Week 5 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 5 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the fifth of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field:     Team of the Week: Espanola Valley. The Sundevils are quickly becoming one of the best ‘feel good' stories of the 2022 season. After years (or decades) of struggling in football, Espanola Valley won its third straight game, a 38-6 win over Gallup. Quarterback Nate Chacon threw for 149 yards and 2 TD and RB Alex Chavez ruled for 144 yards on 11 carries. The Sundevils rushed for 389 yards on 47 carries. First year head coach Tylon Wilder is working his magic. EV will be looking to extend its winning streak to 4 games at Santa Fe Indian in Week 6.                  Honorable mention: Piedra Vista, Santa Fe, Capital, Socorro, Moriarty, Shiprock.                 Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'], Raton. History was made Friday night as Walton rushed for 279 yards and 5 TD on 24 carries to lift unbeaten Raton to a 37-6 victory over Escalante. In doing so, Walton became the fourth RB in state history to amass 6,000+ career rushing yards. With five regular season games left + playoffs, Walton now has 6,199 career rushing yards in five seasons (he started playing varsity football in 8th grade), including 1,351 yards in just 5 games in 2022.        Honorable Mention: [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] (La Cueva); [player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] (West Mesa); [player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong'] (Cleveland).                           Best Team Offensive Performance: Cleveland. Coming into the season, we all knew the Storm had one of the state's most explosive offenses with QB [player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong'], RB [player_tooltip player_id='138204' first='Josh' last='Perry'], WR [player_tooltip player_id='139523' first='Nic' last='Trujillo'] and more. Friday night at Thunderbolt Stadium, all that offensive talent combined for 685 offensive yards in a 61-33 victory over Artesia, which had 442 yards themselves. Wysong threw for 303 yards and 4 TD, 3 to Trujillo. Perry rushed for 257 yards and 3 TD. The two teams combined for 1,127 yards.                                Best Team Defensive Performance: Capital. Motivated by what the Jaguar players claimed was a lack of respect, Capital held Albuquerque Academy to 107 total yards of offense and pressured Chargers QB [player_tooltip player_id='137884' first='A.J.' last='Rivera'] all night long, sacking him 6 times. Albuquerque Academy again played without RB [player_tooltip player_id='138056' first='Cole' last='Conway']., and his absence appeared to affect the Chargers, which finished with minus-2 yards rushing. DE Kristen Trujillo had three sacks for Capital, which improved to 3-2 with the 17-0 victory.              Best Game: Atrisco Heritage 59, West Mesa 54. Definitely a strong Game of the year candidate. The offensive talent for both teams was on full display as they combined for 1,214 yards. West Mesa rallied from a 27-point deficit to take a brief lead late. Atrisco's Manny Sedillo (4 receptions, 152 yards) ran 18 yards for a TD with 1:12 remaining for the fourth and final lead change of the fourth quarter. West Mesa QB [player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] threw for 313 yards, rushed for 172 yards and accounted for 5 TD. Brody led West Mesa on a do-or-die drive into the red zone in the final minute but his pass into the end zone on the final play fell incomplete. Atrisco QB [player_tooltip player_id='275207' first='Dean' last='Marquez'] threw for 304 yards and 5 TD. Elijah Espinoza rushed for 143 yards for West Mesa. Chris Jinzo caught 5 passes for 140 yards for West Mesa.               Honorable Mention: Moriarty 19, Bernalillo 13 (OT)(Pintos scored on their first play of OT after Bernalillo fumbled on their OT possession); Eldorado 28, Clovis 27; Laguna Acoma 32, Wingate 30.   Best Rivalry Win: Las Cruces 35, Mayfield 7. The Bulldawgs evened the all-time series, 29-29-1, with its seventh straight victory over the Class 5A Trojans, the longest winning streak by either team in the series. Even though both teams have struggled this season, a large crowd gathered at the Field of Dreams, showing just how important this rivalry is to the folks in Las Cruces. The Bulldawgs led, 14-7, at halftime before pulling away in the second half on a 21-yard TD pass from Matt Lashley to [player_tooltip player_id='137934' first='Jacob' last='Maes'], 12-yard run by David Barela and 2-yard run by Lashley. Bulldawgs coach Mark Lopez, who took over as head coach in 2016, remains unbeaten against Mayfield.   Who's the Leading Passer in the State?: La Cueva QB [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] threw for 300+ yards and six TD in the Bears' 49-17 win over Los Lunas. TE [player_tooltip player_id='274718' first='Cruz' last='Markham'] caught 2 TD passes to help deal the Tigers their 3rd straight defeat. Armenta has thrown for 1,520 yards through 5 games, putting him squarely on pace for a 3,000 yard passing season.         Who's Still Unbeaten?: Hobbs (5-0), Piedra Vista (5-0), Silver (5-0) and Portales (5-0) all stayed undefeated with victories in Week 5. Hobbs bested injury-depleted Rio Rancho, 30-20, at Watson Stadium as they try to crack the top three of Centennial, Cleveland and La Cueva in Class 6A. . .Piedra Vista should stay No. 1 in the both 5A polls after beating Goddard, 47-29, at home. Zach Mora-Dotson excelled on both sides of the ball with 179 rushing yards and 3 TD on offense and 1 interception and 2 TFL on defense. The Panthers offensive trio of QB Logan Howell, Mora-Dotson and RB [player_tooltip player_id='208794' first='Jacob' last='Ramsted'] is emerging as a formidable unit in the offensive backfield. Piedra Vista plays at Valley, another pleasant 5A surprise, next Saturday afternoon (9/24) in Albuquerque before a possible No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Roswell on Sept. 30. . .Silver doubled up Aztec, 28-14, in Silver City as [player_tooltip player_id='208819' first='Aidan' last='Granado'] rushed for 67 yards and caught 2 passes for 55 yards to spark the Fighting Colts offense. He added an interception on defense. . .Portales traveled to Albuquerque and blanked St. Pius X, 32-0. The Rams led, 19-0, at halftime before securing the win with a pair of TDs, including a 90-yard fumble return by Miguel Gomez.              Things You Need To Know: Sadly and tragically, Organ Mountain player Abe Romero passed away late Saturday at Children's Hospital in El Paso. He had been in a medically induced coma for three weeks after collapsing during a game at Deming in Week 2. . .Volcano Vista's defense locked down the potentially explosive Sandia offense in a 30-7 victory. Hawks dual threat QB Eliot Pasket-Bell rushed for 109 yards. Volcano Vista is 4-1 and faces Eldorado in Week 6 before the 3-game gauntlet against Cleveland, Cibola and Rio Rancho begins. . .In a battle of winless teams, Santa Fe posted a 38-6 win over Manzano Saturday in Albuquerque, a rare win in the Duke City for the Demons. RB Alex Mora returned from an injury suffered Aug. 26 and rushed for 141 yards and 3 TD on 17 carries. Santa Fe amassed 404 total offensive yards. . .Farmington scored three TDs in rapid fashion in the third quarter to pull away from Albuquerque for a 41-18 victory Saturday afternoon at Milne Stadium. Scorpions QB [player_tooltip player_id='274791' first='Trel' last='Griego'] threw 4 TD passes for Farmington. .  .Roswell made a claim for the No. 1 spot in the 5A polls with a convincing 47-6 win over Carlsbad. The Coyotes jumped out to a 22-0 lead after the first quarter and cruised to the win. QB Manny Fuentes completed 8-of-9 passes for 226 yards and 3 TD. Roswell, which blocked three kicks, travels to winless Clovis Friday night for a Week 6 matchup. If the Coyotes avoid the upset, they'll host Piedra Vista (see above) Sept. 30 in a possible Class 5A showdown at the Wool Bowl. . .A missed PAT in the fourth quarter was the difference as Eldorado edged Clovis, 28-27, at Leon Williams in a battle of winless teams. [player_tooltip player_id='275430' first='Brandon' last='Olivas'] threw for 235 yards and 1 TD for the Eagles, while [player_tooltip player_id='275431' first='John' last='Paul Ludi'] had 94 yards rushing. [player_tooltip player_id='275303' first='Kash' last='Roberts'] rushed for 114 yards for Clovis. Eldorado won at Clovis for the first time since 1979. . .[player_tooltip player_id='208812' first='Andres' last='Madrid'] rushed for 136 yards and 2 TD to carry Santa Rosa past Tucumcari, 54-0, in a mercy-rule win. . .Los Alamos snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 42-0 victory over Pojoaque Valley. . .Deming also snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 51-20 win at Belen. Three TD in the 2nd quarter gave the Wildcats a 30-7 halftime lead. . .Highland improved to 2-1 with a 48-0 win over Del Norte as [player_tooltip player_id='1594244' first='Alejandro' last='Lopez'] ran for 3 TD, threw 1 TD and sparked the Hornets' D from his safety spot. . .Hope Christian improved to 2-2-1 with a 35-7 victory at Grants. Cade Johnston and [player_tooltip player_id='138082' first='Brent' last='Miller'] each rushed for 2 TD.            Key Week 6 Games (Sept. 22-24):   Taos at Bernalillo   Organ Mountain at Centennial   Artesia at Lovington   Socorro at Raton   Eldorado at Volcano Vista   Sandia at Manzano   Deming at Silver   Rio Rancho at Farmington   Gadsden at Goddard   Belen at Mayfield (Thur.)   Hope Christian at Highland (Thur.)   Capital at Atrisco Heritage (Thur.)   Cleveland at Frenship (TX)   Roswell at Clovis   Espanola Valley at Santa Fe Indian   Pojoaque Valley at Portales   Rio Grande at Del Norte   Hatch Valley at Estancia   Valencia at Bloomfield   Moriarty at Miyamura   Tularosa at Ruidoso   Crownpoint at Tohatchi   <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/1570995303012241409 </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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1571000449679130625 </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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1571006642032111617 </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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1571265874748928001 </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/HobbsAthletics/status/1570985602576973828 </div></figure>

Week 5 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the fifth of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field: