Sneak Peek: Bloomfield will defend 4A title with talented roster

The Bloomfield Bobcats finally reached the top of the Class 4A mountain in 2022, capturing the state title with a hard fought 13-7 victory over No. 1 seed Silver in the Four Corners.   As with any reigning champion, the key question for the offseason centers around how Bloomfield handles success. Will unwelcome complacency seep into the program or will the Bobcat players keep their nose to the grindstone and continue to work hard towards back-to-back titles?   So far, it's been the latter.   “Our offseason has been going very well,” Bloomfield head coach Mike Kovacs told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “We encourage our kids to play two or three sports, so a lot of them are doing another sport right now. We're doing some stuff in the gym going over fundamentals.”   The Bobcats lose graduating senior [player_tooltip player_id='208748' first='Ryan' last='Sharpe'] (2,541 passing yards and 30 TD in 2022) at quarterback but rising junior [player_tooltip player_id='615635' first='Blake' last='Spencer'], who has filled in for Sharpe when he was injured, looks ready to take the QB reins for the next two seasons.   “Blake was huge for us last year,” Kovacs said. “When Ryan couldn't play, Blake stepped up and did a great job. He's quite capable. His skill set mirrors Ryan's. Blake is going to be just fine. He's been in the system for two years. We'll miss Ryan's senior leadership but I'm very comfortable where we're at.”      Nothing, of course, will be given to Spencer. He'll face competition from several younger, less experienced quarterbacks (2024 [player_tooltip player_id='1594644' first='Elias' last='Johnson'], 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='1751724' first='Manuel' last='Chavarria']) but the job should be his as long as he performs up to the standards demanded by Kovacs.   “We have a couple of young quarterbacks behind Blake, but right now I would say Spencer is going to be the guy,” Kovacs said. “He has a leg up because he's played in some big games. He's the frontrunner. Our guys compete every week for their jobs. But Blake does great. We're not going to define the starters until the week before our first game, after we've had our first scrimmage.”   Leading rusher [player_tooltip player_id='275569' first='Jesse' last='Seitzinger'] (708 yards and 11 TD on 80 carries) returns to fuel Bloomfield's ground game. Seitzinger, Bloomfield's go-to weapon in the red zone, is a two-way standout with 135 career tackles at his outside linebacker spot. He was the Most Valuable Player in the state championship game.   “Jesse is definitely an attribute to have on both sides of the ball,” Kovacs said. “He looks good. He's been in the weight room. He's gone to camps. He's excited.”   Rising junior [player_tooltip player_id='1594557' first='Tyler' last='Reinhardt'] will likely be the backup RB.   Spencer will have a talented group of returning receivers to throw to in the passing game: [player_tooltip player_id='275042' first='Drew' last='Perez'] (60 receptions for 1,102 yards and 17 TD), [player_tooltip player_id='590562' first='George' last='Rascon'] (24 for 535 yards), [player_tooltip player_id='591997' first='Andrew' last='Bair'] (24 for 241), Javan Williamson (28 for 349) and 2026 Peyton Duncan (16 for 184).   “We're not hurting at receiver, I can tell you that,” Kovacs said. “And we have some more freshman that spot played last year that will be sophomores. They'll be impact players right away.”   Rising sophomore Ben Hensley, brothers [player_tooltip player_id='1118395' first='Logan' last='Gosnell'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1599958' first='Cole' last='Gosnell'], Nakiah Tso and [player_tooltip player_id='1118899' first='Abraham' last='Santana'] anchor the offensive line.   Defensively, leading tackler [player_tooltip player_id='269607' first='Auggie' last='Aguilar'] (91 tackles) is graduating but many of the other players registering double digit tackles in 2022 are returning.   [player_tooltip player_id='274797' first='Robert' last='Williams'], our #1 defensive lineman for the 2024 class, is a three-sport standout. He's also an elite wrestler. In 2022, Williams had 52 tackles, 13 QB hurries and 2 sacks, and played a major role in Bloomfield's run to the Class 4A championship. He earned First-Team All-State honors.   The 6-foot-5, 265-pound Williams will anchor Bloomfield's 3-4 defense at nose tackle.   “He's just an animal up front,” Kovacs said. “He's a very large man. He's a dude. We have a nice photo where's he's jumping to block a pass in the state championship game against Silver and it looks like he's about two feet off the ground. He's real quiet but he's coming into his own. Everybody loves Big Robert.”      Williams will be joined by DE [player_tooltip player_id='591920' first='J' last='Gutierrez'] (61 tackles) and DE [player_tooltip player_id='615690' first='McKell' last='Colbert'] (64 tackles) along the defensive front. The Bobcats should have one of the top defensive lines in Class 4A this upcoming season, if not the entire state.   “I'm very confident in our D-Line this year,” Kovacs said. “You have to stop the run first and not make the opposing offense multi-dimensional. Hopefully, we can rely on our speed.”   [player_tooltip player_id='615619' first='Eli' last='Snell-Martinez'] joins Seitzinger at linebacker. Perez and Rascon will be active in the back seven as well along with [player_tooltip player_id='1118921' first='Eli' last='Meador'].   The highlight of Bloomfield's non-district schedule in 2023 will be an Oct. 7 trip to Silver City to face the Colts in a rematch of the 2022 state championship game.   BLOOMFIELD 2023 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:   Aug. 18 ST. PIUS X (7 p.m.)   Aug. 25 at Pojoaque Valley (7 p.m.)   Sept. 1 at Grants (7 p.m.)   Sept. 8 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY (7 p.m.)   Sept. 15 BYE   Sept. 22 at Valencia   Sept. 29 BAYFIELD (CO.)   Oct. 7 at Silver (1 p.m.)(Sat.)   Oct. 13 KIRTLAND CENTRAL*   Oct. 20 at Aztec*   Oct. 27 at Gallup*   * District Game   <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/1596637682058162177 </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/FanaticBobcat/status/1596666148988518402?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/FanaticBobcat/status/1586197438758412288?s=20 </div></figure>

The Bloomfield Bobcats finally reached the top of the Class 4A mountain in 2022, capturing the state title with a hard fought 13-7 victory over No. 1 seed Silver in the Four Corners.