Top Contenders for 2022 New Mexico Heisman: Playoff Edition

<p>We're halfway through the 2022 New Mexico High School football playoffs with eight semifinal games on tap for this weekend. Here are the Top 10 contenders for our New Mexico Heisman award:</p>   <p><strong>TOP THREE CONTENDERS</strong>:</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta'], La Cueva</strong>: Few players – or anybody for that matter - have had a better last four months than Armenta. He threw for 3,283 yards and 40 TD with just 8 interceptions during the regular season, leading La Cueva to a 10-1 record (including quarterfinal win over Farmington) and a spot in the 6A semifinals. Armenta also verbally committed to New Mexico and plans to sign with the Lobos in December. Armenta throws a beautiful ball and is very accurate on deep throws. He's also a fantastic leader, which a quarterback must be at the next level. I'm sure there are plenty of UNM fans who hope Armenta can ignite the Lobos' offense.    </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208691' first='Mikah' last='Gutierrez'], Centennial</strong>: First a disclaimer – we don't know Gutierrez's ‘official' statistics because Centennial doesn't post stats on their team site on MaxPreps. But if you follow the media reports throughout the season – and we have – you comprehend Gutierrez's impact    on the Hawks. He rushed for 150+ yards and scored at least 1 TD in nearly every game. He's a major reason the Hawks are 9-1 and headed towards a semifinal showdown with La Cueva. He's fearless running between the tackles, possesses the speed to get to the edge and can catch the football. Curiously, the only school expressing interest at the moment in Gutierrez is NMMI. Why?   </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'], Raton</strong>: Surprised? You shouldn't be. Walton has pushed (shoved?) the running back position to a higher level this season. He has already become the state's all-time leading rusher with 7,816 yards heading into the Class 3A semifinal showdown with Ruidoso. And he'll likely set a new single season mark against the Warriors as he trails the current mark (3,024 yards by Ronnie Daniels of La Cueva in 2010) by just 66 yards. Considering he's eclipsed 190+ rushing yards in 10 of 11 games this season, we feel pretty secure in saying he'll get there.       </p>   <p><strong>SEVEN MORE CONTENDERS</strong> (Alphabetical Order):</p>   <p><strong>Omar Argott, Hobbs</strong>: We thought Argott might have a sensational senior season when we saw him throw during 7-on-7 season in the spring and summer. Finished with 2,377 yards passing, 881 yards rushing and accounted for 41 TD (31 pass, 10 rush).  </p>   <p><strong>Paxton Culpepper, Portales</strong>: Culpepper led the turnaround season for Portales (9-3 in 2022; 2-8 in 2021) as he threw for 2,069 yards and 24 TD. The Rams won a 1<sup>st</sup> round playoff game convincingly over St. Pius X before dropping a tight 29-23 contest at Lovington last weekend in the 4A quarterfinals.    </p>   <p><strong>Nye Estrada, Artesia</strong>: Estrada is listed at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds but he's a keg of dynamite when it comes to leading the prolific Artesia offense. In 11 games so far this season, Estrada has thrown for 2,860 yards and 37 TD with just 10 TD. That's nearly a 4-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio. And he's only a junior. Pencil him in as al eading contender for the 2023 New Mexico Heisman.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='138076' first='Tomas' last='Herrera'], Gadsden</strong>: He's the No. 1 reason Gadsden was one of the surprise teams of Class 5A this season. Dual threat QB with 1,653 rushing yards and 646 passing yards. Panthers made the playoffs for the 1<sup>st</sup> time in 50 years and won at Los Alamos before season ended last weekend at the Wool Bowl to powerful Roswell.   </p>   <p><strong>Elliot Pasket-Bell, Volcano Vista</strong>: You could make a very reasonable argument Pasket-Bell deserves to be in the top three. His remarkable season – he's the state's No. 2 passing QB behind Armenta – has spearheaded Volcano Vista into the 6A semifinals. He has passed for 2,956 yards and 33 TD while rushing for 900 yards and 12 TD. Doing the math, Pasket-Bell has accounted for 3,856 total yards and 45 TD. Like I said, remarkable.   </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='270020' first='Ian' last='Sanchez'], La Cueva</strong>: The second half of arguably the top passing combination in the state. Not only does Armenta lead the state in passing yardage, Sanchez is No. 1 in receptions (79), receiving yardage (1,376) and receiving touchdowns (20). Armenta-Sanchez has been an unstoppable duo all season long.     </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong'], Cleveland</strong>: Some folks erroneously thought before the season that Cleveland would take a steps backwards offensively following the departure of head coach Heath Ridenour. But the core of the 2021 offense returned and they shined, particularly Wysong, who is close to joining the prestigious 1,000-1,000 club. He has thrown for 1,811 yards and rushed for 861 more. The Storm averaged 47 points in the first 11 games.   </p>   <p><strong>Honorable Mention</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='137921' first='Kaden' last='Trevino'], Hobbs; [player_tooltip player_id='138204' first='Josh' last='Perry'], Cleveland; [player_tooltip player_id='269560' first='David' last='Llanez'], Bernalillo; Logan Howell, Piedra Vista; [player_tooltip player_id='274791' first='Trel' last='Griego'], Farmington; [player_tooltip player_id='275207' first='Dean' last='Marquez'], Atrico Heritage; [player_tooltip player_id='137861' first='Aden' last='Chavez'], Cibola; C.J. Perea, West Las Vegas; [player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'], West Mesa; [player_tooltip player_id='269582' first='Cooper' last='Pritchett'], Ruidoso; [player_tooltip player_id='138083' first='Marcus' last='Armijo'], Socorro; [player_tooltip player_id='138201' first='Layton' last='Gillis'], Hatch Valley; [player_tooltip player_id='138043' first='Eli' last='Asay'], Carlsbad; [player_tooltip player_id='138061' first='Kaden' last='Sago'], Ruidoso; [player_tooltip player_id='208812' first='Andres' last='Madrid'], Santa Rosa; [player_tooltip player_id='269559' first='Teke' last='Nieto'], Los Alamos; [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'], Artesia; Tristan Cordova, Volcano Vista; [player_tooltip player_id='269529' first='Branden' last='Castillo'], Cibola; [player_tooltip player_id='138047' first='Chris' last='Johnson'], West Mesa; Michael Beck, Farmington; [player_tooltip player_id='139523' first='Nic' last='Trujillo'], Cleveland; Latavious Morris, Atrisco Heritage; [player_tooltip player_id='138194' first='Jacob' last='Lujan'], Jal.</p>   <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/1591302576032878592 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/X2EFi3A15Ms </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/RatonFootball/status/1581465292797927424 </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/1__KayTea/status/1589333399168339970 </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/elliotpaskett55/status/1589302894104555521 </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/CoachWysong/status/1587884911918096384 </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/IanSanchezNM/status/1588222843040706560 </div></figure>

We're halfway through the 2022 New Mexico High School football playoffs with eight semifinal games on tap for this weekend. Here are the Top 10 contenders for our New Mexico Heisman award: