Baker's Dozen: Top 13 Games of Week 6

Week 6 of the New Mexico High School Football season is here! It begins Thursday night with a handful of games around the state, and continues with a full slate on Friday and Saturday. Here are the Top 13 Game of Week 6:   GAME OF THE WEEK: Socorro (5-0) at Raton (5-0)   No, the biggest game of Week 6 won't be played in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe or any of the Friday Night Lights towns in southeastern New Mexico. Instead, it will be played in the former mining and railroad community of Raton (Pop. 6,100) in northeastern NM along I-25 and the Colorado-New Mexico border. Two of the top teams in Class 3A will square off in a possible championship game preview. No. 1 ranked Raton feature, of course, one of the top running backs in the state in [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'], the state's top rusher midway through the season with 1,351 yards on  112 carries. But this should be his toughest test yet. Socorro has their own dynamic playmaker in QB [player_tooltip player_id='138083' first='Marcus' last='Armijo'], who has accounted for over 1,000 total yards and 20 TD. Most likely, this won't be the last time these two teams meet this season. Expect a rematch in November.   Piedra Vista at Valley: Two of the biggest surprises in Class 5A meet Saturday afternoon in Albuquerque. Piedra Vista goes on the road for the first time this season as they try to defend their No. 1 ranking in the MaxPreps 5A poll. Panthers QB Logan Howell and RB Zach Mora-Dotson are a formidable offensive backfield duo. Valley is pretty good as well with three quality RBS: [player_tooltip player_id='138089' first='Caedan' last='Jojola'], Tazhe Wilson and Rickey Henderson.         Rio Rancho at Farmington: First meting between these two teams. The Scorpions went to Albuquerque last week and pulled out a nice road win over Albuquerque High. QB [player_tooltip player_id='274791' first='Trel' last='Griego'] is enjoying an excellent season for Farmington, which plays its final non-district game before opening district play at West Mesa next week. Rio Rancho made the long journey to Hobbs last week and battled hard in a 30-20 loss. Sophomore QB JJ Arellano has taken over for the injured [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson']. He threw 2 TD passes at Hobbs.         <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1572329754216173568 </div></figure>   Artesia at Lovington: Although Artesia is in 5A and Lovington in 4A, this remains one of the fiercest rivalries in the state. Artesia is ranked No. 3 in 5A by MaxPreps even though they lost at Cleveland a week ago. QB Nye Estrada continues a long tradition of outstanding passing QBs at Artesia. He is 2nd in the state in passing yardage (1,408; 281.6 ypg) behind [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] of La Cueva. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'] has 38 receptions for 535 yards halfway through the season. How much does MaxPreps respect Lovington? The Wildcats are 0-5 yet are ranked No. 4. That's because their losses have come to a 6A school (Hobbs), two 5A schools (Roswell and Santa Teresa) and a pair of Texas schools.          Los Lunas at Cibola (Sat.): With [player_tooltip player_id='137861' first='Aden' last='Chavez'] back in New Mexico, this is again one of the top quarterback matchups of the 2022 season. In just 3 games (Cibola had a bye in Week 5 + Chavez sat out Week 1) , Chavez has already thrown for 1,223 yards. His passing yards per game (407.7) is by far the highest in the state. If he maintains that pace, he'll finish with nearly 3,700 passing yards. Class 6A debutante Los Lunas is looking snap a three-game losing streak. If they do, dynamic dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id='137885' first='Paul' last='Cieremans'] and must have a great game. Regardless of their recent struggles, the Tigers are still heavy favorites to win their district.        Organ Mountain at Centennial: The big news surrounding Organ Mountain - and Las Cruces High School football in general – is the passing of former RB/LB Abe Romero last weekend. The high school community in southern New Mexico has responded to calls to help the family. Centennial is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A behind Cleveland, whom the Hawks beat in Week 1. RB [player_tooltip player_id='208691' first='Mikah' last='Gutierrez'] has run over and through opponents all season long, and the Knights must find a way to stop him or it could be a long night for OM. And Centennial's defense is pretty good too.        <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1572330005518061569 </div></figure>   Capital at Atrisco Heritage (Thur.): Battle of the Jaguars. Atrisco Heritage has lived up to its potential as one of the top offensive teams in the Albuquerque Metro area. AHHS have scored 52+ points in all four of their victories this season. QB [player_tooltip player_id='275207' first='Dean' last='Marquez'] has thrown for 1,331 yards and 22 TD. Nineteen have gone to the talented trio of Manny Sedillo (8), Latavious Morris (6) and [player_tooltip player_id='274705' first='Marquise' last='Renfro'] (5). Capital blanked Albuquerque Academy at home last week behind a relentless pass rush. They feature a balanced rushing attack featuring QB [player_tooltip player_id='208737' first='Julian' last='Munoz'].       Taos at Bernalillo: How evenly matched are these two teams? They are ranked No. 8 and No. 9 in the latest MaxPreps Class 4A poll. Good news for Taos: head coach Art Abreu was cleared Wednesday by school district officials of claims of abuse reportedly brought by a former player. He'll be back on the sidelines Friday night. Both teams have bounced back nicely from Week 1 losses. Taos has won three in a row. Six-foot-7 Tigers QB [player_tooltip player_id='269567' first='Daemon' last='Ely'] is a threat to run the ball. Bernalillo had won two straight before last week's heartbreaking OT loss at Moriarty.        La Cueva at Albuquerque High (Sat.): After surrendering 41 points to Farmington last Saturday, Albuquerque High will have its hands full trying to contain an extremely talented La Cueva offense led by the state's top passer and FBS prospect, QB [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] (1,500+ passing yards) and one of the state's top wide receivers, [player_tooltip player_id='270020' first='Ian' last='Sanchez']. He leads the state in receptions (45) and receiving yardage (627). The Bulldogs' best chance to upset the Bears is running the football with [player_tooltip player_id='269966' first='Jabulani' last='Cooper'] and controlling the clock.       <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1572330256685481986 </div></figure>   Deming at Silver: We talk a lot about Silver RB [player_tooltip player_id='208819' first='Aidan' last='Granado'], and for good reason because he's one of the top two-way players in Class 4A. But what about that Fighting Colts defense? They've given up just 23 points in 5 games with three shutouts. Defense like that will carry Silver deep into the 4A playoffs. Deming snapped a three-game losing streak with a huge road win at Belen last week. Those three setbacks have come to 6A Organ Mountain, Goddard and Artesia. Stellar DE [player_tooltip player_id='138095' first='Ian' last='Ortiz'] has been everywhere the past few weeks because of injuries, playing LB and OL as well.        St. Michael's at Aztec (Sat.): MaxPreps has undefeated St. Michael's at No. 2 in the latest Class 3A poll. Six-foot-5 TE/WR [player_tooltip player_id='269871' first='Taven' last='Lozada'] has emerged as a legit weapon in the Horsemen's offense with RB Marcus Leyba a solid contributor as well. Aztec has played three games against Colorado schools, winning one. The Tigers gave unbeaten Silver a battle last week on the road before losing.      Eldorado at Volcano Vista: The Hawks are 4-1 and in the thick of the battle for a top four playoff seed. QB Eliot Pasket-Bell has done it all for Volcano Vista this season with 819 passing yards and a team-high 423 rushing yards. [player_tooltip player_id='274709' first='Alijah' last='Gonzales'] is a serious threat with the ball in his hands as well. Eldorado has struggled for most of the season, particularly on defense. They have allowed 34+ points in each of their four losses. They'll have their hands full with the Volcano Vista offense.     Valencia at Bloomfield: Coming off a bye week, Bloomfield is 4-0, one of three undefeated teams left in Class 4A. [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe'] is enjoying a solid season at quarterback for the Bobcats. [player_tooltip player_id='275042' first='Drew' last='Perez'] has been his favorite target in the passing game. Valencia could be the best 1-3 team in the state. The Jaguars took No. 1 Portales to the wire in 34-28 loss two weeks ago and lost to Santa Teresa in OT last week (28-22). QB Rey Garcia is a dynamic dual threat signal caller.     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/1572330508050046976 </div></figure>   BEST OF THE REST   Gadsden at Goddard   Hope Christian at Highland (Thur.)   Belen at Mayfield (Thur.)   Moriarty at Miyamura   Roswell at Clovis   Espanola Valley at Santa Fe Indian   Hatch Valley at Estancia   Los Alamos at Albuq. Academy   OTHER GAMES   Cleveland at Frenship (TX)   Rio Grande at Del Norte   Sandia at Manzano   Newcomb at Shiprock   Pojoaque Valley at Portales   NMMI at Loving   Capitan at Jal   Hagerman at Santa Rosa   Tularosa at Ruidoso   Crownpoint at Tohatchi   Robertson at Tucumcari   Cobre at Dexter   Thoreau at West Las Vegas   Kirtland Central at Grants   Mountain View (TX) at Santa Teresa   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HHS_HornetsFB/status/1572931361715134466 </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/LosLunasFB/status/1572352134179594242 </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/artesiafootball/status/1571883696902512647 </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/LaCuevaFootball/status/1572269836927111168 </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/Sergio___Lopez/status/1573007833205198848 </div></figure>

Week 6 of the New Mexico High School Football season is here! It begins Thursday night with a handful of games around the state, and continues with a full slate on Friday and Saturday. Here are the Top 13 Game of Week 6: