Weekly Whiparound: Championship Saturday Edition

The 2022 New Mexico High School football playoffs concluded with eight schools vying for the right to lift the blue trophy on Championship Saturday. Here are the top teams, best players and other fun stuff from the final day       Team of the Week: Ruidoso. First it was the devastating forest fires that scarred much of the land around Ruidoso, then Motor Nature intervened again with a snowstorm that forced the Warriors to alter their travel plans to Santa Fe. But Ruidoso overcame the weather to blank St. Michael's, 12-0, in the Class 3A state championship game. The Warriors scored a pair of first quarter TDs on long passes of 56 and 49 yards to WR Logan Sandoval on consecutive plays, and Ruidoso defense did the rest by completely stonewalling the St. Michael's offense (see below).      Honorable Mention: Cleveland, Artesia, Bloomfield.                            Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong'], Cleveland. In his final game for the Storm – and his last game as a quarterback (he'll be a slot receiver for the Lobos) - Wysong showed his impressive speed on multiple occasions, including a pair of long TD runs of 59 and 72 yards, as he finished with 246 yards rushing. Next time we see Wysong on a football field, he'll be wearing the cherry and silver of UNM, and possibly lining up next to his brother, Luke Wysong, at receiver.   Honorable Mention: Harris Mbueha, Cleveland (4 TD + 108 yards rushing on 16 carries)         Best Team Offensive Performance: Cleveland and La Cueva. Ignoring for a moment the fact the game lasted nearly 3-1/2 hours, the Storm and Bears engaged in a track meet on Saturday. They combined for 1,209 yards. Cleveland rushed for 474 yards on 57 carries as three ball carriers eclipsed 100+ yards. Courtesy of James Yodice from the ABJ, Cleveland scored 33 offensive points in the second half without completing a single pass. All three phases scored at some point during the game. Cleveland had two Pick-6s by [player_tooltip player_id='274977' first='Andres' last='Aguirre'] in the second half while La Cueva's Cameron Dyer returned a kickoff for a TD. La Cueva actually led, 34-28, at halftime before the Bears were steamrolled in the second half.   Best Team Defensive Performance: Ruidoso. The Warriors arrived at Ivan Head Stadium in Santa Fe on Saturday knowing it had to find a way to contain the prolific St. Michael's offense. It did, and then some. Ruidoso limited the Horsemen to 65 total yards, including just 8 yards on 19 rushing attempts, a testament to the dominance of the Warriors' defensive front seven. St. Michael's averaged 47.8 points and 161 rushing yards per game in their first 12 games. The Horsemen completed just 9-of-28 passes with two interceptions as QB [player_tooltip player_id='335455' first='Zach' last='Martinez'] was sacked 5 times. St. Michael's coach Joey Fernandez summed it up best to the Santa Fe New Mexican: “We just couldn't get anything going offensively. They came in with a great game plan and took away everything we're good at.”          Honorable Mention: Bloomfield, Silver.         Best Game: Bloomfield 13, Silver 7. Selecting the best game out of the four state championship games boils down to this question: Which game is better, one that features tons and tons of offense (Cleveland-La Cueva) or one in which the defenses dominate? In this case, we'll take the latter. In beating Silver, Bloomfield got revenge for a 45-6 loss to the Colts during the regular season and won its first state title since 1966. QB [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe']'s third quarter 71-yard TD pass to Jesse Seitzinger was the difference in the game.   The Bloomfield defense made two key defensive stops in the second half. Silver grabbed a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 11-yard TD run by [player_tooltip player_id='270075' first='Mason' last='Lockett'], who rushed for 150+ yards. Sharpe's 1-yard QB keeper tied the score at 7-7 in the second quarter. Silver had the ball late in the game but a fourth down completion that would have kept the drive alive was negated by an illegal man downfield penalty.       Honorable Mention: Cleveland 75, La Cueva 61.   31 Titles For Artesia: Artesia is the ultimate Friday Night Lights town in New Mexico. High school football is a year-round obsession there. And it shows on the field. Artesia won its state-record 31st championship on Saturday with a 27-14 victory at Piedra Vista. According to the record book, only two schools in the country have won more state titles – Central High in Little Rock, AR (32) and Washington High in Sioux Falls, SD (41). QB Nye Estrada capped a sensational junior season by throwing two TD passes to Julian Rodriguez and Cayden Joy as Artesia won at Hutchinson Stadium in Farmington.   Artesia took the lead for good at 14-7 late in the first quarter on Estrada's 24-yard TD strike to Rodriguez. [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse'], another fantastic junior returning in 2023, gave Artesia a 21-7 lead in the second quarter with a 19-yardTD run. The Bulldogs received the second half kickoff and quickly scored on Estrada's 34-yard TD pass to Joy for a 27-7 lead. Piedra Vista scored early in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers hope but Artesia controlled the ball- and the clock – the rest of the way.   Things You Need To Know: Albuquerque Academy coach Shawn Gehres resigned Sunday as the Chargers head coach. However, he said he will remain with the school. . .Cleveland is the first 6A/Big School team to win three straight state championships (2019, 2021-22; no playoffs in 2020) since Mayfield in 2005-07. The Storm will seek in 2023 to become the first team since Clovis (1981-85) to win five straight state championships in the highest classification. . .Ruidoso was playing in a state championship game for the third time in six years. They lost to Lovington in 20212 in the Class 4A title game before moving to 3A for at least two years (2022-23). . .Cleveland shattered the record for most points in a championship game in the ‘Big School' division, surpassing the 69 scored by Mayfield in 2010. . .Saturday's 6A title game featured three players who plan to sign with New Mexico in December – [player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong'], [player_tooltip player_id='139523' first='Nic' last='Trujillo'] and [player_tooltip player_id='137862' first='Aidan' last='Armenta']. . .In his final game for La Cueva, Armenta threw for 517 yards and 5 TD as the Bears amassed 664 total yards. [player_tooltip player_id='274790' first='Jackson' last='Hix'] caught 3 TD passes. Four second half turnovers forced by the Cleveland defense helped turn the tide in favor of the Storm. . .Bloomfield has quietly become one of the most successful high school football programs in the state. The Bobcats played in a state championship game for the third time in four years. They lost to Taos in 2018 and Portales in 2019. . .Ruidoso finished the season with an 11-game winning streak. The Warriors' only loss this season came in Week 2 against Portales. Ruidoso must replace QB [player_tooltip player_id='269582' first='Cooper' last='Pritchett'] and RB [player_tooltip player_id='138061' first='Kaden' last='Sago'] (1,670 yards rushing) in 2023.   Championship Saturday Scoreboard (Sat. 11/26):   6A: Cleveland 75, La Cueva 61     5A: Artesia Piedra Vista   4A: Bloomfield 13, Silver 7   3A: Ruidoso 12, St. Michael's 0   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NMHSCA/status/1597051028649947138 </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/1597311428918054914 </div></figure>

The 2022 New Mexico High School football playoffs concluded with eight schools vying for the right to lift the blue trophy on Championship Saturday. Here are the top teams, best players and other fun stuff from the final day