Baker's Dozen: Week 8 Preview Of Top 13 Games

Week 8 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 Games of Week 8:   GAME OF THE WEEK: Centennial (4-1) at Hobbs (6-0)   Both these teams will make the 6A playoffs but this game has enormous seeding implications. All season, the trio of Centennial, Cleveland and La Cueva have monopolized the top three spots in the 6A polls. Unbeaten Hobbs is now No. 4 and would finally crash the party with a home victory over the Hawks. The Eagles have the offensive talent to make life difficult for the Centennial defense. The offensive trio of QB Omar Argott, RB [player_tooltip player_id='208821' first='Diego' last='Baeza'] and WR [player_tooltip player_id='137921' first='Kaden' last='Trevino'] is elite. Centennial will rely on RB [player_tooltip player_id='208691' first='Mikah' last='Gutierrez'] to keep drives alive. If Centennial wins, they immediately become heavy favorites to win the district title. You can say the same thing about Hobbs as their final 3 games are against Alamogordo, Organ Mountain and Carlsbad, all of whom will be heavy underdogs to the Eagles.         Cibola at Volcano Vista: What makes District 6A-1 arguably the toughest in the state isn't just due to Cleveland and Rio Rancho. You also have three highly prolific offenses in Cibola, Volcano Vista and Atrisco Heritage. Now that district play has started, every week is going to be a ferocious battle. Cibola is one of two unbeaten teams left in 6A but curiously are ranked just No. 7 by MaxPreps. The Cougars feature one of the state's top quarterbacks in [player_tooltip player_id='137861' first='Aden' last='Chavez'], who has been nothing short of sensational since returning from Florida. In 5 games, he has thrown for close to 2,000 yards and 17 TD. His counterpart, No. 5 Volcano Vista QB Elliot Pasket-Bell has joined the club of elite dual threat quarterbacks with 1,412 passing yards and 507 rushing yards. Don't blink because the points could come fast and furious.          Bloomfield at Silver: Bloomfieldis the last undefeated team in Class 4A and have a top-notch offense led by QB [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe'], RB [player_tooltip player_id='275042' first='Drew' last='Perez'] and [player_tooltip player_id='275569' first='Jesse' last='Seitsinger']. Now they make the long trip (6-1/2 hours each way) to Silver City to face the underrated and dangerous Fighting Colts. RB Aiden Granado is averaging 8.6 yards per rushing attempt and is on pace for his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.             <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/1577403187732090909 </div></figure>   Robertson at St. Michael's (Sat.): District 3A-2 is by far the toughest in Class 3A.  Most likely, at least four of the five teams will qualify for the playoffs, with at least two being top four seeds. This contest is a rematch of last season's 3A championship and is one of the best rivalries in northern New Mexico. Unbeaten St. Michael's (6-0) will rely on RB Marcus Leyba to help protect the Horsemen's No. 1 ranking. TE [player_tooltip player_id='269871' first='Taven' last='Lozada'] was injured in last week's game at West Las Vegas, and his status for this game is unknown. Robertson RB Jesse James Gonzalez (still the best name in NM high school FB) will try to match him in the run game. Always a battle.          Eunice at Jal: A gigantic Class 2A battle in the far southeastern corner of the state. Eunice, the defending champions, is ranked No. 4 by MaxPreps, but nobody wants to play them when the playoffs start. Jal is No. 1 and none of the games have been close. The Panthers have pitched shutouts in five of their seven games. Their offense, led by QB [player_tooltip player_id='138093' first='Alexavier' last='Carreon'] and RB [player_tooltip player_id='138194' first='Jacob' last='Lujan'], demolishes opponents on the ground.   Rio Rancho at Atrisco Heritage (Sat.): It's strength vs. strength as the Rio Rancho defense battles the high-scoring Atrisco Heritage offense. [player_tooltip player_id='269511' first='Chris' last='Montoya'] spearheads the Rams defense. Rio Rancho has fought through injuries to key offensive players. Sophomore QB JJ Arellano has filled in nicely for [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson']. Jaguars QB [player_tooltip player_id='275207' first='Dean' last='Marquez'] has an array of weapons to throw to, including super sophomore Latavious Morris (37 receptions), one of three AHHS receivers with 30+ receptions.        <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/1577403434872934401 </div></figure>   Farmington at West Mesa (Thur.): Currently ranked No. 16 by MaxPreps, West Mesa (3-3) is fighting for their playoff lives. They opened district play with a hard-fought win over Sandia last week. Considering the Mustangs must face La Cueva next Thur. (West Mesa's final 5 games are on Thur. night), the stakes for this one are enormous. QB [player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'] has thrown for over 1,500 yards and leads West Mesa in rushing. Farmington had a bye last week and this is the district opener for the Scorpions. Now in 6A, this is the third of four trips Farmington must make to the Albuquerque Metro area this season.       Carlsbad at Organ Mountain (Thur.): Carlsbad pulled out a vital district-opening victory over Alamogordo last week and the Cavemen still have the Centennial-Las Cruces-Hobbs gauntlet in the upcoming weeks. Carlsbad has become a run-dominated offense under first-year head coach Oliver Soukup with speedster [player_tooltip player_id='138043' first='Eli' last='Asay'] leading the way with 825 yards and 10 TD on the ground. Organ Mountain is slowly getting back to normal following the tragic passing of Abe Romero. The Knights lost to Centennial in the district opener last week and have Las Cruces and Hobbs next. So this game is a must-win for them too. Two evenly matched teams.       Albuquerque at Los Lunas: We thought life in Class 6A might be a little difficult for Los Lunas, and that's been the case so far. Last week they snapped a 4-game losing streak with a district-opening road win at Capital. This week they face struggling Albuquerque, which is coming off a last-second loss to previously winless Clovis. The Tigers still have dynamic dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id='137885' first='Paul' last='Cieremans'] and they're still heavy favorites to win their district. Don't be surprised if Los Lunas runs the table and goes into the playoffs with some momentum.   <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/1577403686812164097 </div></figure>   Alamogordo at Las Cruces: After last week's loss to Hobbs, the whispers have started about Las Cruces possibly missing the 6A playoffs. Thus, this is a huge game for the Bulldawgs, who have Organ Mountain and Carlsbad next. Win this one and Las Cruces could carry a three-game winning streak into the regular season finale against Centennial. But they're facing an Alamogordo team that's already 0-1 in the district and have Hobbs and Centennial next. The Tigers attack defenses with a balanced rushing attack. Three RBs already have 50+ carries.      Taos at Grants: Hidden in the northern New Mexico mountains, Taos (5-1) has become an enchanting story. The Tigers have won five games in a row and are clearly involved in the battle for a top four seeding in Class 4A. In fact, Taos is No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps rankings. QB Dameon Ely is 6-foot-7 and looks even taller when you see him live because he towers over most of the other players. Grants (1-5) is young and still rebuilding under second-year head coach Brandon Hernandez.          West Las Vegas at Raton: The spotlight in this game will squarely be on Raton RB [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'] and his pursuit of history. Through 7 games, Walton has rushed for 1,834 yards and 25 TD on 148 carries. The state record for most rushing yards in a single season is 3,024 (Ronnie Daniels, La Cueva in 2010). Walton needs 1,190 yards to match the record. With three regular season games left + playoffs, it's within reach. However, Raton's final two regular season games are against St. Michael's and Roberton.   Navajo Prep at Espanola Valley: Espanola Valley has become one of the best stories in New Mexico this season, currently holding a four-game winning streak going into a game against winless Navajo Prep. QB Nate Chacon has thrown for 1,195 yards and 14 TD while Alejandro Chavez has 434 yards and 6 TD rushing.          <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/1577403938810302493 </div></figure>   BEST OF THE REST   Sandia at Eldorado   St. Pius X at Moriarty   Santa Fe at Clovis   Hatch Valley at Capitan   Manzano at Valley   Dexter at Hope Christian   OTHER GAMES   Pojoaque Valley at Highland   Thoreau at Newcomb   Ruidoso at NMMI   El Paso (TX) Cathedral at Chaparral   Tohatchi at Cuba   Mescalero Apache at Hot Springs   Texico at Hagerman   Pagosa Springs (CO) at Kirtland Central   Gallup at Shiprock   Santa Rosa at McCurdy   Valencia at Rio Grande   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/HobbsEaglesFB/status/1576944744021692416 </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/1577081259129335808 </div></figure>

Week 8 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 Games of Week 8: