Next Level: New Mexico Players on Lobos, Aggies rosters

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ahead of Saturday night's Rio Grande Rivalry showdown between New Mexico and New Mexico State at University Stadium in Albuquerque (6 p.m., Mountain West Network), we examined the&nbsp; roster of both the Lobos and Aggies to see how many New Mexico players the two teams had on their respective rosters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is what we found: New Mexico has 32 players from the Land of Enchantment (see below), while NM State has 11, including several true freshmen who starred for their high school teams last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When you compare each team's roster to the depth charts for Saturday's, a ‘Big Four' clearly emerges. For UNM, former Manzano standout <strong>Andrew Erickson</strong> is listed as the starter at ‘Z' Receiver. He has 48 career receptions for 559 yards and 3 TD in five years of active duty for UNM.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition, former Los Lunas DL <strong>Tyler Kiehne</strong>, who initially signed with UCLA before transferring to the Lobos following one year in southern California, is listed as the starter at nose tackle in UNM's 3-4 scheme.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Luke Wysong</strong>, who earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors when he was at Cleveland, is the backup ‘A' receiver. He has been one of the faces of the Lobos program for the past couple of years and remains a fan favorite. He had four of his five receptions this season for 53 yards and 1 TD in last week's victory over Tennessee Tech.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Former Rio Rancho RB <strong>Zach Vigil</strong>, listed as a sophomore, got his first carries of the season in the win over Tennessee Tech. He had three carries last season and comes into Saturday's rivalry matchup with six career rushing attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Other notable names of former New Mexico prep standouts on the Lobos roster includes QB <strong>Aiden Armenta</strong> (La Cueva), LB <strong>Hunter Haemker</strong> (La Cueva), LB <strong>Ja'Shon Lowery</strong> (La Cueva), QB <strong>Isaiah Chavez</strong> (Rio Rancho), RB <strong>Dorian Lewis</strong> (Cleveland, JUCO transfer), WR <strong>Nic Trujillo</strong> (Cleveland) and WR <strong>Evan Wysong</strong> (Cleveland).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Except for former Hobbs QB Gavin Hardison (3-year starter at UTEP; legitimate NFL Draft prospect), few high school football standouts in New Mexcio have had the impact of former Volcano Vista star <strong>Diego Pavia</strong>, now a junior at New Mexico State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pavia led New Mexico Military Institute to the JUCO national championship in 2021 before signing with the Aggies. Pavia was sensational in the second half of last season when he grabbed the starting job and didn't let go. He was named MVP Of the Quick Lane Bowl.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Going into this season, Pavia fought off several challengers for the starting QB job and through three games he ranks seventh nationally in total passing yards with 715 and ninth in passing touchdowns (6). In 15 career appearances for NM State, Pavia has amassed 2,165 passing yards and 19 TD passes. He has also rushed for 585 yards on 119 attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The true freshmen from New Mexico who joined the Aggies prior to this season include (in alphabetical order): WR <strong>Isaiah Abeyta</strong> (Centennial), RB <strong>David Barela</strong> (Las Cruces), QB <strong>Paul Cieremans</strong> (Los Lunas), DB <strong>Colt Mangino</strong> (La Cueva), DB <strong>Sideeq Shabazz</strong> (Las Cruces) and WR <strong>Kaden Trevino</strong> (Hobbs).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pavia's former Volcano Vista teammate, LB <strong>Tyler Martinez</strong>, joined the Aggies prior to the season after one successful year at NMMI. Former La Cueva standout <strong>Deven Dyer</strong> is a redshirt freshman DT for the Aggies.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dyer is the older brother of current La Cueva junior QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611098' first='Cameron' last='Dyer']</strong>, who has been offered by New Mexico State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":997479,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-15-at-14-42-48-Game-Notes-03-2023-New-Mexico-State.pdf.png?w=554" alt="" class="wp-image-997479" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image --> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":997458,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/F5wRpxXbIAEv3ON.jpg?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-997458" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":997457,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/F6AYH1NWMAA1IVS.jpg?w=819" alt="" class="wp-image-997457" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":997456,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/09/Screenshot-2023-09-15-at-16-45-46-9-New-Mexico-State-Football-@NMStateFootball-_-X.png?w=466" alt="" class="wp-image-997456" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->