Quarterfinals In Review: Top Performers

The quarterfinal 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>Elias Armendariz, Goddard</strong>: Two defensive plays by Armendariz highlighted the hard-fought, low-scoring battle between Goddard and Roswell. Armendariz thwarted Roswell’s scoring threat in the third quarter by intercepting a pass in the end zone. In the fourth quarter, his Pick-6 sealed the win for the Rockets with 4:21 left. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="208744" first="Exodus" last="Ayers"], La Cueva</strong>: Ayers has brought his stellar basketball skills to the gridiron for the first time this season and Friday night was his shining moment as he caught 8 passes for 170 yards and 4 TD in La Cueva’s 35-21 win over Volcano Vista. <strong>Jake Barrera, Artesia</strong>: Barrera rushed for two TDs in Artesia’s 35-21 victory over Mayfield at Bulldog Bowl, including a 34-yard scamper with 9 minutes left to clinch the win. <strong>Gabriel Buie, La Cueva</strong>: Our Player of the Week rushed for 200 yards, 149 in the second half, and a TD in La Cueva’s 35-21 win over Volcano Vista Friday night at Wilson Stadium. His 30-yard TD run in the third quarter gave the Bears a 21-14 lead. <strong>Omar Chairez, Las Cruces</strong>: Chairez stands just 5-foot-4, but he might as well have been 6-foot-4 based on how well the Bulldawgs’ defensive tackle played in the win over Centennial. Chairez made 2 key plays – he ripped the ball away from a Centennial ball carrier for a forced fumble and later sealed the win by sacking Centennial QB [player_tooltip player_id="26267" first="Ian" last="Lopez"] late in the game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola</strong>: The top 2023 quarterback in the state concluded his junior season by throwing for 220 yards and 2 TD in a loss to Rio Rancho. Chavez threw for over 3,000 yards as a junior. <strong>Karlos Cieremans, Los Lunas</strong>: How often have we seen unheralded players step up in the post season? Prior to Saturday’s quarterfinal battle with Belen, Los Lunas RB Karlos Cieremans’ season highs in carries and yards had been 10 and 74, respectively. Against Belen, he had 17 carries for 93 yards and played a key role in the Tigers’ 31-0 win. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135110" first="Cayden" last="Dunn"], Moriarty</strong>: Dunn led Moriarty’s feared rushing attack with a pair of TDs as the Pintos held off Albuquerque Academy, 20-14. <strong>Deven Dyer, La Cuev</strong>a: Dyer has been one of La Cueva’s top defensive players all season. Against Volcano Vista, he collected 5 QB pressures, 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. <strong>Ethan Duran, Cleveland</strong>: Duran scored two touchdowns (3-yared run + 8-yard catch) for the Storm in the 42-14 victory over Hobbs at Lightning Bolt Stadium. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135309" first="Nico" last="Fulgenzi"], Albuq. Academy</strong>: Led Academy’s defensive effort with a season high 11 tackles against Moriarty. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"], Robertson</strong>: Gonzales accounted for 159 yards in total offense as Robertson beat rival West Las Vegas for the second time in two weeks to earn a spot in the 3A semifinals against No. 2 seed Socorro. <strong>Kayden Gonzalez, Farmington</strong>: With the Farmington offense struggling a bit against Santa Teresa (5 turnovers), the Scorpions’ special teams came through in a 28-6 win over the Desert Warriors. Gonzalez returned two punts for TDs in the second half to propel Farmington into the semifinals against Artesia. <strong>Bracxton Hall, Ruidoso</strong>: Hall, one of the most underrated running backs in the state, had 132 yards and 2 TD (both in second half)on 20 carries in Ruidoso’s surprisingly lopsided 33-8 victory over St. Pius X Saturday at Community Stadium. <strong>Zakye Hawkins, La Cruces</strong>: The Bulldawgs jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead over Centennial Friday night at the Field of Dreams as Hawkins caught a pair od TD passes (7 and 63 yards) from QB [player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"]. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134985" first="Tayten" last="Hilliard"], Lovington</strong>: Hilliard has been a major contributor on both sides of the ball for Lovington this season. Saturday, his TD catch late in the third quarter proved the difference in the Wildcats’ hard fought 14-7 win over Silver. <strong>Griffin Hooker, Ruidoso</strong>: Hooker raced 45 yards untouched for a TD on Ruidoso’s opening possession and finished with 121 rushing yards on just 1 1 carries and 2 receptions for 26 yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26267" first="Ian" last="Lopez"], Centennial</strong>: Lopez threw for 3 TD in Centennial’s loss to rival Las Cruces. Two of his scoring throws went to [player_tooltip player_id="137930" first="Isaiah" last="Abeyta"] and another to senior tight end [player_tooltip player_id="26262" first="Seth" last="Chavez"]. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26250" first="Daymon" last="Lujan"], St. Michael’s</strong>: St. Michael’s is back in the state semifinals for the first time in 5 years by virtue of a 34-14 win over NMMI in Santa Fe. Lujan rushed for 163 yards on 20 carries, including a powerful 13-yard run up the middle for a TD in the fourth quarter when he bowled over a NMMI defender. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134902" first="Conagher" last="Pierce"], Eunice</strong>: The senior QB played like he didn’t want his prep football career to end as he threw for 323 yards and 5 TD in a 45-6 win over Tularosa that propelled the Cardinals into the Class 2A title game against Jal. Pierce averaged 29.4 yards per completion as Eunice’s passing attack overwhelmed Tularosa. <strong>Darryn Romero, Los Lunas</strong>: Romero returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a TD to give Los Lunas all the points they would need in the 31-0 win over local rival Belen. <strong>Jesse Seitzinger, Bloomfield</strong>: Seitzinger scored 3 TD, two in the opening minutes of the game on both sides of the ball, as Bloomfield routed Valencia, 48-13, in a Class 4A quarterfinal matchup. Seitzinger returned a fumble 25 yards for a TD and then scored from 1 yard out to give the Bobcats a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. He added a third TD  late in the third quarter. <strong>Jon Silva, Goddard</strong>: His long TD run late in the second quarter gave Goddard a 7-3 lead and the Rockets went on to beat Roswell for the first time since 2014. <strong>Micah Tippett, Eunice</strong>: Tippett complemented [player_tooltip player_id="134902" first="Conagher" last="Pierce"]’s passing acumen with 117 rushing yards on 17 carries as Eunice totaled 507 total yards of offense in the victory over Tularosa. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135097" first="Kaden" last="Valdez"], Volcano Vista</strong>: The Hawks saw their season come to an end in a loss to La Cueva. Valdez accounted for all 3 Volcano Vista touchdowns with two receptions (16 and 40 yards) and a 70-yard Pick-6. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], Rio Rancho</strong>: Giving the ball to Vigil near the goal line is always a good idea and that’s what the Rams did Friday night in their 44-20 win over Cibola. Vigil had four short scoring runs for Rio Rancho. He finished with 150 rushing yards on 15 carries. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"], Raton</strong>: Walton had another huge game for Raton in the quarterfinals, rushing for 253 yards and 4 TD in a 49-12 win over Hope Christian. Walton did most of his damage in the first two quarters when the Tigers built a comfortable 42-0 halftime lead. Walton now has 1,809 rushing yards in 10 games. He also had a 12-yard punt return, giving him 265 all-purpose yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"], Cleveland</strong>: Wysong had the biggest play in Cleveland’s 42-14 victory over Hobbs Saturday afternoon, faking a jet sweep and racing 73 yards through the Eagles secondary for the go-ahead TD late in the second quarter. He finished with 151 rushing yards and 2 TD on 13 carries. https://twitter.com/CoachWysong/status/1459630174752808960 https://twitter.com/Deven38716576/status/1460000309783105538 https://twitter.com/IzaiahGonzale12/status/1460155797120307204 https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1459685324569808899