Week 11 In Review: Top Performers

Week 11 of the New Mexico High School football season was filled with plenty of exceptional performances. Here are some of the top performers (in alphabetical order): [player_tooltip player_id="134974" first="Acen" last="Aguilar"], Volcano Vista: Aguilar dominated the fourth quarter of the Hawk’s 21-14 win over Cibola, rushing for 112 of his 116 yards over the final 12 minutes. Alex Aldape, Mayfield: The senior has enjoyed a solid senior season and he capped it by establishing a new school record with 19 solo tackles last Friday night against Deming. [player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"], La Cueva: Armenta capped a strong regular season by throwing for 255 yards and 2 TD in a 40-14 victory over Albuquerque that helped clinch the No. 3 seed for the Bears in the upcoming Class 6A playoffs [player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"], Las Cruces: The Bulldawgs’ QB accounted for over 100 yards in Las Cruces’ 49-14 victory over Organ Mountain, a win that secured the Bulldawgs the No. 5 overall seed in the Class 6A playoffs. [player_tooltip player_id="135122" first="Shane" last="Aspera"], Eldorado: Aspera got the Eagles off on the right foot against Clovis by returning the opening kickoff for a TD. He later scored another TD in Eldorado’s 50-14 romp at Milne. Five of Aspera’s 10 receptions this season went for TDs. He finished with over 600 all-purpose yards. [player_tooltip player_id="26252" first="Chance" last="Carrillo"], Farmington: The senior WR helped the Scorpions secure an unbeaten season and clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the Class 5A playoffs b scoring three TDs in a 33-9 win over Piedra Vista in a winner-take-all district championship game. Farmington outscored PV, 27-2, in the second half. [player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola: Chavez completed 33-of-50 passes for 295 yards and 1 TD in Cibola’s 21-14 loss to Volcano Vista in the regular season finale for both Class 6A teams. Chavez has now thrown for nearly 2,800 yards and 27 TD in 9 games. With Cibola scheduled to play Friday in the 1st round of the 6A playoffs, Chavez should surpass the 3,000-passing yard plateau. Remember, he’s only a junior. Lucious Dickson, Cleveland: Dickson rushed for four second-half touchdowns, including a 45-yard gallop with less than 2 minutes remaining, and 142 yards overall as Cleveland rallied past rival Rio Rancho, 28-27, and won the district title and earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs. [player_tooltip player_id="135110" first="Cayden" last="Dunn"], Moriarty: Dunn is one piece of Moriarty’s vaunted balanced rushing attack. He had 89 yards rushing and 2 TD on just 6 carries, averaging better than 14 yards per attempt as the Pintos beat Taos, 37-14, in a winner-take-all district championship game. Colton Franzoy, Goddard: Raced 35 yards for a TD to give Goddard a short-lived 7-0 lead over Roswell Fri. night. The Coyotes eventually won, 16-7, and earned the No. 3 overall seed in the 5A playoffs. [player_tooltip player_id="198288" first="Beto" last="Garcia"], Organ Mountain: Garcia threw TD passes of 63 and 40-yards to senior WR David Dorado in the Knights’ loss to Las Cruces. Josh Gonzales, West Las Vegas: Gonzales caught 7 passes for 167 yards in the Dons’ loss to Robertson. [player_tooltip player_id="134908" first="Colton" last="Graham"], Hobbs: Graham has thrown for nearly 1,900 yards this season, 235 yards on 16-of-19 passing in the regular season finale against Carlsbad. Graham connected for 3 TD passes. [player_tooltip player_id="26248" first="Braxton" last="Hall"], Ruidoso: Hall has quietly had a superb season. By rushing for 120 yards on a workhorse 31 carries against Silver, Hall surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau. He now has 1,110 rushing yards and 9 TD this season. Hall rushed for 120+ yards in 5 games, leading Ruidoso to the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A playoffs. Zakye Hawkins, Las Cruces: The sophomore WR caught an 18-yard TD pass from [player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"] and ran for another TD as the Bulldawgs beat Organ Mountain. Hawkins will certainly be one of the most dynamic players in the state in 2022. Angel Hernandez, Santa Teresa: Hernandez had his best game of the season, setting a single game high by far with 130 rushing yards on just 5 carries as the Desert Warriors pounded rival Chaparral, 41-0. [player_tooltip player_id="26233" first="Isaac" last="Hinson"], Lovington: Why is Hinson on our list of the Top 10 New Mexican contenders? Lovington’s 39-7 win over Portales is a great example. Filling in at QB, Hinson threw for 180 yards on 13-of-20 passing and rushed for 141 yards, combining with stellar freshman Ondalis Cardenas (153 yards rushing on 19 carries) to punish the Rams on the ground. Griffin Hooker, Ruidoso: The Warriors’ QB rushed for 129 yards on 19 carries in Ruidoso’s win over Silver. For the season, he has thrown for 1,067 yards and rushed for 669 yards, making him a legitimate dual threat. [player_tooltip player_id="26270" first="James" last="Jenkins"], Hope Christian: The Huskies went to Dexter and came home to Albuquerque with a huge 28-21 win due in large part to Jenkins, who had 160 yards rushing for 1 TD. David ‘Rocket’ Llanez, Bernalillo: Keyed Bernalillo‘s 35-6 win over Grants by rushing for 121 yards on 21 carries, his second highest single game rushing total this season. [player_tooltip player_id="134963" first="Nathan" last="Lopez"], Cibola: Is there a better WR in the state right now than Lopez? Probably not. Last Friday he totaled 17 receptions for 149 yards and 1 TD in Cibola’s loss to Volcano Vista. He finished the regular season with 72 receptions for 925 yards and 9 TD. [player_tooltip player_id="26231" first="Lucas" last="Lucero"], Rio Rancho: The Rams senior has drawn major college interest, and for good reason. Against Cleveland he accounted for 21 tackles in the loss. Lucero is one of the top defensive backs in the state. [player_tooltip player_id="135101" first="Tyler" last="Martinez"], Volcano Vista: Martinez was the centerpiece of a Hawks defense that held the high-powered Cibola offense to 14 points in a 21-14 win last Friday. The key was stopping Cibola four times in the red zone. Martinez had 15 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF and 4 QB hurries. [player_tooltip player_id="138082" first="Brent" last="Miller"], Hope Christian: The underrated Miller surpassed 140 yards rushing for the third time this season as he ran for 160 yards against Dexter. Miller has 754 rushing yards and 9 TD this season on 106 carries. [player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"], Mayfield: The senior running back ran 10 yards in OT for the game-winning score as the Trojans survived Deming in OT, 21-14. Montoya is part of a 1-2 punch in the offensive backfield as he’s joined by [player_tooltip player_id="26260" first="Calvin" last="Cox"]. Dalen Moyer, Sandia: In a game that took two days to finish due to a threat of a shooting at Wilson Stadium, Moyer completed 24-of-30 passes for 252 yards and 4 TDs as Sandia beat Manzano, 65-27. Drew Perez, Bloomfield: When Bloomfield starting QB [player_tooltip player_id="208748" first="Ryan" last="Sharpe"] was forced to exit the winner-take-all championship game against Kirtland Central, the Bobcats turned to Perez, a converted WR, to manage the game with a combination of passes and runs designed to keep the Kirtland Central defense off-balance. Sharpe threw for 230 yards and 4 TD before leaving with an injury. C.J. Perea, West Las Vegas: The freshman is one of the most intriguing players in the state. He threw for 311 yards and 3 TD on 13-of-19 passing (24 yards per completion) in WLV’s 40-27 loss to rival Robertson. Jeremiah Sandoval, Bloomfield: The Bobcats senior scored the eventual game-winning TD in Bloomfield’s 34-29 victory over Kirtland Central when he took a fake punt and raced 75 yards for the score. The victory gave Bloomfield the district title and the No. 2 overall seed in the Class 4A playoffs. Cameron Sowards, Mayfield: The senior WR caught an 80 yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to give Mayfield a 14-7 lead over Deming in a game that was ultimately decided in OT. [player_tooltip player_id="137923" first="Malachi" last="Thymes"], Sandia: Thymes rushed for 167 yards and 5 TDs in Sandia’s lopsided win over Manzano. Sandia is the No. 10 seed for the Class 6A playoffs and faces No. 7 Cibola Friday night. Fabian Trujillo, Los Lunas: Going into last Saturday’s winner-take-all district championship game against Belen, Trujillo had just 7 receptions in 9 games. But he caught a season-high 3 receptions for 131 yards (43.7 yards per reception) in the 38-6 win over Los Lunas. [player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"], Hobbs: The junior, undoubtedly an early favorite for the 2023 New Mexico Heisman, finished the regular season with a flourish by catching 9 passes for 130 yards and 3 TD in the win over Carlsbad. Hobbs hosts Eldorado in the first round of the 6A playoffs. [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], Rio Rancho: Arguably the greatest performance by a player this season in a losing effort. Vigil rushed for 323 yards, starting with a 59-yard TD run and a 67-yard run in the first half. He added a 58-yard TD run in the second half. Clearly, the New Mexico coaches were paying attention because the Lobos offered Vigil on Monday night. [player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"], Raton: Walton, the state’s leading rusher heading into the playoffs, had 96 yards on the ground and scored two second half touchdowns as Raton beat St. Michael’s 14-0 to win the district title and secure the No. 1 overall seed for the 3A playoffs. Walton also caught a 21-yard pass for a key first down on the drive to the game’s first TD. Walton later scored another TD and then intercepted a pass with less than 2 minutes left. [player_tooltip player_id="26257" first="Marco" last="Ybarra"], St. Pius X: Ybarra is the Sartans’ workhorse at running back and he proved it again last Thursday night, running for two third quarter touchdowns and playing a pivotal role in a clock-draining drive over the final seven minutes that denied Albuquerque Academy a chance to get the ball back and possibly win the game. He ran for 10 yards on 4th-and-5 from the Academy 27 to seal the win. https://twitter.com/AidanArmenta/status/1455612030736470017 https://twitter.com/lucaslucero2x/status/1455544215815921664 https://twitter.com/tvler_1/status/1455186991096729602 https://twitter.com/Abe58Lopez/status/1455331888923504642 https://twitter.com/_CoachPier/status/1455250244225077248