Week 6 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 6 of the 2023 New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is our sixth edition of the Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field over the past three days:   Team of the Week: Robertson. In a showdown between MaxPreps' top two ranked teams in Class 3A, Robertson dominated the second half in a 42-14 road victory over Dexter, knocking the Demons from the unbeaten ranks. Leading 14-8, QB Jesse James Gonzales threw a 12-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='340344' first='Quik' last='Cordova'] to give Robertson a two-score lead. After an interception, Robertson scored again on a 9-yard run by [player_tooltip player_id='1594850' first='Paul' last='Duran'] to make it 28-8 with about 10 minutes left. The Cardinals will likely ascend to the No. 1 spot in the new rankings when they're released. Who's No. 2? Probably St. Michael's, which beat 4A Aztec, 19-7, Saturday afternoon in Santa Fe behind a strong defensive effort led by freshman (2027) DL [player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt']. District play in the always highly competitive District 3A-2 begins Week 7. Robertson and St. Michael's clash in Week 8 (Sept. 30) on the Cardinals' home field in Las Vegas.        Honorable Mention: Silver, Albuquerque Academy, Goddard.        Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='274709' first='Alijah' last='Gonzales'], Volcano Vista. Here's the most important statistic for Volcano Vista this season – when RB Alijah ‘A-Train' Gonzales carries the ball 20 or more times, the Hawks are 5-0. When he carries the ball less than 20 times, they're 0-1. In short, handing the ball off to Gonzales is clearly Volcano Vista's best offensive option. Saturday, they gave him the ball over and over again in the Hawks' 38-19 victory over Eldorado at Wilson Stadium. Gonzales carried a season-high 37 times for 225 yards and 4 TD. Gonzales came into the contest with 780 rushing yards, so he moved past the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Considering Volcano Vista has four regular season games left plus (very likely) at least one playoff game, Gonzales has an opportunity to approach 2,000 rushing yards this season.                Honorable Mention: [player_tooltip player_id='590316' first='Manny' last='Fuentez'] (Roswell) (11-for-11 passing for 252 yards and 5 TD vs. Clovis); [player_tooltip player_id='275121' first='Dylan' last='Joines'] (Miyamura); [player_tooltip player_id='613060' first='Andres' last='Lazos'] (Grants); J.J. Arellano, Rio Rancho (348 passing yards, 4 TD vs. Farmington).   Best Team Offensive Performance: Miyamura. Miyamura senior QB [player_tooltip player_id='275121' first='Dylan' last='Joines'] rushed for 218 yards and 3 TD on 19 carries to lift the Patriots past Moriarty, 40-38, in overtime. Miyamura finished with 364 rushing yards against a Moriarty defense that practices heavily against the run every day as the Pintos run the Wing-T/Triple option as their base package. In addition to Joines, senior Bryan Herold ran for 94 yards and 1 TD on 9 carries. Miyamura averaged 8.7 yards per rushing attempt. All five of their touchdowns came on the ground. The Patriots are 2-4 and travel to Del Norte in Week 7 before enjoying a bye.           Honorable Mention: Grants.   <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/1705423836811002135?s=20 </div></figure>   Best Team Defensive Performance: Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho and Farmington combined for 76 points on Friday night but it was the Rams defense that played a major role in helping them get past the Scorpions, 48-28. The Rio Rancho defense forced five turnovers by Farmington, including a Pick-6 by [player_tooltip player_id='1103708' first='Ryan' last='Brown'] for 36 yards and a fumble recovery in the end zone by safety Michael Jaquez in the fourth quarter. The Rams' special teams also contributed to the scoring by returning an onsides kick for a TD. Thus, 21 of Rio Rancho's 48 points came from the defense or special teams.   Honorable Mention: Volcano Vista.                    Best Game: Atrisco Heritage 33, Capital 29. Atrisco Heritage stopped two Capital possessions in the fourth quarter and hung on for the four-point win, Capital's fifth straight one-score loss. Atrisco QB [player_tooltip player_id='1021201' first='Landon' last='Griego'] threw for a season-high 342 yards and 4 TD. WR [player_tooltip player_id='274705' first='Marquise' last='Renfro'] had 4 receptions (3 for TD) for 112 yards, including an acrobatic TD catch in the right corner of the end zone that gave Atrisco a 33-22 lead, the only time all night either team led by more than 6 points, which shows how tight the game was. Atrisco totaled 449 yards in total offense.              Honorable Mention: Miyamura 40, Moriarty 38 (2OT); Socorro 27, Raton 21 (OT)     Best Rivalry Win: Silver 29, Deming 7. The Silver Colts traveled down Route 180 and showed the depth of Class 4A with a convincing 29-7 road victory over Deming. Silver QB [player_tooltip player_id='815932' first='Adan' last='Jacquez'] is now a legitimate 2023 New Mexican Heisman contender after passing for 136 yards and 1 TD + 99 yards rushing. Jacquez accounted for 3 TD. WR [player_tooltip player_id='591998' first='Julian' last='Richard'] had 6 receptions for 93 yards and 1 TD. Silver has won five straight games after a Week 1 loss at Alamogordo. The Colts have a bye in Week 7 before hosting Bloomfield on Oct. 7 in a rematch of last season's 4A state championship game.            Artesia, Roswell On Collision Course (Part 2): Artesia and Roswell continued to put plenty of distance between themselves and the rest of Class 5A with lopsided shutout victories on Friday night. Artesia crushed 4A Lovington, 44-0, and should stay at No. 1 in the MaxPreps statewide poll. The Bulldogs opened the scoring against Lovington with a 24-yard TD pass from QB [player_tooltip player_id='590681' first='Nye' last='Estrada'] to WR [player_tooltip player_id='1118257' first='Ethan' last='Conn']. RB [player_tooltip player_id='1118283' first='Frankie' last='Galindo'] ran 22 yards for the second TD midway through the 1Q. Galindo added another TD moments later after Lovington fumbled the kickoff return. Artesia led, 22-0, at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. . .Roswell trounced Clovis, 49-0, at the Wool Bowl as senior QB [player_tooltip player_id='590316' first='Manny' last='Fuentez'] tossed 5 TD passes to 5 different players to spark the Coyotes well-oiled offense. Roswell led, 35-0, at halftime, so the entire second half was played with a running clock. The Roswell defense has allowed 7 or fewer points in each of the last five games. Only one opponent has reached double digits against the Coyotes defense this season – Lovington in Week 1. Artesia and Roswell collide Oct. 13 in the Wool Bowl.               Road Warriors: Goddard made the trip from Roswell to Gadsden for a Thursday night contest against the Panthers. The Rockets trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter before scoring 35 consecutive points in the final three quarters for a 35-7 victory over Gadsden. The Rockets took the lead for good early in the second quarter on a 68-yard rushing TD by [player_tooltip player_id='1751685' first='Zak' last='Arellano'] and 2-point conversion and never looked back. . .Albuquerque Academy proved they belong in the Class 4A conversation with an impressive 14-6 road victory at Los Alamos. The Chargers were ranked No. 9 in 4A last week by MaxPreps but should move up at least a couple of spots with the win over the 5A Hilltoppers. . .West Las Vegas (4-2) made the trip to northeastern New Mexico and soundly beat Thoreau, 42-6, as QB [player_tooltip player_id='615555' first='CJ' last='Perea'] threw for 246 yards and 3 TD. WLV opens district play Saturday with a road game at St. Michael's. . .Grants' 54-42 win at Kirtland Central was the Pirates second straight victory. They are 3-3, exceeding their combined win total from 2021-22 (2). . .Mayfield continued preparations for what should be a rugged district schedule (Artesia, Goddard, Roswell) with a 22-20 road win at Belen.        District Play Begins: Many teams in New Mexico begin district play in Week 7 or Week 8. However, District 6A-3 has six teams, most in the state, meaning they started district play in Week 6. Centennial whipped winless Organ Mountain, 42-0, at Field of Dreams to improve to  3-2. The Hawks jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and were never threatened thereafter. The other four teams in the district (Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Hobbs and Las Cruces) all had byes in Week 7.      Who's Still Unbeaten?: Entering Week 7, six teams have still not lost a game this season, none in 6A or 2A. Here is the breakdown by classification:   6A (0): None.   5A (3): Artesia, Roswell;    4A (3): Bernalillo, Bloomfield, Portales;   3A (2): Cuba;   2A (0): None.   Bernalillo improved to 6-0 with a hard-fought 20-14 road victory at Taos. Spartans QB [player_tooltip player_id='615632' first='Uriel' last='Castro'] completed 16-of-27 passes for 234 yards and 2 TD while WR [player_tooltip player_id='275206' first='Mason' last='Espinda-McChriston'] caught 9 passes for 175 yards and 1 TD and made 7 tackle son defense. Bernalillo hosts Los Alamos Friday night. Los Alamos lost at home to Albuquerque Academy to fall from the unbeaten ranks. . .Portales, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A by MaxPreps, traveled to 2A Eunice and drove home with a 38-13 victory over the Cardinals. Portales jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter on a TD run by QB [player_tooltip player_id='615523' first='Paxton' last='Culpepper'], a short field goal and Culpepper's TD pass to WR [player_tooltip player_id='591958' first='Zane' last='Mayberry']. In the second half, Portales scored on a 1-yard TD run by RB [player_tooltip player_id='1103853' first='Zach' last='Radloff'], a 98-yard Pick-6 by CB Xavier Tarpeh and Culpepper's TD pass to senior [player_tooltip player_id='1103881' first='Andru' last='Ontiveros']. Culpepper finished 11-of-19 passing for 203 yards and 2 TD and rushed for 89 yards. Portales hosts Valley in Week 7. . .Cuba improved to 6-0 with a 48-22 victory over Laguna-Acoma. The Rams play at 2A McCurdy (4-1) Saturday afternoon in an intriguing Week 7 matchup.   <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/1705432245018968334?s=20 </div></figure>   Focus On The Four Corners: After starting the season 0-4, Piedra Vista has now won two straight. One week after stunning Goddard at the Wool Bowl, 21-7, the Panthers knocked off Cibola, 41-7, at home. . .Bloomfield traveled to Valencia and mercy-ruled the Jaguars, 50-0, as QB [player_tooltip player_id='615635' first='Blake' last='Spencer'] threw 3 TD passes and ran for another. The Bobcats improved to 5-0 this season and have now won 11 straight games dating back to last season. . .Kirtland Central QB [player_tooltip player_id='1103787' first='Tyler' last='Joe'] passed for 305 yards and 3 TD and RB [player_tooltip player_id='1001437' first='Demusico' last='Edsitty'] rushed for a season-high 206 yards but their efforts weren't enough in the 54-42 loss to Grants. . .Farmington scored first in its loss at Rio Rancho when QB [player_tooltip player_id='274791' first='Trel' last='Griego'] and WR [player_tooltip player_id='611107' first='Michael' last='Beck'] connected on a 99-yard TD play. Griego ended up with 3 TD passes but the Scorpions couldn't overcome five turnovers. Rio Rancho outscored Farmington, 27-14, in the second half. . .Aztec lost at St. Michael's, 19-7, on Saturday. The Tigers fell behind, 13-0, at halftime and scored their only points of the day on QB Landon Frost's 1-yard sneak to pull within 13-7 midway through the third quarter. Aztec had an opportunity to take the lead early in the fourth quarter but the drive stalled inside the red zone. St. Michael's scored again late to deny any Aztec comeback attempt.   Finally, This: Cleveland was blanked for just the third time in school history in a 35-0 home loss to West Texas power Wolfforth (TX) Frenship, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Lubbock Region poll. Senior RB [player_tooltip player_id='590512' first='Harris' last='Mbueha'] led the Storm offense with 93 rushing yards. Cleveland came close to scoring in the second half, advancing to the Frenship 6 but an interception turned the ball over to the Tigers. Frenship led, 28-0, at halftime. . .Surging La Cueva (3-3) concluded non-district play with a 38-0 shutout victory over Albuquerque High on Thursday night. The Bears led 28-0 at halftime and cruised home in the second half. La Cueva hosts rival Eldorado in the district opener in Week 7. . .Sandia improved to 4-1 with a 35-0 win over Manzano. The Matadors begin district play in Week 7 against West Mesa. . .Los Lunas rushed for 281 yards in a 61-7 win over Valley. Seven rushers had multiple carries for the Tigers. . .After an 0-3 start, Highland has now won two straight and look ready to make a playoff push in Class 5A. The Hornets beat Hope Christian, 45-14, on Saturday by rushing for 225 yards on 39 carries. Highland stuck to the ground attack, throwing the ball just 10 times. . .Tucumcari rushed for 247 yards in a 50-0 victory over newcomer Hozho Academy.   Santa Teresa QB Nicholas Viera threw for 161 yards in the Desert Warriors 33-0 loss at El Paso (TX) Mountain View. . .Jal mercy-ruled Capitan, 50-0. Jal, the defending Class 2A champions, begins district play Oct. 6 against Loving. . .Crownpoint improved to 5-1 with a 26-12 victory over Tohatchi. . .Santa Rosa won its fourth straight game, 54-0, over Hagerman behind a balanced and big play offense. The Lions averaged 37.8 yards on four pass completions and 123.5 yards per rushing attempt against the beleaguered Hagerman defense. . .Espanola Valley RB Adrick Deleon rushed for 149 yards and 5 TD as the Sundevils trounced Santa Fe Indian, 59-6. . .Socorro QB [player_tooltip player_id='613184' first='Isaiah' last='Ocampo'] accounted for 213 total yards in the Warriors' 27-21 OT win over Raton. . .Del Norte won for the first time this season, 21-12 over Rio Grande. . .Newcomb also won for the first time, 40-0 over Shiprock. . .Hatch Valley moved to .500 (3-3) with a 55-34 victory over Estancia. . .Pojoaque Valley is 3-2 after a 50-0 mercy-rule win over independent Cloudcroft. . .Escalante snapped its three-game losing streak with a 47-12 win over Mescalero Apache, which traveled over 600 miles round-trip to play the game.   Week 7 Top Games (Sept. 28-30)   La Cueva at Eldorado   Los Alamos at Bernalillo   Sandia at West Mesa (Sat.)   Cleveland at Volcano Vista   Valencia at Gadsden   Capital at Los Lunas   Belen at Goddard   Valley at Portales   Albuquerque Academy at St. Pius X (Thur.)   Carlsbad at Alamogordo   Roswell at Piedra Vista   Texico at Eunice   Roberton at Pojoaque Valley   Taos at Aztec   Espanola Valley at Kirtland Central   Estancia at Santa Rosa   Deming at Mayfield   Cuba at McCurdy   <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/1705442589405782373?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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1705707427520446968?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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1705933482126606794?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/EldoEaglesFB/status/1706015663700226559?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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1705695984611922003?s=20 </div></figure>

Week 6 of the 2023 New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is our sixth edition of the Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field over the past three days: