Team MVPs: Class 3A

The 2021 New Mexico high school football season was filled with plenty of exemplary performances. We’ve been telling you the Team MVPs for every team in Classes 6A-3A. Today, we present Class 3A. Teams are listed in alphabetical order: <strong>Crownpoint</strong>: <strong>Navarro Burnside</strong>. Burnside was the best defensive player all season for a team that finished .500 (5-5). <strong>Dexter</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134967" first="Juan" last="Fuentes"]</strong>. How versatile was Fuentes this past season? Not only did he quarterback the Demons, throwing for over 600 yards, but he rushed for more than 1,100 yards and was his team’s second leading receiver. In all, he amassed about 1,700 all-purpose yards. <strong>Hatch Valley</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138201" first="Layton" last="Gillis"]</strong>. From a win-loss perspective, Hatch Valley had a challenging season, but Gillis emerged as HV’s top offensive weapon with 514 rushing yards. He added 22 tackles on defense. He’ll be back in 2022. <strong>Hope Christian: [player_tooltip player_id="26270" first="James" last="Jenkins"]</strong>. You could make an argument Hope Christian has three legitimate MVP candidates: Jenkins, RB/LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138082" first="Brent" last="Miller"]</strong> and PK <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="210966" first="Logan" last="Fuller"]</strong>. But Jenkins numbers stand out – 648 yards passing; 1,515 yards rushing and 65 tackles on defense. Watch for Fuller. He could be kicking at the Div. I level in the fall. <strong>Hot Springs</strong>: <strong>Devin Gonzalez</strong>. Hot Springs’ season ended on a sour note with a pair of forfeits, so the Tigers ended up playing just eight games. Gonzalez rushed for over 700 yards, averaged 28.0 yards per reception and ranked among the team leaders defensively with 29 tackles. <strong>Navajo Prep</strong>: Dontrelle Denetso. The Eagles had two major weapons on offense – Denetso and junior <strong>Kyun Tate</strong>. Denetso threw for 1,219 yards and 13 TD while rushing for 887 yards and 23 TD. He amassed over 2,100 total yards and accounted for 36 TD. <strong>NMMI</strong>: <strong>Juan Badillo</strong>. A superb dual threat QB, Badillo threw for almost 1,20 yards and was the Colts’ leading rusher with 526 yards on 104 carries. NMMI wan its district and advanced as far as the quarterfinals of the Class 3A playoffs. <strong>Newcomb</strong>: <strong>Perry Ellerbe</strong>. A triple threat on offense, Ellerbe threw, ran and caught enough balls this past season to amass over 1,000 yards in total offense for the Skyhawks this past season. <strong>Raton</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"]</strong>. As the state’s leading rusher, Walton was an easy choice as MVP for a Raton team that was perfect through 11 games until a stunning semifinal shutout loss at St. Michael’s. Walton rushed for close to 2,000 yards and 24 TD. He’s back in 2023 and he’s gunning for 7,000 career rushing yards. <strong>Robertson</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"]</strong>. Saving his best for last, Gonzales capped a 1,000-1,000 season with a memorable performance against St. Michael’s in the 3A championship game. As the Cardinal QB, Gonzales threw for 1,320 yards and rushed for 1,206 yards, accounting for 34 TD. He stamped his claim as one of the top dual threat QBs in the state. <strong>Santa Fe Indian</strong>: <strong>Fenyx (Morningdove) Whatley</strong>. Morningdove did it all for SFIS, rushing, receiving and returning kicks. He was definitely one of the most underrated players in Class 3A. <strong>Socorro</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138083" first="Marcus" last="Armijo"]</strong>. He was the quarterback for a Warriors team that reached the 3A semifinals and was ranked among the top team all season long. <strong>St. Michael’s</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26250" first="Daymon" last="Lujan"]</strong>. The workhorse running back was at his best in the quarterfinals of the 3A playoffs when the Horsemen faced NMMI. Lujan rushed for 163 yards on 20 carries, averaging better than 8 yards per attempt. St. Michael’s eventually reached the 3A title game against Robertson. <strong>Thoreau</strong>: <strong>Houston Garoutte</strong>. The Hawk’s senior dual threat QB accumulated nearly 1,200 total yards with 338 through the air and 835 on the ground. In fact, he scored 17 rushing touchdowns and averaged 8.3 yards per carry. <strong>West Las Vegas</strong>: <strong>C.J. Perea</strong>. When you watch Perea power his way through defenders or stand in the pocket, it’s difficult to believe he was just a freshman this past season. Perea threw for 2,229 yards and 24 TD while rushing for 337 yards and 5 TD. Perea and senior [player_tooltip player_id="26269" first="Damien" last="Gallegos"] were one of the top QB-RB duos in the state. https://twitter.com/RatonFootball/status/1470550069074182154 https://twitter.com/WLV_DONS_FB/status/1465325551812554758