City Series: Top 5 Defensive Linemen in Southern New Mexico

We continue with our City Series by taking a look at the top 5 defensive linemen in the Southern New Mexico Region: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138095" first="Ian" last="Ortiz"], Deming</strong>:  Ortiz is 6-3, 235 pounds and one of the top DEs in the state. He’s been a warrior in the weight room and looks ready for a superb senior season. Eastern New Mexico has expressed interest. With his combination of size, speed and skill, more college coaches will certainly be finding their way to Deming in the fall. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138040" first="Tylen" last="Gonzalez"], Carlsbad</strong>: Possibly the most underrated (and perhaps underreported) player in the state because he doesn’t say much on social media. In fact, he’ very quiet. But his size speaks volumes. He’s 6-7, 250 pounds, which is why major colleges are extremely interested. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="275238" first="Koa" last="Hoshijo"], Las Cruces</strong>: Hoshijo is one of the state’s top 2024 prospects and started for the Bulldawgs at defensive end in 2021. Las Cruces coach Mark Lopez loves his versatility. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138041" first="D.J." last="Moore"], Carlsbad</strong>: Between Gonzalez and Moore, the Cavemen could have one of the best defensive duos in the state. Moore is 6-2, 220 pounds and plays on both sides of the ball. He visited New Mexico last fall for a Lobos home game. Opposing offensive tackles will have their hands full all season long with Gonzalez and Moore. <strong>Andre Alvarado, Hobbs</strong>: Few players in the state have had a better offseason than Alvarado, who we recently featured in our ‘Winning the Offseason’ series. He’s been a stud in the weight room and on the camp circuit. He opened eyes at a prestigious lineman camp in Denver a few weeks ago. Essentially, Alvarado has made himself into one of the top DLs in the state. Sul Ross State in Texas has offered. FCS Valparaiso and Western New Mexico are showing interest. <strong>Honorable Mention</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id="223648" first="Fabian" last="Lozoya"] (Organ Mountain); [player_tooltip player_id="270051" first="Rylee" last="Jarratt"] (Artesia); [player_tooltip player_id="138196" first="Trenton" last="Butts"] (Jal);  [player_tooltip player_id="138198" first="Ronnie" last="Williams"] (Tularosa); [player_tooltip player_id="138207" first="Remi" last="Villa"] (Roswell); [player_tooltip player_id="269975" first="Christian" last="Valenzuela"] (Organ Mountain); [player_tooltip player_id="270053" first="Landon" last="Victor"] (Goddard); [player_tooltip player_id="275408" first="Will" last="Jordan"] (Clovis); [player_tooltip player_id="275427" first="Jeremiah" last="Johnson"] (Clovis); Julien Montano (Centennial). https://twitter.com/IanOrtiz57/status/1518070506821492736 https://twitter.com/Dj_moore45/status/1458812030341812229 https://twitter.com/Dj_moore45/status/1449568039486337026 https://twitter.com/Andre62286178/status/1512543000748072965 &nbsp;