Championship Saturday: Class 5A Title Game Preview

WHAT: Artesia (10-2) vs. Piedra Vista (11-1), Class 5A Championship Game   WHERE: Hutchinson Stadium, Farmington, NM   WHEN: Sat., Nov. 26, 1 p.m.   LIVE STREAM: NFHS Network New Mexico; KSVP 990 AM/93.7 FM (Artesia).   When you've won a state record 30 state championships – 11 more than anybody else in the state of New Mexico - and appeared in 36 state championship games, reaching the final game of the season and spending Thanksgiving morning at football practice is routine.   For the good folks in Artesia, high school football success and holding up blue trophies is a way of life.   In his first two years as the Bulldogs head coach, Jeremy Maupin has led Artesia to consecutive appearances in the Class 5A state championship game. Last year they lost to Los Lunas on the Tigers' home field.   This year, the Bulldogs must make the long seven-hour trip to the Four Corners to face one-loss Piedra Vista at Hutchinson Stadium in Farmington.   “The Piedra Vista coaches have their guys playing really well right now,” Maupin said. “They're big and move well. This is another solid Piedra Vista team. We know we're going to have to play really good football.”   WHEN ARTESIA HAS THE BALL   Senior [player_tooltip player_id='137932' first='Payton' last='Deans'] and junior Nye Estrada battled for the Bulldogs' starting quarterback job throughout the spring and summer. Dean started the traditional opener against Carlsbad in the Eddy County War. But the 5-foot-10, 170-pound Estrada replaced him in the second half and led Artesia to a pair of touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 30-27 victory.   Soon thereafter, Maupin and his offensive coaches decided to make Estrada the full-time starter. The rest, as they say, is history. In 12 games, Estrada has thrown for 3,108 yards and 39 touchdowns while completing 68 percent of his passes (220-324) to become the proven engineer of the prolific Artesia offensive passing attack.   “When the lights came on, Nye just took over the quarterback job,” Maupin said. “He does a lot of things really well. He is calm. Cool and collected. He's a good leader. He does a good job getting the ball out to our playmakers. He reads the defense pre-snap and makes the proper adjustments. It's been fun calling offense with him at the helm. He's a very good athlete. He's a smart quarterback.”      When Artesia runs the ball, which is about 40 percent of the time, they like to hand the ball to junior Jesse Leroch, who has 599 rushing yards and 10 TD on 91 carries, and who has proven to be a worthy successor to Jake Barrera. Senior Bradley Valenzuela gets opportunities as well.   “Jesse is a tough, tough runner,” Maupin said. “He's going to run over you. He had some really big games against Roswell, Goddard, Santa Teresa and Deming last week. He's become our No. 1 back. He's definitely our go-to guy. A lot of his yards have come in the last three or four weeks.”      Junior [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'] (73 receptions for 1,216 yards and 11 TD) is Estrada's favorite target in the passing game by a wide margin. Behind him is a group of five receivers, all of whom have between 14 and 21 receptions. Reminder: Estrada, Leroch and Greathouse are all juniors, so if you think the high-flying Artesia offense will take a step backwards in 2023, forget it.   “Peyton and Nye have a really good connection,” Maupin said. “He's a hard worker. He loves the weight room. When he gets the ball in his hands, he's tough to tackle.”      The Piedra Vista defense is a major reason the Panthers have surprised many people by advancing this far and hosting the 5A state championship game. After concluding the regular season with back-to-back shutouts of Highland and Belen, Piedra Vista has held blue bloods Mayfield and Roswell to 7 points in each of their playoff games.   Forcing five turnovers and holding the Coyotes to a single TD in last week's semifinals clash at the Wool Bowl was particularly impressive because Piedra Vista allowed 32 points to Roswell at the same place in late September.   WHEN PIEDRA VISTA HAS THE BALL   Piedra Vista QB Logan Howell, son of Panthers head coach Jared Howell, has been one of the breakout players of 2023. He's proven all season long that he can make big plays with both his arm and his legs. He threw 3 TD passes in the first half of the Panthers' 42-7 victory over Mayfield in the quarterfinals.   “If his first read is not there, he's running the football and getting downfield,” Maupin said. “He's tough to tackle. He can move. He throws the ball pretty ell. They'll give you some different looks to see how you will defend them. But when they need a play, they stay tight and run the football.”       Zach Mora-Dotson and [player_tooltip player_id='208794' first='Jacob' last='Ramsted'] fuel Piedra Vista's ground game. Ramsted had a 7-yard rushing TD in the 13-7 semifinals win over Roswell one week after recording a pair of scores against Mayfield in the quarterfinals. [player_tooltip player_id='270048' first='Dax' last='Vigil'] is one of Howell's favorite passing targets.   “Both of their running backs run hard,” Maupin said. “They're not burners. They try to run over you. They're good looking kids.”     The Artesia defense has been stout most of the season. Since surrendering 61 points to Cleveland, something a lot of teams do, the Bulldogs have allowed a total of 75 points in 7 games, including consecutive shutouts over Mayfield and Valley.   The Bulldogs' defensive front seven is practically a stone wall for opposing offenses. Linebacker Diego Wesson is the team's leading tackler with 96 stops. The aggressive D-Line features [player_tooltip player_id='137932' first='Payton' last='Deans'], Riley Jarratt, Gage Donaghe and Israel Calderon.   “One of our strengths on defense is our defensive line,” Maupin said. “They cause a lot of havoc. They do a great job forcing things to our three linebackers.”      <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/artesiafootball/status/1595078755353067520 </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/Brandega/status/1594852639006662657 </div></figure>

WHAT: Artesia (10-2) vs. Piedra Vista (11-1), Class 5A Championship Game