Week 4 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff
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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…
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Continue ReadingWeek 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 Ryan Sharpe Ryan Sharpe QB Bloomfield | 2023 State NM 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 Cole Conway Cole Conway 6'3" | 230 lbs | RB Albuquerque Academy | 2023 State NM 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: Aden Chavez Aden Chavez 6'5" | 210 lbs | QB Cibola | 2023 State NM , Cibola. For the second time this season, Cibola rallied in the fourth quarter to win as Chavez fired a 15-yard TD pass to Branden Castillo Branden Castillo 5'9" | 145 lbs | WR Cibola | 2023 State NM 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); Chris Montoya Chris Montoya 5'10" | 195 lbs | DB Rio Rancho | 2023 State NM (Rio Rancho); Layton Gillis Layton Gillis 5'8" | 150 lbs | RB Hatch Valley | 2023 State NM (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. Chris Montoya Chris Montoya 5'10" | 195 lbs | DB Rio Rancho | 2023 State NM , 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 Elijah Brody Elijah Brody 6'3" | 185 lbs | QB West Mesa | 2024 State NM 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. Mikah Gutierrez Mikah Gutierrez 5'8" | 160 lbs | RB Centennial | 2023 State NM scored two rushing TD and another on a kickoff for Centennial, while sophomore QB Daniel Hernandez Daniel Hernandez QB Centennial | 2024 State NM 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 Josh Perry Josh Perry 5'10" | 185 lbs | RB Cleveland | 2023 State NM 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 Aidan Armenta Aidan Armenta 6'3" | 190 lbs | QB La Cueva | 2023 State NM threw for 346 yards and 5 TD, three to WR Ian Sanchez Ian Sanchez 5'10" | 160 lbs | WR La Cueva | 2023 State NM . DB Colt Mangino Colt Mangino 6'0" | 170 lbs | DB La Cueva | 2023 State NM 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 Dax Vigil Dax Vigil 6'2" | 155 lbs | DB Piedra Vista | 2023 State NM 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 Noah Nelson Noah Nelson 5'11" | 170 lbs | DB Rio Rancho | 2024 State NM 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 Mikey Wood Mikey Wood 6'2" | 170 lbs | WR Rio Rancho | 2023 State NM 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 Aidan Granado Aidan Granado 5'9" | 170 lbs | RB Silver | 2023 State NM 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 Justin Vigil Justin Vigil WR Valley | 2024 State NM had a Pick-6 in the Vikings’ 42-7 win over Belen. . . Carlsbad battered winless Clovis, 55-14, as Eli Asay Eli Asay WR Carlsbad | 2023 State NM rushed for 224 yards and 3 TD and Saul Ruiz Saul Ruiz LB Carlsbad | 2023 State NM had 17 tackles on defense. . .Socorro showed why they’re one of Class 3A’s top teams by beating Hope Christian, 41-0. QB Marcus Armijo Marcus Armijo 5'10" | 160 lbs | QB Socorro | 2023 State NM 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 Cayden Walton Cayden Walton 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Raton | 2023 State NM 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 Layton Gillis Layton Gillis 5'8" | 150 lbs | RB Hatch Valley | 2023 State NM 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 Elijah Montoya Elijah Montoya 6'1" | 175 lbs | QB Alamogordo | 2024 State NM 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.)
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)