Week 6 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 6 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the sixth edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field:    Team of the Week: Socorro. In our Game of the Week, Raton running back [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'] had his typical big game with 222 rushing yards but Socorro (6-0) had the last laugh as they made the long journey (4-1/2 to 5 hours each way) to Raton and went home with an impressive 27-14 victory over the Tigers. [player_tooltip player_id='138084' first='Brian' last='Armijo'] had TD runs of 3 and 83 yards to give the Warriors a 13-7 lead. When Raton took a 14-13 lead, Socorro grabbed the lead back for good on a 9-yard TD pass from QB [player_tooltip player_id='138083' first='Marcus' last='Armijo'] to WR Isaiah Ocampo. [player_tooltip player_id='138083' first='Marcus' last='Armijo'] concluded the scoring with a 5-yard TD run.   Honorable mention: Cibola, Miyamura; Espanola Valley, Rio Rancho, Taos.                 Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe'], Bloomfield. Sharpe is a major reason undefeated Bloomfield was ranked No. 3 in Class 4A by MaxPreps coming into Week 6. The Bobcats (5-0) kept pace with undefeated Portales (6-0) with a 55-13 victory over Valencia as Sharpe completed 20-of-28 passes for 448 yards and 7 TD (4 to [player_tooltip player_id='275042' first='Drew' last='Perez']), giving him 23 TD passes on the season. Perez finished with 9 receptions for 191 yards. Bloomfield travels to No. 2 Silver (7-0 loss to 5A Deming) on Oct. 7 for a potential top three 4A matchup.            Honorable Mention: J.J. Arellano (Rio Rancho); Elliot Pasket-Bell (Volcano Vista); [player_tooltip player_id='269529' first='Branden' last='Castillo'] (Cibola); Nye Estrada (Artesia); [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'] (Artesia).                              Best Team Offensive Performance/Best Rivalry Win: Artesia. The Bulldogs have been explosive on offense all season long, scoring 44+ points in 4 of their 6 games. Friday, Artesia traveled to geographic rival Lovington and posted these numbers: 456 yards passing, 167 yards rushing, 623 total yards, 7 TD. Junior QB Nye Estrada was sensational again, completing 19-0f-23 passes for 449 yards and 6 TD. Essentially, he was playing pitch and catch with his receivers all night long. Junior WR [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'] had 10 receptions for 285 yards and 3 TD. He now has 48 receptions for 820 yards and 6 TD.   Best Team Defensive Performance: Deming. The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak last week at Belen, then went on the road again in Week 6 and blanked Silver, one of the top teams in Class 4A, handing the Fighting Colts their first loss of the season.   Best Game: Cibola 36, Los Lunas 30. A true tale of two halves. Cibola trailed Los Lunas, 16-0, at halftime, and mustered just 55 total offensive yards in the first two quarters. But the second half was a complete different story as the Cougars scored 36 points, including the game-winning TD with 15 seconds left on a flea flicker from [player_tooltip player_id='269529' first='Branden' last='Castillo'] to Marcus Wilson, to stun Los Lunas, which lost its 4th straight game in heartbreaking fashion. Cibola scored 29 points in the 4th quarter as the Cougars posted another come-from-behind victory. Cibola QB Aden Chavez threw for 356 yards, 311 in the second half. Before Cibola's final drive, Los Lunas scored with 1:23 remaining on a 61-yard TD pass from Paul Cieremens to Ethan Baca to take a 30-29 lead.          Honorable Mention: Rio Rancho 35, Farmington 28;                         5A Showdown Set: Lopsided victories by Piedra Vista (48-0 over Valley) and Roswell (49-0 over Clovis) set the stage for a colossal Class 5A showdown between the Panthers and Coyotes Friday night at the Wool Bowl in Roswell. Piedra Vista and Roswell were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in last week's 5A MaxPreps poll. Based on the outcome of their latest games, they should stay there. PV scored on its first three possessions to roll past Valley. RB Jacob Ramstead rushed for 186 yards and 4 TD  on 19 carries. PV led, 35-0, at halftime. Roswell, meanwhile, continued its season-long offensive surge by scoring 47+ points for the fourth time in 5 victories this season.   Welcome Back: Taos head coach Art Abreu was required by school district officials to recently take a brief leave of absence from his job as Tigers head coach after allegations of abuse and misconduct were brought against him, reportedly by a former player. However, an investigation cleared him of the charges and Abreu was back on the sidelines for Friday night's key road game at Bernalillo. The Tigers grinded out a 21-6 win, their fourth straight victory since a Week 1 loss at St. Michael's, over the Spartans in front of a large crowd and media contingent (including Prep Redzone New Mexico). Six-foot-7 QB [player_tooltip player_id='269567' first='Daemon' last='Ely'] threw 2 TD passes and sneaked over from the 1 for another score. The Taos defense allowed just 32 yards to the Bernalillo offense in the first half. Ely was 10-of-19 passing for 129 yards.            Things You Need To Know: La Cueva QB [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'] announced his commitment to New Mexico Sunday afternoon. Saturday, Armenta threw for 245 yards and 3 TD in a convincing 48-8 win over Albuquerque High at Milne Stadium. Cameron Dyer, Armenta's likely successor at QB, scored 2 TD for the Bears. . .Albuquerque Academy snapped a 2-game losing streak with a 35-0 victory over Los Alamos. Landen Martinez ran for 2 TD for the Chargers. QB [player_tooltip player_id='137884' first='A.J.' last='Rivera'] threw for 2 TD and ran for 1 more. WR [player_tooltip player_id='137928' first='Kellan' last='Gehres'] had 7 receptions for 148 yards. . .Volcano Vista (5-1) kept pace with the ‘Big Three' of Cleveland, Centennial and La Cueva in Class 6A by beating Eldorado, 52-29. QB Elliot Pasket-Bell threw for 3 TD and ran for 1 TD for the Hawks, who face Cleveland Friday night in the district opener. . .Sandia's offense was in high gear as the Matadors whipped Manzano, 49-14. Jacob Adcox caught 3 TD passes for Sandia. . .Rio Rancho sophomore QB J.J. Arellano, filling in for the injured [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson'], ran for 4 TD as the Rams rallied past Farmington for a huge road win. Trailing 28-20 entering the fourth quarter, the Rams scored twice in the final frame to pull out the win. Arellano ran for the game-winning TD with about 9 minutes left. . .Rio Grande posted its first victory of the season by edging Del Norte, 22-20, in OT. . . Centennial rolled past grieving Organ Mountain, 49-10,. The Hawks led 35-0 at halftime and cruised to the win over its Las Cruces rival. Centennial QB [player_tooltip player_id='340297' first='Daniel' last='Hernandez'] threw for 4 TD and RB [player_tooltip player_id='208691' first='Mikah' last='Gutierrez'] rushed for 3 TD as the Hawks didn't punt. About 12 hours after the game ended, the Organ Mountain gathered for the funeral of fallen teammate Abe Romero. . .Mayfield snapped a three-game losing streak (all to Class 6A teams) with an emphatic 49-7 win over Belen Thursday night at Field of Dreams. Mayfield scored 28 straight points to take a 28-7 lead at halftime. Jisiah Lara scored 2 TD for the Trojans. . .Highland continues to be one of the most improved teams in the Albuquerque metro region as the run-dominated Hornets blanked Hope Christian, 28-0, in a weather-delayed game at Milne Stadium. RB Amiri Mumba rushed for 3 TD for the Hornets. In the third quarter, Highland drove 70 yards in 15 plays, all runs, for a TD that gave them a 14-0 lead. Mumba finished with 154 yards rushing on 29 carries, while QB Alex Lopez had 134 yards on 23 attempts. . .St. Michael's improved to 5-0 with a 32-19 road win at Aztec. The Horsemen took the lead for good in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard TD run by [player_tooltip player_id='269871' first='Taven' last='Lozada']. [player_tooltip player_id='137922' first='Jacob' last='Katko'] wrapped up the road win with a 10-yard TD run. . .Portales scored on 8 of 9 possessions to crush Pojoaque Valley, 54-0. . .Atrisco Heritage again showed they have one of the top offenses in the state in a 44-21 weather-delayed win over Capital. QB Dean Marquez threw for 396 yards on 19-of-29 passing. Sophomore WR Latavious Morris had 195 receiving yards on 7 catches.   Key Week 7 Games (Sept. 29-Oct. 1):   Piedra Vista at Roswell   Volcano Vista at Cleveland   Atrisco Heritage at Cibola   Eldorado at La Cueva     Hobbs at Las Cruces   Clovis at Albuquerque High   West Mesa at Sandia (Thur.)   Goddard at Belen   Mayfield at Deming   Santa Teresa at Artesia   Los Lunas at Capital   Kirtland Central at Shiprock (Thur.)   Alamogordo at Carlsbad   Gadsden at Valencia   St. Michael's at West Las Vegas   Aztec at Taos   Socorro at Gallup   Lovington at Santa Fe   Raton at Santa Fe Indian   Centennial at El Paso (TX) Chapin   Hot Springs at Crownpoint   Pojoaque Valley at Robertson   Jal at Loving   Bloomfield at Bayfield (CO)   NMMI at Hope Christian (Sat.)   Highland at Manzano (Sat.)   St. Pius X at Albuq. Academy (Sat.)   Del Norte at Miyamura (Sat.)   Portales at Valley (Sat.)   Bernalillo at Los Alamos (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/1573539909863763968 </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/1573545520928169985 </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/1573549446977052673 </div></figure>

Week 6 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the sixth edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field: