NMHSCA Large School All Star Game: Prospects To Watch

<p>The New Mexico High School Coaches Associations announced the rosters earlier this week for the annual Large School and Small School All-Star Games scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Bulldog Bowl in Artesia. The Small School game will kick off at noon followed by the Large School game at 3 p.m. The players are scheduled to report Thursday by 1 p.m.</p>   <p>Each game will feature a Red team versus a Green team. In the Large School game, the head coaches will be Jeremy Maupin from 5A champion Artesia (Red) and Anthony Gonzales from 4A champion Lovington (Green). The Small School game head coaches are Gregory Jackson (Eunice) and Fernando Salinas (Hope Christian).</p>   <p>Here are 15 intriguing prospects to watch in the Large School game (listed in alphabetical order):</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274794' first='Jasiah' last='Baca'], Los Lunas</strong>: Our No. 1 OL prospect for the 2024 class enjoyed a solid season for the Tigers. Earned First-Team All-District and All-Metro honors.  </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275478' first='Devin' last='Diaz'], Portales</strong>: Until the 4A championship game, the Portales defense was lights out all season long. Diaz was one of the top defenders for the Rams with 65 tackles and 12 interceptions, most in the state.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340188' first='Ben' last='Linfoot'], Cleveland</strong>: Besides being an outstanding football player, Linfoot is also a champion powerlifter. Earned First-Team All-District honors as Cleveland's center this season.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='815958' first='Nathaniel' last='Lopez'], Gadsden</strong>: Lopez has been one of the most underrated defensive tackles in the state for two years. Western New Mexico recently offered. Finished with 68 tackles, 9 TFL and 4 sacks.    </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103388' first='Eli' last='Lynn'], Roswell</strong>: Roswell had one of the top defensive lines in the state, a major reason they were 12-0 until losing in the 5A title game to Artesia. Lynn was a force along the D-Line all season long.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103927' first='Larry' last='Meador'], Grants</strong>: Outside of West Central New Mexico, Meador probably isn't well known. But Meador was an integral piece of Grants' turnaround season with 104 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 16.5 TFL as a DE/OLB.     </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274718' first='Cruz' last='Markham'], La Cueva</strong>: The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Markham is big, strong and fast. Defending state champion in the 400 meters. Eastern New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands have offered. UNLV and New Mexico State have expressed interest.   </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275042' first='Drew' last='Perez'], Bloomfield</strong>: Perez and Bloomfield QB [player_tooltip player_id='615635' first='Blake' last='Spencer'] were one of the top QB-WR duos in the state this season. Perez had nearly 70 receptions for over 1,100 yards.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590564' first='Anthony' last='Raymer'], Rio Rancho</strong>: The threat posed by the speedy Raymer at receiver helped lead the Rams to the 6A semifinals. Raymer finished with 46 receptions for 787 yards and 13 TD.  </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='591998' first='Julian' last='Richard'], Silver</strong>: The 6-foot-2 Richard is an outstanding two-way player at WR and DB. During the regular season, Richard had 46 receptions for 763 yards and 14 TD while making 40 tackles and 5 INT on defense. Playmaker. Eastern New Mexico has offered.     </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274702' first='John' last='Sierra'], Centennial</strong>: The 6-foot-2 Sierra is one of the top linebackers in the state. He made 65 tackles and 3.5 sacks in nine games during the regular season. New Mexico has offered. NM State has expressed interest.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275376' first='Jett' last='Stone'], Clovis</strong>: As one of the key figures in Clovis' flexbone offense, Stone led the Wildcats to the district championship. He rushed for 1,229 yards and 19 TD in 11 games.   </p>   <p><strong>Demarcus Thompson, Lovington</strong>: The state had plenty of outstanding two-way players this season and Thompson was close or at the top of the list. As a receiver, he had 62 receptions for a state-leading 1,179 yards. As a defensive end, he had 71 tackles, including a staggering 37.5 TFL and 18.0 sacks. His elite athleticism is why he holds a half dozen offers.  </p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590673' first='Diego' last='Wesson'], Artesia</strong>: Wesson was one of the standouts for Artesia's championship-winning defense. Led the Bulldogs in tackles.</p>   <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590677' first='Kyler' last='Young'], Los Alamos</strong>: The Hilltoppers leaned heavily on their defense this season and Young  was a tackling machine. He finished third in the state with 150 tackles, 12.0 TFL and 5 forced fumbles.  </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/JEBACA53/status/1729561105712697510?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/ben_linfoot/status/1729947591901683797?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/GadsdenPanthers/status/1728996714441523415?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/CruzMarkham/status/1729270004028178456?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/CoachOrtizCOLTS/status/1728915948751790085?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/Angrybirdfb/status/1728973443000111194?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/lvtwildcatsfb/status/1729028942726877583?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/CHSStormFB/status/1727400391481127053?s=20 </div></figure>

The New Mexico High School Coaches Associations announced the rosters earlier this week for the annual Large School and Small School All-Star Games scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Bulldog Bowl in Artesia. The Small School game will kick off at noon followed by the Large School game at 3 p.m. The players are scheduled to report Thursday by 1 p.m.