scored three TD in the first quarter as Jal jumped out to a 29-0 lead and cruised home from there in a 50-0 mercy rule win over Estancia. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola</strong>: The junior QB for the Cougars is having a sensational season, more than living up to the preseason hype, and that continued against Sandia in the first round. Chavez completed 17-of-23 passes for 348 yards and 4 TD as the Cougars spotted the Matadors an early lead before rolling to a 41-15 victory. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26269" first="Damien" last="Gallegos"], West Las Vegas</strong>: If Raton’s [player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"] is the top RB in Class 3A, Gallegos is a close second. Saturday, he ripped through the Cobre defense for 279 yards and 3 TD on a workhorse 35 carries as the Dons posted a 48-28 win. He added 76 receiving yards for 355 total yards of offense. <strong>Rey Garcia, Valencia</strong>: The Jaguars’ senior QB led an explosive offense in Valencia’s 53-23 win over Taos. Garcia ran 33 yards for the first TD of the game before connecting with Jacob Farley for the second TD. His second rushing TD of the first half came on a 10-yard run and gave Valencia a 28-7 lead. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137928" first="Kellan" last="Gehres"], Albuq. Academy</strong>: Again exhibiting a strong connection with Chargers QB [player_tooltip player_id="137884" first="A.J." last="Rivera"], Gehres caught 8 passes for 108 yards, including a 32-yard Td reception in the first half. Gehres now has 61 receptions for 1,062 yards and 12 TD on the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26247" first="Josh" last="Gerardo"], Volcano Vista</strong>: Gerardo eclipsed the 290-yard passing park for the fifth time this season as he threw for 381 yards and 4 TD in Volcano Vista’s 49-17 victory over Carlsbad. For the season, he has 2,510 passing yards + 24 TD. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134908" first="Colton" last="Graham"], Hobbs</strong>: The Eagles QB threw for 141 yards and 3 TD on an efficient 11-of-16 passing as Hobbs beat Eldorado, 36-2, and advanced to face No. 1 seed Cleveland Saturday afternoon in Rio Rancho. <strong>Zakye Hawkins, Las Cruces</strong>: The sophomore has proven all season he’s one of the top 2024 prospects in the state. Against Clovis, he scored three touchdowns, one on a 40-yard catch and two on the ground, including a 52-yarder. <strong>Angel Hernandez, Santa Teresa</strong>: Hernandez rushed for 122 yards on 13 carries to help lead the Desert Warriors past Piedra Vista, 21-0, in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. Santa Teresa has rushed for over 3,200 yards this season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26270" first="James" last="Jenkins"], Hope Christian</strong>: In the highest scoring game of the first round, Jenkins rushed for 325 yards (17.1 yards per attempt) and 4 TD, combining with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138082" first="Brent" last="Miller"]</strong> for a devastating ground assault, as the Huskies outscored Navajo Prep, 57-36 in a 3A playoff game. Hope Christian finished with 463 rushing yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135101" first="Tyler" last="Martinez"], Volcano Vista</strong>: Second in the state in tackles, Martinez led the Hawk’s strong defensive effort against Carlsbad with 14 tackles, including 11 solo. He now has 135 tackles in 11 games, and leads the state in solo tackles with 90 by a wide margin. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"], Mayfield</strong>: Montoya led Mayfield’s offense in the 49-3 rout of Los Alamos by scoring three touchdowns. He had two TD on the ground in the first half and caught a 25-yard TD for the lone score of the second half. <strong>Darrell Ochieng, NMMI</strong>: Ochieng caught 2 passes for 101 yards, rushed for 49 yards and returned kicks, accounting for 170 total yards in NMMI’s lopsided win over Thoreau. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134902" first="Conagher" last="Pierce"], Eunice</strong>: Pierce completed 17-of-32 passes for 365 yards and 7 TD as Eunice pounded Hagerman, 54-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Class 2A playoffs vs. Tularosa. Pierce also rushed for 79 yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="208746" first="Cooper" last="Pritchett"], Ruidoso</strong>: The Warriors’ QB threw a 78-yard TD pass and ran for another in Ruidoso’s 35-7 victory over Aztec. Pritchett also led a 15-play, 7-minute drive in the second quarter that produced a TD for a 21-7 Warriors lead. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26240" first="Adrian" last="Rodriguez"], Santa Teresa</strong>: The senior RB rushed for 148 yards on 17 carries to help lift the Desert Warriors to a 21-0 Class 5A victory over Piedra Vista. Rodriguez scored one TD and also had a 62-yard scamper late in the second quarter. Rodriguez now has 829 yards rushing on the season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="198321" first="Kenyon" last="Singleton"], Hobbs</strong>: The Eagles defense stonewalled Eldorado’s running game in Hobbs’ 36-2 victory and Singleton was a major reason why the Eagles were so dominant on defense. He finished with 13 tackles. He now has 126 tackles on the season, third most in the state. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"], Hobbs</strong>: Trevino is one of the top 2023 receivers in the state and against Eldorado three of his six receptions went for touchdowns. He totaled 101 receiving yards. Watching Trevino battle the Cleveland secondary will be worth the price of admission. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135097" first="Kaden" last="Valdez"], Volcano Vista</strong>: Our Player of the Week brought his ‘A’ game to Community Stadium. He caught 2 long TD passes in the second quarter to stun Carlsbad and finished with 6 receptions for 151 yards. He also displayed excellent footwork along the sidelines on a couple other catches. <strong>Adrian Vega, Goddard</strong>: Appearing in his first game since the season opener, Vega led the Goddard offense to a big night in a 56-14 victory over Valley at the Wool Bowl. Vega ran for the first TD of the game and never looked back. <strong>Marcus Wilson, Cibola</strong>: Wilson was QB [player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"]’s favorite target against Sandia as he caught 5 passes for 112 yards and 2 TD. He also ran 10 yards for a TD. https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1457709843561672712 https://twitter.com/KellanGehres23/status/1457457621942763524 https://twitter.com/jonathanfu2nt2s/status/1457181077861134344 https://twitter.com/BrodyWhitaker2/status/1457060165924974593 https://twitter.com/Deven38716576/status/1456449260044492800