Week 4 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 4 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the third edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field:     Team of the Week: Bloomfield. The Bobcats (4-0) traveled to the Duke City for a Class 4A showdown against Albuquerque Academy and grinded out a 17-14 victory over the Chargers in a game featuring 26 penalties and 10 turnovers. The Bloomfield defense brought its ‘A' game to the battle by intercepting 4 passes and continuously stopping the Academy offense in the fourth quarter. QB [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe'] threw TD passes to George Rascon Jr. and Jesse Seitzinger. Bloomfield kicked a 25-yard FG on the final play of the first half for a 17-6 lead and those points proved the difference. Academy score don a [player_tooltip player_id='138056' first='Cole' last='Conway'] 2-yard run and 76-yard TD pass from QB AJ Rivera to Rylee Bleicher.        Honorable mention: Piedra Vista; Cibola; Roswell.               Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='137861' first='Aden' last='Chavez'], Cibola. For the second time this season, Cibola rallied in the fourth quarter to win as Chavez fired a 15-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='269529' first='Branden' last='Castillo'] with less than three minutes remaining for the decisive points in an exciting 41-36 road victory over Farmington. Chavez completed 34-of-46 passes for 493 yards and 5 TD. He also ran for a TD (43 rushing yards). Cibola is 4-0, one of two unbeaten teams in Class 6A (Hobbs is the other).     Honorable Mention: Elijah Melancon (Eunice); [player_tooltip player_id='269511' first='Chris' last='Montoya'] (Rio Rancho); [player_tooltip player_id='138201' first='Layton' last='Gillis'] (Hatch Valley); Omar Argott (Hobbs).                           Best Team Offensive Performance: Eunice. The defending Class 2A champions beat Hot Springs, 55-13, as QB Elijah Melancon threw for 427 yards and 7 TD. When you add 55 rushing yards to the equation, Eunice finished with 482 total offensive yards. Sophomore WR Maddox Mata had 6 receptions for 229 yards, an average of 38.2 yards per catch, and 3 TD.                               Best Team Defensive Performance: Rio Rancho. The last two weeks for the Rams have been marked by close, low-scoring hard-fought games. In Week 3, Rio Rancho edged El Paso (TX) Eastlake, 13-7. In Week 4, the Rams intercepted five Organ Mountain passes, converting two into touchdowns in a 20-10 victory at RRHS. DB Andrew Gustafson had a Pick-6 for the Rams.  [player_tooltip player_id='269511' first='Chris' last='Montoya'], one of the top defensive players in the Albuquerque Metro players, finished with 20 tackles, 1 sack and 2 fumble recoveries.          Best Game: West Mesa 27, Albuquerque 21 (OT): West Mesa needed overtime to beat Albuquerque High as QB [player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] ran for the game-winning TD for the Mustangs (2-2). West Mesa faces Atrisco Heritage in Week 5, which should be a high-scoring shootout.      Honorable Mention: Bloomfield 17, Albuq. Academy 14; Cibola 41, Farmington 36; Crownpoint 42, Navajo Prep 36.                       Best Rivalry Win: Roswell 38, Los Lunas 23. OK, these two teams aren't geographic rivals and Los Lunas is now in Class 6A but when you meet in the Class 5A state championship game for two straight years (2018-19), you become rivals. Roswell scored on an 85-yard TD run on the final play of the second quarter and then scored the first 17 points of the second half to pull away for a satisfying road win.   Top teams In Class 6A Hold Serve: Centennial, Cleveland and La Cueva all won in Week 4, so those three teams should stay atop the new Class 6A polls when they're released in a couple of days. Centennial trounced city rival Mayfield, 49-13, Friday night at Field of Dreams. The Hawks dominated the first half, leading 28-0 after the first quarter and then 49-6 lead at halftime. [player_tooltip player_id='208691' first='Mikah' last='Gutierrez'] scored two rushing TD and another on a kickoff for Centennial, while sophomore QB [player_tooltip player_id='340297' first='Daniel' last='Hernandez'] passed for three TD and ran for 1 more. . .Saturday, Cleveland dominated the Bulldawgs, 46-3, at Field of Dreams. The Storm broke the game open in the second quarter by scoring 3 TD. QB Evan Wysong had 2 rushing TD and threw an 82-yard TD pass. RB [player_tooltip player_id='138204' first='Josh' last='Perry'] had a couple of TD runs as well. Cleveland hosts Artesia Friday night. . .La Cueva outlasted Volcano Vista, 38-28, as the Bears scored 24 straight points in the second quarter. QB [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] threw for 346 yards and 5 TD, three to WR [player_tooltip player_id='270020' first='Ian' last='Sanchez']. DB [player_tooltip player_id='145396' first='Colt' last='Mangino'] had 2 interceptions. . .Who's No. 4 in Class 6A? Probably Hobbs with Cibola closing the gap. The Eagles trounced  Lovington, 57-26, behind another strong performance by the offense. QB Omar Argott was sensational with 253 passing yards and 116 rushing yards. Four Hobbs WRs had 50+ receiving yards.                       Who's The Beat Team In Class 5A: When the season started four weeks ago, we all wondered if anybody could crash the Class 5A party dominated by district rivals Artesia, Goddard, Mayfield and Roswell. The answer: Yes. Piedra Vista (4-0) remains one of the season's biggest surprises as they belted Eldorado, 46-7, last Thursday night in Farmington. Panthers QB Logan Howell threw 2 TD to [player_tooltip player_id='270048' first='Dax' last='Vigil'] and Josh Brown and ran for another. Piedra Vista will be tested over the next three weeks with games against Goddard, Valley and Roswell. The latter game – a possible No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown - will played at the Wool Bowl Sept. 30. . .Goddard matched city rival Roswell's win at Los Lunas with a 49-27 victory over Miyamura at the Wool Bowl. The Rockets jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and led the entire game. . .Artesia crushed Deming, 57-7, as QB Nye Estrada completed 12-of-15 passes for 229 yards and WR Devyn Fierro caught 2 passes for 111 yards. The game ended at halftime.   Things You Need To Know: Sadly, Stephen Wagner of the Las Cruces Sun News reported Sunday that Organ Mountain senior RB/LB Abraham Romero's condition has been downgraded to critical by El Paso Children's Hospital. . .Rio Rancho QB [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson'] was injured (right knee) in the Rams' 20-10 victory over Organ Mountain on Friday night. He is doubtful for Rio Rancho's Week 5 road game at Hobbs. The Rams turned 2 interceptions into points to rally from a 10-7 third quarter deficit. Rio Rancho WR [player_tooltip player_id='270034' first='Mikey' last='Wood'] suffered a season-ending injury (broken collarbone) last week. . .Don't look now but Silver is 4-0 after enduring a weather delay and overnight stay to blank Santa Fe, 32-0, Saturday morning at Ivan Head Stadium. RB [player_tooltip player_id='208819' first='Aidan' last='Granado'] scored two TD for the Fighting Colts. . . Valley (3-1) continued their strong start to the season as RB Rickey Henderson scored on three TD runs and [player_tooltip player_id='275594' first='Justin' last='Vigil'] had a Pick-6 in the Vikings' 42-7 win over Belen. . . Carlsbad battered winless Clovis, 55-14, as [player_tooltip player_id='138043' first='Eli' last='Asay'] rushed for 224 yards and 3 TD and [player_tooltip player_id='138049' first='Saul' last='Ruiz'] had 17 tackles on defense. . .Socorro showed why they're one of Class 3A's top teams by beating Hope Christian, 41-0. QB [player_tooltip player_id='138083' first='Marcus' last='Armijo'] threw 3 TD passes and ran for 1 TD for the Warriors. . .Shiprock was winless last season but they won their 2nd game this season, 60-8, over Monument Valley (UT). . .Espanola Valley won again, 28-14, over West Las Vegas. . .Raton RB [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'] ran wild again, this time amassing 254 rushing yards in a 58-8 mercy-rule win over Tucumcari. Walton surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season and is now less than 100 yards from the exclusive 6,000-yard career rushing mark. . . Speaking of prolific running backs, Hatch Valley RB [player_tooltip player_id='138201' first='Layton' last='Gillis'] rushed for 291 yards and 3 TD on 35 carries to lift the Bears to an exciting 37-33 victory over Anthony (TX). . .Alamogordo QB [player_tooltip player_id='275510' first='Elijah' last='Montoya'] passed for 119 yard and ran for 60 yards as the Tigers beat Capital, 38-14, on Homecoming.       Key Week 5 Games (Sept. 15-17):   Rio Rancho at Hobbs   Artesia at Cleveland   Goddard at Piedra Vista   Albuq. Academy at Capital   Carlsbad at Roswell   La Cueva at Los Lunas   Mayfield at Las Cruces   West Mesa at Atrisco Heritage   Volcano Vista at Sandia   Farmington at Albuquerque (Sat.)   Bernalillo at Moriarty   Santa Teresa at Valencia   Eldorado at Clovis   Deming at Belen   Gadsden at Organ Mountain (Thur.)   Eunice at Dexter (Thur.)   Aztec at Silver (Sat.)   West Las Vegas at Rio Grande (Thur.)   Pojoaque Valley at Los Alamos   Shiprock at Zuni   Farwell (TX) at Texico   Riverside (TX) at Alamogordo   Santa Fe at Manzano (Sat.)   Portales at St. Pius X (Sat.)   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1568761560293851136 </div></figure>   Friday Night Scores:   La Cueva 38, Volcano Vista 28   Centennial 49, Mayfield 13   Hobbs 57, Lovington 26   Rio Rancho 20, Organ Mountain 13   Carlsbad 55, Clovis 14   West Mesa 27, Albuquerque 21 (OT)   Bloomfield 17, Albuq. Academy 14   Atrisco Heritage 53, Manzano 0   Roswell 38, Los Lunas 23   Goddard 49, Miyamua 27   Artesia 57, Deming 7   Alamogordo 38, Capital 14   Valley 42, Belen 7   Gadsden 21, Clint (TX) 12   Santa Teresa 42, Cobre 6   Moriarty 54, Grants 7   Ruidoso 21, Robertson 13   Portales 34, Valencia 28   Hatch Valley 37, Anthony (TX) 33   Montezuma-Cortez 40, Kirtland Central 16   Durango (CO) 55, Aztec 0   Raton 58, Tucumcari 8   Espanola Valley 28, West Las Vegas 14   NMMI 13, Hagerman 6   Santa Rosa 60, Tularosa 14   Taos 50, Gallup 0   Jal 50, Dexter 0   Thoreau 20, McCurdy 12   Eunice 55, Hot Springs 13   Shiprock 60, Monument Valley (AZ) 8   Bernalillo-Highland (Declared No Contest – Halted in 2Q)

Week 4 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the third edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field: