Weekly Whiparound: Semifinals Playoff Edition

The semifinal round of the 2021 New Mexico High School Football playoffs is complete, and that means we’re down to the state championship matchups in Classes 6A-3A. Here are some of the best performances, best games, fascinating numbers and other fun stuff from the weekend. All four state championship games will be played Saturday afternoon. Team of the Week: Eunice. The Cardinals won their fourth straight Class 2A title by beating Jal on the road, 28-15, Saturday afternoon. The last time somebody besides Eunice won the 2A crown? Lordsburg in 2016. Right now, Eunice is the closest thing we have to a dynasty in the Land of Enchantment. The Cardinals are 51-4 since beginning their championship run in 2017. Saturday, Eunice trailed 7-0 midway through the first quarter when Jal QB [player_tooltip player_id="138093" first="Alexavier" last="Carreon"] threw a TD pass to Ethan Sandoval. But the Cardinals rallied as QB [player_tooltip player_id="134902" first="Conagher" last="Pierce"] threw a pair of TD passes to sophomore WR Ashton Thompson and RB Micah Tippett ran for a 15-yard TD early in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead. Honorable Mention: Artesia; St. Michael’s; Ruidoso. Player of the Week: Nathan Taylor, Artesia. We first saw Taylor in July at Eastern New Mexico’s 7-on-7 tournament in Portales when he led the Bulldogs to the team title. Now he has another opportunity to lead Artesia to glory after throwing for 380 yards on 24-of-38 passing and SIX touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 57-14 victory over Farmington. The Scorpions defense had allowed an average of less than one TD per game this season coming into the semifinals, with 17 points being the most they had allowed in a single game. But they were no match for Artesia’s high-powered offense led by Taylor, who was in a groove early, throwing a 53-yard TD pass to Julian Rodriguez three minutes into the game. Honorable Mention: [player_tooltip player_id="137885" first="Paul" last="Cieremans"] (Los Lunas), Lucious Dickson (Cleveland). Best Team Offensive Performance: Artesia. The key sequence in the Bulldogs’ unexpectedly easy 57-14 victory over No. 1 seed Farmington occurred late in the first half when Artesia scored two TDs in the final 90 seconds of the first half. Then, Phillip Finley-Rascon intercepted a wobbly pass on the final play of the first half and returned it 95 yards for a stunning Pick-6 to give Artesia a 27-14 halftime lead. The Bulldogs added three TDs in the third quarter for a 48-14 lead and they cruised home from there. Farmington never recovered from Artesia’s two late TDs in the first half. Their five second-half possessions ended with three interceptions, turnover on downs and a safety. Meanwhile, Artesia scored on its first four second half possession to pull away. Best Team Defensive Performance: St. Michael’s. The Horsemen’s swarming defense was so dominant against No. 1 seed Raton that all they needed to advance to the finals against Robertson was one marathon 19-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Raton RB [player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"] was held under 100 yards for the first time this season, totaling 85 yards on 19 carries, an average of just four yards per attempt. St. Michael’s dominated the line of scrimmage on defense, keeping the number of explosive plays by Raton to a minimum as Walton struggled to find space to run all game long. A Raton interception gave the Tigers the ball at the Horsemen 34 with 7:38 left. Raton drove to the 9-yard line before St. Michael’s DB Creed Chavez intercepted QB [player_tooltip player_id="26234" first="Dylan" last="Quartieri"]’s pass at the 4-yard line. Raton was held to 143 yards of total offense. Honorable Mention: Artesia. Best Game: Rio Rancho 35, La Cueva 34 (OT). Was there really any doubt which game was the best of the eight this past weekend? Rio Rancho, missing injured RB [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit to pullout the dramatic OT victory. A key moment came in the third quarter when La Cueva marched to the Rams 20 before the Rio Rancho defense stiffened and stopped the Bears on fourth down. The Rams drove 80 yards for a [player_tooltip player_id="198295" first="Devin" last="Rice"] 12-yard TD run to pull within 21-14. Rio Rancho then executed a perfect onsides kick, which led to a 10-play drive capped by QB Dominick Priddy’s game-tying 10-yard TD run. Rio Rancho foregoed a chip shot field goal in the final minutes and were stopped on fourth down. In the second OT, La Cueva chose to go for 2 but QB [player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"]’s pass fell incomplete, securing Rio Rancho’s spot in the 6A title game. Honorable Mention: Los Lunas 26, Goddard 21. Epicenter Evolution: Las Cruces was once the epicenter of New Mexico High School football. The Bulldawgs and rival Mayfield dominated the state in the 1990s and early 2000s. But the rapid rise of Rio Rancho, located about 15 miles north of downtown Albuquerque, has altered the equation. Cleveland’s 42-24 victory over Las Cruces Friday night at the Field of Dreams means no southern New Mexico school will appear in the state championship game for the highest classification (6A since 2014) for the fourth straight year (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 spring season). Meanwhile, neighbors Cleveland and Rio Rancho will square off in the Class 6A state championship game for the second straight time. Cleveland (12-0) assured its trip to the title game with a spectacular offensive performance in the first half against Las Cruces, massing 374 yards of total offense to take a commanding 35-16 halftime lead. Storm RB Lucious Dickson ran 9 yards for a TD on Cleveland’s first possession of the game. QB [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"], who earlier threw a 74-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id="139523" first="Nic" last="Trujillo"] and then scored on a 6-yard run, capped the Storm’s first half surge with a 70-yard TD pass to Ethan Duran. Cleveland scored touchdowns on its first four possessions. Dickson rushed for 148 yards for the Storm, which totaled 291 yards on the ground and 507 yards overall. Road Warriors: Few teams have had a more challenging road to the finals than Ruidoso. The Warriors beat Aztec, 35-7, at home in the first round before heading to Albuquerque and a quarterfinal meeting with higher seeded St. Pius X. Ruidoso won, 33-8, earning them a long trip to Bloomfield for the semifinals. The Warriors weren’t fazed, beating the Bobcats, 35-22, scoring 28 consecutive points after falling behind 14-7. Senior RB Bracxton Hall gave Ruidoso the lead for good at 21-14 late in the second quarter. Ruidoso rushed for over 220 yards with Hall accounting for 100+ of those yards. Quarterbacks Griffin Hooker and [player_tooltip player_id="208746" first="Cooper" last="Pritchett"] also scored for Ruidoso. The Warriors had a pair of 13-play scoring drives in the game. Ruidoso is the lowest seed remaining in the 2021 playoffs. Road Warriors, indeed. Mel Gibson would be proud. Comeback Kids: Goddard and Los Lunas engaged in a tight, hard-fought football battle the first time they played this season when the Tigers won, 17-14, on a late field goal. Saturday afternoon, they matched up again on the same field, and again Los Lunas scored late to pull out a 26-21 victory and advance to the Class 5A championship game against Artesia. Tigers QB [player_tooltip player_id="137885" first="Paul" last="Cieremans"] led Los Lunas on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. After the Tigers defense stopped Goddard on fourth down at midfield, Cieremans scored on a 4-yard run with 7 minutes left to narrow Goddard’s lead to 21-20. The Los Lunas defense again stepped up by forcing a punt. Cieremans called his own number 5 straight times to move the ball to the Goddard 28 with about two minutes left. He then threw a 28-yard TD pass to Fabian Trujillo with 2 minutes left for the game-winning score. Cieremans rushed for 138 yards on 14 carries in the second half. Special Teams Were Special: No. 1 seed Lovington is loaded with athletes and they were on full display in their 54-12 Class 4A semifinal victory over Moriarty Saturday afternoon. [player_tooltip player_id="134985" first="Tayten" last="Hilliard"] returned two punts for touchdowns and freshman RB Alec Holguin rushed for two TD and caught a TD pass after carrying the ball just three times in the first 11 games. Isaac Hinton, who seemingly never comes off the field, blocked a punt and a PAT for the Wildcats. Things You Need To Know: Saturday’s Class 5A state championship game between Los Lunas and Artesia will likely mark the Tigers’ final game in that classification before moving up to Class 6A in 2022. The population of Los Lunas has grown rapidly over the past decade, prompting the move. . .Interesting subplot to the Class 5A title game: Artesia head coach Jeremy Maupin was formerly the head coach at Los Lunas for five seasons before being hired by his alma mater last spring. . .Robertson sophomore WR Mateo Contreras caught two TD passes in the third quarter as the Cardinals rallied from a one-point halftime deficit to beat Socorro, 38-29, in Las Vegas. They face long-time rival St. Michael’s in the Class 3A championship game Saturday afternoon. . .Cleveland will appear in its fifth state championship game (2011, 2015, 2018, 2019). CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES SCHEDULE: Here is the schedule for the state championship games in Classes 6A-3A on Nov. 27. All four games will be played Saturday afternoon. 6A: Rio Rancho (2) at Cleveland (1), 1 p.m. 5A: Artesia (4) at Los Lunas (2), 1 p.m. 4A: Ruidoso (6) at Lovington (1), 1 p.m. 3A: St. Michael’s (4) at Robertson (3), 1 p.m. https://twitter.com/CHSStormFB/status/1461921814565638154 https://twitter.com/lvtwildcatsfb/status/1462464595684118537 https://twitter.com/Roger_52_/status/1462487800125792269 https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1462148497625526273 https://twitter.com/eunice_high/status/1462229495407022082