Next Man Up: Biggest Shoes To Fill (Part 2)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We recently published Part 1 of our series, “Biggest Shoes To Fill' in the 2023 New Mexico high school football season. Here's Part 2:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cleveland QB</strong>: It's the No. 1 question for the No. 1 high school football team in New Mexico. Who replaces two-time State Player of the Year and soon-to-be Lobo <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='139521' first='Evan' last='Wysong']</strong> at quarterback for the Storm? It won't be easy. In fact, it's going to be challenging. In two championship-winning seasons for the Storm, Wysong threw for 3,791 yards and 47 TD while rushing for 2,276 yards and 30 TD. Impressive numbers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Only one other true quarterback attempted a pass for Cleveland last season, freshman (2026) <strong>Jordan Hatch</strong>. He saw most of his action for the JV team and did attempt 5 passes for the varsity in 2022. However, by the time preseason camp arrives in July, he should have plenty of contenders for one of the highest profile positions in NM high school football. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hatch Valley RB</strong>: Who was the No. 3 leading rusher in the state last season behind [player_tooltip player_id='138053' first='Cayden' last='Walton'] and [player_tooltip player_id='138204' first='Josh' last='Perry']? Hatch Valley's [player_tooltip player_id='138201' first='Layton' last='Gillis'], who recently committed to NMMI. Gillis had 1,741 yards on 280 yards, second most in the state behind Walton. Gillis was a physical, tough runner. Who replaces him? Most likely, Bears coach Louis Howell will take a committee approach with several running backs under consideration – 2024 <strong>Frank Angel</strong>, 2024 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275480' first='Jacob' last='Gomez']</strong>, 2024 <strong>Javier Pacheco</strong> and 2026 <strong>David Dumas</strong>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lovington QB</strong>: In 26 career games for Lovington, [player_tooltip player_id='269564' first='Ashton' last='Aranda'] threw for over 4,100 yards and 49 TD as the Wildcats starting QB, including the Class 4A title in 2021. Some Wildcat fans probably presume rising senior [player_tooltip player_id='275459' first='Wyatt' last='Gomez'] will just into the starting job and everything will be fine. But Lovington head coach Anthony Gonzales has other ideas, telling Prep Redzone New Mexico, “Every position on our team in our program is a competition everyday.” At a blueblood program like Lovington, everything is earned, nothing is given. So, Gomez will face competition from three young signal callers - 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1118377' first='Patrick' last='Sanchez'], 2025 Matthew Prudencio and 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1137475' first='Jayden' last='Gutierrez']. Sanchez started at safety for the Wildcats last season as a sophomore. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Silver RB/DE:</strong> The Class 4A runners-up face major questions of succession at TWO positions. At running back, the Colts had a three-headed monster in 2022 with [player_tooltip player_id='208819' first='Aidan' last='Granado'] leading the way with 900 rushing yards on 103 carries. Ricky Vasquez (526 yards) and [player_tooltip player_id='270075' first='Mason' last='Lockett'] (586) were also major contributors to Silver's vaunted ground attack. However, all three were seniors in 2022. Who gets to carry the ball in 2023? Rising sophomore <strong>Michael Jimenez</strong> has loads of potential with rising seniors <strong>Ezekiel Torres</strong> and <strong>Jose Parra</strong> also expected to be part of the equation. Silver runs the Wing-T offense with three running backs on nearly every play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At defense end, [player_tooltip player_id='544218' first='Reuben' last='Holguin'] led the state in sacks with 14.5 to go long with 80+ tackles and 20.5 tackles for loss. Replacing those numbers will be difficult. In fact, Silver's entire defensive line graduates this spring (Silver had 21 seniors in 2022), so the Colts will have an entirely new defensive front in 2023. Jimenez will get a look at defensive end. Right now, Silver head coach Jerome Ortiz plans to take a look at several players to fill the spot, but will wait to see who emerges over the summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/CHSStormFB/status/1611426522912407552","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/CHSStormFB/status/1611426522912407552 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/CoachD84/status/1625494692845735937","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/CoachD84/status/1625494692845735937 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>              </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->