2022 Team Preview: Rio Rancho Rams

Rio Rancho 2022 Preview   Head Coach: Nate Pino            Mascot: Rams                  Twitter: @_RRHSathletics; @RioRanchoSports; @natemp83   Colors: Hunter Green, Navy and White                    2021 Record: 9-2 (Class 6A championship game)                            Overview: When preseason camp began on Aug. 1, the months duel between junior [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='275082' first='Dominic' last='Valencia'] for the starting quarterback job intensified. Both quarterbacks were involved with the New Mexico Legacy 7x7 team in the spring, each taking hundreds of snaps. Then it was the Albuquerque Metro Passing League. Right now, give the edge to Nelson because his elite dual threat skill set meshes nicely with Rio Rancho's offensive scheme, which requires an athletic QB in order to function at the highest level. Valencia leans towards being a pocket passer and possesses  a strong arm. Sophomore J.J. Arellano is a promising 2025 prospect.   Besides settling on a starting QB, the Rams must also find a suitable replacement for Zach Vigil, unquestionably the top running back in the state last season and the recipient of our New Mexico Heisman award. Vigil signed with New Mexico earlier this year. Vigil was a complete running back. He was a gifted rusher, good blocker, had soft hands and was a highly respected leader for three years.  In short, whoever emerges as the No. 1 RB has extremely large shoes to fill. Junior Anthony Raymer, a speedster who runs track, is the favorite to win the job with junior Rayce Ramirez, a physical, downhill runner, involved in the competition as well. Most likely, both will play and get opportunities to carry the football.   Senior [player_tooltip player_id='270034' first='Mikey' last='Wood'] headlines Rio Rancho's wide receiver corps following a solid junior campaign. The 6-foot-2 Wood runs crisp routes and is definitely a threat in the red zone with his size, allowing him to outleap and outmuscle opposing defensive backs. He also has the speed to stretch the field. Traiven Williams tore his ACL in last season's state championship game and was still awaiting full clearance from team doctors. If he bounces back from the injury and is 100 percent healthy, he'll give the Rams a legitimate No. 2 weapon at WR. Senior tight end Javas Maria is a good, physical blocker and finds the open spaces downfield. Along the offensive line, Rio Rancho lost four of five starters to graduation. The only returning starter is senior Jase Smith and he has emerged as the undisputed leader of the group. While the Rams' new O-Line might be inexperienced at the varsity level, they're big and physical and have more than held their own in all summer long in various linemen challenges. Nonetheless, they could experience some early growing pains.   Defensively, the Rams coaching staff expects a deep defensive line to be the strength of the team. Senior Jaylen Paguio will be one of the defensive ends after starting there last season. He's gotten bigger and stronger and should enjoy a stellar final season. Junior Michael Cordero-Gill will compete to become the other defensive end. Athletic Junior Xavier Provencio should fill another one of the DL spots, most likely at defensive tackle. MLB [player_tooltip player_id='269511' first='Chris' last='Montoya'] is the leader of the Rams' defense after finishing as one Rio Rancho's leaders in tackles in 2021. Montoya has a nose for the football and certainly has the talent and heart to play at the next level.   Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1103708' first='Ryan' last='Brown'] is also at inside linebacker. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='340305' first='Elijah' last='Garabedian'] (outstanding spring with the NM Legacy 7x7 team) will be one of the outside linebackers along with junior Andrew Gustafson. Overall, the Rams' linebackers are athletic and speedy. Seniors Sebastian Rubio and Nick Baca spearhead the secondary. Vascon Smith, who has committed to New Mexico in baseball, will play safety. Devin Porras  joins him there.       Schedule: Rio Rancho opens the season with an early season showdown against La Cueva, but then plays four of the next six games on the road, two in the Albuquerque Metro area. The Rams host a team from El Paso and Organ Mountain before traveling to Hobbs and Farmington by the end of September. District play begins Oct. 8 in arguably the state's most demanding district.    Aug. 19 LA CUEVA   Aug. 27 at Eldorado (Sat.)   Sept. 2 El PASO (TX) EASTLAKE   Sept. 9 ORGAN MOUNTAIN   Sept. 16 at Hobbs   Sept. 23 at Farmington   Sept. 30 Bye   Oct. 8 at Atrisco Heritage* (Sat)   Oct. 14 CIBOLA*   Oct. 21 VOLCANO VISTA*   Oct. 28 at Cleveland*   * District Game   Top Storyline: Inheriting a new quarterback, running back and offensive line, how will Nate Pino fare in his first season as Rio Rancho head coach?   Final Thoughts: Rio Rancho is clearly one of the bluebloods of New Mexico high school football, and has established itself as one of the state's dominant programs with state championships in 2014 and 2016. When long-time head coach David Howes left after the 2019 to join the New Mexico Lobos staff, Rio Rancho hired Gerry Pannoni, a state championship winning  from Virginia and the 2019 NFHS National Coach of the Year. Pannoni, though, had the misfortune of joining Rio Rancho just before the pandemic struck in March 2020. Then his wife fell ill and eventually passed away. She was buried in Virginia, which prompted Pannoni to resign and return to the state where he came from. Now the pressure of leading one of the state's top programs falls to Nate Pino. Rio Rancho has watched rival Cleveland capture the past two 6A state championships and win 22 straight games. You know everybody involved with the Rio Rancho program wants nothing more than halting Cleveland's recent dominance.   Coach's Comments: “The transition has been relatively smooth. I have been in the program a long time, so we were able to keep the staff intact and the continuity. That has been super helpful for us. Coach Pannoni did a good job establishing a blue-collar mentality with our team. Our kids know how to work. They know the expectations. We've created a pretty good culture from Coach Howe to Coach Pannoni and I hope to carry that through. We're going to have a lot of new faces. We're excited to see what those guys can do. Playing up-tempo is something we're going to continue to do on offense. We're playing a challenging schedule and as this team grows, you'll see we have some talent. We just have to get some experience. When it coAmes down to it, we'll be in the mix.” – Rio Rancho head coach Nate Pino.                           <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/__nelly7/status/1533536143525810177 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Chris_MontoyaJr/status/1538706980365144065 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Dxminic06/status/1541440007939821568 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/mikeywood04/status/1549437854849327104 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_RRHSathletics/status/1530285896922193920 </div></figure>

Rio Rancho 2022 Preview