7×7 Season Begins For Pair of New Mexico Teams

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seven-on-7 season is officially underway in the Land of Enchantment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of the state's most prominent travel teams – New Mexico Heat and New Mexico Legacy – have been practicing since the beginning of the year preparing for their busy spring tournament schedules.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In fact, the Heat participated in the DR Sportz Tournament in San Antonio, TX last weekend, compiling a 3-2 record. Heat standouts included quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='269571' first='Elliot' last='Paskett-Bell']</strong> (Volcano Vista) and defensive back <strong>Jabby Cooper</strong> (Albuquerque High).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paskett-Bell was extended a PWO offer by New Mexico earlier today, while the speedy Cooper (4.5 in 40) holds offers from all three D2 schools in New Mexico.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Elliott's arm strength is ridiculous,” Heat head coach Isaiah Brown told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “He brought that to the table in the first tournament. He has a crazy, slingshot style arm. Lot of zip. He did great. I think he shocked a lot of people.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paskett-Bell, who has also been offered by Eastern New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands, Western Colorado, Salt River Junior College and NMMI, has an impressive array of receiving targets, starting with Volcano Vista teammate <strong>Tristan Cordova</strong> and four receivers from West Mesa – <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='138047' first='Chris' last='Johnson']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='538963' first='Chris' last='Jinzo']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340311' first='Ricky' last='Martinez']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='138090' first='Anthony' last='Rodriguez']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='269529' first='Branden' last='Castillo']</strong> (Cibola), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275436' first='Josiah' last='Mitchell']</strong> (Eldorado), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='335471' first='Elijah' last='Romero']</strong> (Belen) and <strong>Landon Jones</strong> (Goddard) round out the Heat receiving corps.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cooper is joined on defense by LB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208791' first='Jahvon' last='McChriston']</strong> (Bernalillo), DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275206' first='Mason' last='Espinda-McChriston']</strong> (Bernalillo), the Thompson Twins (not the 80s musical group) from West Mesa (Zebediah and Zedekiah), <strong>Erick Thomas</strong> (Eldorado) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615660' first='John' last='Paul Ludi']</strong><strong> </strong>(plays RB and LB).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Jabby played everywhere,' Brown said. “Safety, nickel, corner.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heat's next tournament is Feb. 25 in Houston. They'll return to Houston for the End Zone Tournament on March 11-12. They'll be in Phoenix April 1-2 for the Red Zone Elite tournament. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>NM Legacy opens their 7x7 schedule at The Hero Tournament in Phoenix this weekend (Jan. 28-29).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rising junior <strong>Kelly Stevens</strong> (6-2, 205 pounds) from Las Cruces is Legacy's No. 1 QB and based on his solid performances during tryouts and practice, he's clearly eager to compete for the Bulldawgs' starting QB job in the fall after taking the 2022 season off.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Kelley is a big time quarterback,” said Legacy coach Ramar Watson, who is the defensive coordinator at Manzano. “He throws lasers. He has tremendous upside. He's going to be very good. He has Division I potential with his build.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The backup QB is rising sophomore <strong>Isaiah Torres </strong>(2025) from Albuquerque High. Another promising AHS product, 2025 WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615840' first='Jordan' last='Choice']</strong> (4.54 in the 40) leads the pass catching corps along with 6-foot-2, 205-pound <strong>Marcus Sharp</strong> (West Mesa) and 2024 <strong>Elias Contreras</strong> (West Mesa).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Jordan is very explosive,” Watson said. “He's definitely somebody that everybody should pay attention to this year. Marcus is big. He's a basketball player too. Elias is a very precise route runner with great explosion.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Legacy defense is led by returning DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274992' first='Tavon' last='Archibald']</strong> (West Mesa), who has attracted interest from Clarke University in Atlanta and JUCO Santa Ana College in California. Other defenders include DB <strong>Amani Kebe</strong> (Cibola), rising junior <strong>Khaliq Waites</strong> (Manzano) and <strong>Reggie Clark</strong> (Manzano).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After this weekend, Legacy will compete to Mesa, AZ next weekend (Feb. 4-5) and later participate in two tournaments in Las Vegas, NV in March and April as well as a tournament in Dallas at the end of March.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We have a lot of speed on our team,” Watson said. “Definitely a lot more speed than last year. Seven-on-seven is a speed game. You score as fast as you can and as quick as we can.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617680049196650496","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617680049196650496 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>    </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617618305912803328","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617618305912803328 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617607873378545664","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617607873378545664 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617605553324457984","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/nmheat_7v7/status/1617605553324457984 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1599855446726422528","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <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/1599855446726422528 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->