Week 10 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff
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Week 9 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the eighth edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field: Team of the Week: Los Alamos. There…
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Continue ReadingWeek 9 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is the eighth edition of our Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field:
Team of the Week: Los Alamos. There were few surprising results in Week 10 but one of them was Los Alamos stunning Valley, 35-15, at home. All the Hilltoppers need to do to capture the district title – and the automatic 5A playoff berth – is beat winless Del Norte Fri. night in Albuquerque. Los Alamos is currently ranked No. 12 in the new MaxPreps 5A poll, but they could move up a couple of spots when the playoff brackets are revealed next Sunday night. Valley secured their 5A playoff spot a few weeks ago but will they get a first round home game?
Honorable mention: Carlsbad (21-7 win over Las Cruces)l Cobre (road win at Hatch Valley).
Player of the Week: Ashton Aranda Ashton Aranda 6'0" | 175 lbs | QB Lovington | 2023 State NM , Lovington. The Wildcats’ quarterback threw for 124 yards and ran for 143 yards in Lovington’s 43-14 home win over Albuquerque Academy. Aranda has helped ignite Lovington’s comeback from an 0-6 start to win three straight games, two against district rivals Bernalillo and Albuquerque Academy. Even though Lovington is just 3-6, they are a lock for the 4A playoffs as they are currently ranked No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps poll ahead of 8-1 Taos, putting them in prime position for a 1st round bye. Over the last 3 games, Aranda has thrown for 417 yards and rushed for 281 yards, boosting his stock as one of the best dual threat QBs in the state.
Honorable Mention: Ulysses Mendoza (Carlsbad); Tomas Herrera Tomas Herrera 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Gadsden | 2023 State NM (Gadsden).
Best Team Offensive Performance: Volcano Vista. The Rio Rancho defensehas played pretty well for most of the season but Friday night they Rams ran into the buzzsaw that is the Volcano Vista offense. The Hawks rolled up 511 yards of total offense in a 34-22 victory over Rio Rancho at RRHS Stadium. Impressive QB Elliot Pasket-Bell led the way by completing 23-of-38 passes for 247 yards and 1 TD. Volcano Vista also rushed for 264 yards with Alijah Gonzales Alijah Gonzales 5'10" | 175 lbs | RB Volcano Vista | 2024 State NM amassing 127 yards on a workhorse 27 carries. With Cleveland a heavy favorite to beat Rio Rancho in Week 11, the Hawks likely won’t win the district but they will be a serious threat in the playoffs. A Week 11 victory over Atrisco Heritage should cement at least the No. 5 seed for Volcano Vista.
Best Team Defensive Performance/Best Game: Robertson. Nobody had held Raton RB Cayden Walton Cayden Walton 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Raton | 2023 State NM below 215 yards rushing in the first 8 games this season. But Robertson, the reigning Class 3A champions, limited Walton to 72 yards and 1 TD on 23 carries, an average of 3.1 yards per carry. Because of their exceptional defensive performance, Robertson was able to pull out the hard-fought win with two kickoff returns for touchdowns. Raton finished the regular season with a 7-3 record but easily could have been 9-1. Close losses to St. Michael’s and Robertson will likely cost the Tigers a top four seed.
Four 8-1 Teams In Class 4A: All four Class 4A teams with 7-1 records going into Week 10 won their games so now we have four 8-1 teams going into Week 11: Silver, Portales, Bloomfield & Taos. No. 1 Silver blanked St. Pius X, 36-0, in Silver City, as RB Ricky Vasquez rushed for 133 yards and 2 TD on 14 carries. . .No. 2 Portales crushed Bernalillo, 50-6, at home as sophomore QB Paxton Culpepper threw for 256 yards and 3 TD. Culpepper has emerged as a 2023 New Mexican Heisman contender. . .In the Four Corners, Bloomfield closed in on the District 4A-1 title by shutting out rival Aztec, 48-0, to earn the right to keep the new ‘Drilling For Victory’ trophy. The Bobcats defense forced 8 turnovers and the offense scored 5 TD off those turnovers. Bloomfield faces winless Gallup in Week 11.
Winner Take All District Championship Games: Week 11 will feature at least NINE winner-take all district championship games. . .La Cueva and Farmington, both 3-0 in District 6A-2, will square off Friday night at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque. La Cueva beat Sandia 55-20 while Farmington pulled way from Eldorado in the second half for a 45-21 home victory. . .Clovis started the season slowly but is 3-0 in district play and will travel to Los Lunas (also 3-0 in district) Friday night. The Wildcats trounced Capital, 40-6, last Thur. night by rushing for 383 yards, 140 by Kash Roberts Kash Roberts 6'0" | 190 lbs | RB Clovis | 2024 State NM . . .Gadsden forced a winner-take all game at Deming in District 5A-3 by beating Santa Teresa, 21-8. QB Tomas Herrera Tomas Herrera 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Gadsden | 2023 State NM ran for 250 yards and 2 TD on 27 carries. . .Taos won its 8th straight game by beating Pojoaque Valley, 62-0. . .In Class 3A, Cobre upended Hatch Valley on the road to set up a winner-take-all matchup with Socorro at home.
Farmington at La Cueva, Fri. 10/28 (District 6A-2)
Clovis at Los Lunas, Fri. 10/28 (District 6A-5)
Gadsden at Deming, Fri. 10/28 (District 5A-3)
Lovington at Portales, Fri. 10/28 (District 4A-4).
Moriarty at Taos, Fri. 10/28 (District 4A-2).
Silver at Valencia, Fri., 10/28 (District 4A-3)
Socorro at Cobre, Fri., 10/28 (District 3A-3)
Wingate at Thoreau, Fri., Oct. 28 (District 3A-5)
Ruidoso at Dexter, Fri., Oct. 28 (District 3A-4)
More Things You Need To Know: Artesia won another district title with a 55-20 victory over Goddard at the Wool Bowl. . .Few teams have had an more frustrating season than West Mesa (4-5). The Mustangs have lost three games by 7 points or less and, currently ranked No. 17 in the MaxPreps 6A poll, face an uphill battle to get into the Class 6A playoffs. West Mesa walloped Rio Grande, 53-0, to snap a 2-game losing streak. . .Roswell scored 29 points in the second quarter in a 49-14 victory over Mayfield. Artesia has the inside track to the District 5A-4 title while Roswell faces city rival Goddard in Week 11. Since Artesia will be heavily favored to beat Mayfield, the winner of the Roswell-Goddard clash will likely finish second in the district. Roswell racked up 332 yards of offense in the first half against Mayfield, whose playoff hopes still seem secure with a No. 5 ranking in the 5A MaxPreps poll. . . Centennial has clinched the District 6A-3 title, so Hobbs and Carlsbad for battle for 2nd place in the district and possibly playoff seeding a well on Friday night in Carlsbad. The Cavemen dealt a serious blow Las Cruces’ playoffs hopes with a 21-7 victory over the Bulldawgs. Carlsbad punished Las Cruces on the ground with 267 rushing yards on 52 carries. Right now, the only way the Bulldawgs reach the playoffs is by upsetting Centennial Friday night. . .West Las Vegas (5-4) has had an up and down season with a win two, lose two path but they look comfortably in to the 3A playoffs. They face cross-town rival Robertson Fri. night. Robertson clinched the District 3A-2 title with a hard-fought 12-7 win over Raton . .Valencia (4-5) kept its playoff hopes alive with a 40-7 victory over Grants Thursday. The Jaguars are ranked No. 9 in the new MaxPreps 4A poll. Valencia hosts No. 1 Silver Fri. night. . .In a battle of winless teams, Manzano beat Del Norte, 55-26, Thur. night in Albuquerque. Monarchs QB Eddie Romero threw for 257 yards and 7 TD, while WR Jaylen Lakes had 10 receptions for 188 yards. . .Chalk up another victory for New Mexico football over Texas football. St. Michael’s beat El Paso (TX) Cathedral, a team they have faced on the gridiron for 90 years, 55-30 Saturday in Santa Fe as Marcus Leyba rushed for 125 yards and 3 TD and DB Cole Sandoval had a pair of interceptions returns for TDs. With 1 game left vs. Santa Fe Indian School, the Horsemen look to have a top four seed in the 3A playoffs secured. . .After drubbing Alamogordo, 42-17, Centennial carries an 8-game district winning streak into Friday night’s showdown with bitter rival Las Cruces. The Hawks have won back-to-back district titles for the first time in school history. . .Piedra Vista shutout Highland, 40-0, Saturday and is just a victory over Belen away from the undisputed District 5A-1 title.
Key Week 10 Games (Oct. 27-29)(Non-Winner Take All District Title Games)
Rio Rancho at Cleveland
Centennial at Las Cruces
Atrisco Heritage at Volcano Vista
West Mesa at Eldorado (Thur.)
Hobbs at Carlsbad
Goddard at Roswell
Robertson at West Las Vegas
Albuquerque Academy at Bernalillo
Capital at Santa Fe
Eunice at Texico
Belen at Piedra Vista
Sandia at Cibola (Sat.)
Artesia at Mayfield (Sat.)