Predicting Every Team's 2023 MVP: Class 5A, Part 1

<p>The start of the 2023 New Mexico high school football season is still 4 months away but it's always the right time to begin talking about some of the key players in the fall. We're going to go out on a limb and predict each team's MVP. We've already done Class 6A and now we tackle Class 5A, which has 16 teams. Here's Part 1, with the first eight schools listed in alphabetical order:</p>   <p><strong>Artesia: [player_tooltip player_id='590681' first='Nye' last='Estrada'], QB</strong>. [player_tooltip player_id='274793' first='Peyton' last='Greathouse']'s move to Tennessee means the spotlight will be squarely focused on Estrada, who posed New Mexico Heisman type numbers in 2022 by throwing for 3,425 yards and 42 TD while leading the Bulldogs to another Class 5A championship. Estrada will be supported by RB Jesse Leroch and WR [player_tooltip player_id='590308' first='Matthew' last='Saiz']. The departure of Greathouse hut but Artesia should still be dynamic on offense.</p>   <p><strong>Belen: [player_tooltip player_id='274725' first='Diego' last='Avila'], RB</strong>. Even though a serious knee injury limited him to 7 games in 2022, Avila still rushed for 740 yards and 9 TD on 88 carries. However, Avila could miss a portion of the 2023 season after deciding to hold off on surgery until February in order to compete in wrestling. Belen is looking to improve on last season's 2-9 record and they'll likely need Avila to do that.</p>   <p><strong>Chaparral: Israel Nieto, QB</strong>. The 2022 season was a rough one for winless Chaparral but Nieto was a bright spot at the quarterback position as a freshman, throwing for 388 yards and running for 166 more. The Lobos offense will undoubtedly revolve around Nieto in 2023. </p>   <p><strong>Del Norte:</strong> <strong>Camryn Staples, RB</strong>. The Knights are another team that suffered through a winless 2022 campaign. Staples, a hoop standout, will try to carry the offense in 2023.</p>   <p><strong>Deming: [player_tooltip player_id='510673' first='Ezra' last='Hensley'], OL/DL</strong>. Possessing a powerful 6-foot-3, 265-pound frame, Hensley is one of the next great trench players in the state. Numerous college teams have already expressed interest in the 2025 prospect, including Eastern New Mexico, Miami (OH) and Dartmouth. Second-team All-State as an offensive lineman. Deming lose their top two players from 2022 – [player_tooltip player_id='138095' first='Ian' last='Ortiz'] and [player_tooltip player_id='541094' first='Fabian' last='Reyna'] – making Hensley one of the new leaders of the Wildcats.     </p>   <p><strong>Gadsden: Nathaniel Lopez, OL/DL</strong>. Just as with Deming (see above), everything begins in the trenches for the Panthers, one of the surprising teams of 2022 when they reached the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs. The 6-foot-1, 26-pound Lopez will be a load to handle at defensive line. He was the District 3-5A co-Defensive Player of the Year last season after making 62 tackles and 3.0 TFL.  </p>   <p><strong>Goddard: Jonathon Silva, RB</strong>. Silva earned First-team All-State honors after a fantastic season for the Rockets, consistently one of the top programs in Class 5A. How good is Silva? He had 170 rushing yards against Artesia last season. New Mexico State, Eastern New Mexico and Bluffton University have extended camp or Junior Day invitations.</p>   <p><strong>Highland: [player_tooltip player_id='615425' first='Amiri' last='Mumba'], RB</strong>. The Hornets barely missed the 5A playoffs last season with a crop of promising young talent that has taken their lumps over the past two seasons. But this isn't your older brother's Highland team. They have some outstanding young talent led by Mumba, who was just a sophomore in 2022. Over the next two years, we expect him to develop into one of the top RBs in the Albuquerque Metro region.    </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/nyeestrada0/status/1604995837527998465?s=20 </div></figure>   <p></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/2024DiegoAvila/status/1595307585309003776 </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/EzraHensley5/status/1602168031957983232 </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/nathanlo63/status/1592330378169450496?s=20 </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/jonsilva_3/status/1611062937887641617?s=20 </div></figure>

The start of the 2023 New Mexico high school football season is still 4 months away but it's always the right time to begin talking about some of the key players in the fall. We're going to go out on a limb and predict each team's MVP. We've already done Class 6A and now we tackle Class 5A, which has 16 teams. Here's Part 1, with the first eight schools listed in alphabetical order: