10 (+1) 2025 Prospects Making An Impact

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we get set to begin Week 4 of the New Mexico High School football season, here are 11 2025 prospects (sophomores) who are making an impact for their teams:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Uriel Castro, Bernalillo</strong>: Castro has helped Bernalillo to a 2-1 start by completing 57.4 percent of his passes for 428 yards and 4 TD with just 1 INT. The Spartans face Highland in an intriguing cross-classification game on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Manny Chavez, Portales</strong>: Chavez has been a tackling machine ever since he first stepped onto the field as a Rams freshman in 2021. This year he has 33 tackles in the first three games. Combine that with the 97 tackles he made last season, ad Chavez has 130 tackles in his first 11 games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paxton Culpepper, Portales</strong>: The Rams are 3-0 after last week's huge 55-30 road win at West Las Vegas. Culpepper threw for 306 yards and 4 TD on 13-of-21 passing. For the season, Culpepper has thrown for 392 yards and 5 TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eli Dominguez, Capital</strong>: According to MaxPreps, just one player in NM has more than three interceptions. But Dominguez doesn't have four, five, six or seven picks. He has EIGHT in 3 games. Impressive. After traveling to Alamogordo on Friday, Capital's next three games are against Albuquerque Academy, Atrisco Heritage and Los Lunas, three prolific offenses. Should be fun. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Connor Ebell, Robertson</strong>: Ebell is off to a good start for the reigning Class 3A champions with 31 tackles in 3 games. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jesse James Gonzalez, Robertson</strong>: Besides having the best name in New Mexico high school football, Gonzalez is also a very talented running back. Through 3 games, Gonzalez has rushed for 363 yards and 2 TD on 77 carries, an average of 26 carries per game. That's a workhorse. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gage Marquez, Los Lunas</strong>: Marquez and the Los Lunas defense face a tough test at home against Roswell on Friday night as he looks to keep a solid start going. Marquez has 20 tackles, 3 sacks ad 2 QB hurries in the first three games. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Latavious Morris, Atrisco Heritage</strong>: One of Atrisco's top offensive weapons, Morris has 23 receptions (by far the most for the 2025 class) for 307 receiving yards, the fourth highest total in the state, and 4 TD. Morris is fast and athletic, as we saw last week when the Jaguars overwhelmed Eldorado with a 40-point second half. He is on pace for abut 75 receptions. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Camon Ochoa, Lovington</strong>: The Wildcats, reigning 4A champion, have some of the top young talent in the state and Ochoa is off to a tremendous start on both sides of the ball. He has 208 yards and 2 TD rushing to go along with 12 tackles on defense. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>C.J. Perea, West Las Vegas</strong>: The WLV standout quarterback enjoyed a fabulous freshman season in 2021 and that has carried over into 2022. After 3 weeks, Perea is the No. 3 passer in New Mexico (according to MaxPreps) with 722 passing yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='351056' first='Mason' last='Posa'], La Cueva</strong>: Just watch Posa play and you quickly understand why New Mexico offered Posa during the summer. He's 6-foot-3 (and growing) and explodes off the line of scrimmage. He had 9 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 forced fumble against Centennial a week ago.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/MasonPosa/status/1561161358183346178","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MasonPosa/status/1561161358183346178 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/OchoaCamon/status/1566863926079389697","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/OchoaCamon/status/1566863926079389697 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->