Whiparound: First Playoff Round Edition

The First Round of the 2023 playoffs unfolded this weekend throughout the state of New Mexico with 20 games in Classes 6A-2A. Here is our latest edition of the Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field over the past two days:   Teams of the Week: Farmington, Tularosa and Albuquerque Academy. Road Warriors all. No. 11 Farmington pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the First Round in any classification by going to Community Stadium in Albuquerque and beating No. 6 Volcano Vista, 31-21, as powerful quarterback Trel Griego threw for 410 yards and 5 TD for the Scorpions. Farmington scored three TD in the second quarter for an 18-0 halftime lead. However, Volcano Vista managed to slice the deficit to 24-21 by the midway point of the fourth quarter on three rushing touchdowns, two by Alijah Gonzales. Farmington later responded with a TD drive to put the game away. The Scorpions defense contributed to the win with four interceptions, the final one leading to the game-clinching score with 1:49 left on a 10-yard TD pass from Griego to Jace Vigil.       No. 9 Albuquerque Academy concluded the regular season with a three-game district losing streak but they turned things around at the right time in a 35-7 win at No. 8 Grants in the first round of the 4A playoffs. Speedy RB [player_tooltip player_id='1119328' first='Jett' last='Galles'] scored two TD for the Chargers while QB/PK Gage Conway ran for a TD and booted three field goals. The Academy defense contributed two safeties. The Chargers spotted the Pirates an early 7-0 lead before scoring 35 straight points. Academy travels to the Four Corners on Saturday to face No. 1 Bloomfield, which has won 16 straight games dating back to last season.            Tularosa dethroned Jal as Class 2A champions with a 42-6 victory on the Panthers' home field. Ther score was tied 6-6 late in the second quarter when the Wildcats broke the game open with a pair of TD just before halftime on QB Dillon Salazar's 35-yard scoring pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1103858' first='Anthony' last='Paz'] and a 7-yard scoring pass to Kani Mathis for a 20-6 lead. Tularosa outscored Jal, 22-0, in the second half. The Tularosa defense pitched a shutout as the only points scored by Jal came on a second quarter Pick-6 interception by Nolbert Cervantes.           Player of the Week: Jack Purdy, Espanola Valley: Purdy accomplished something in the first round very few Espanola Valley players have managed to do this season – outshine fellow RB Adrick Deleon. The latter had a great game himself in Espanola Valley's 31-7 win over St. Pius X, rushing for 168 yards on a workhorse 31 carries. Purdy, though, rushed for 220 yards and 1 TD on just 16 carries, an average of 11.6 yards per attempt. Deleon and Purdy have combined for 2,570 rushing yards in 11 games this season, making them one of the most productive running back duos in the state.            Best Team Offensive Performance: Farmington. The Scorpions amassed 573 yards in total offense against a very good Volcano Vista defense that had not surrendered 20 points this season to any team not named La Cueva, Cleveland or Rio Rancho. But Trel Griego shredded the Hawks defense by completing 23-of-44 passes for 410 yards and 5 TD (one was a 75-yarder to [player_tooltip player_id='1118058' first='Alex' last='Serrano']), averaging 17.8 yards per completion. Farmington junior running back Delgado Sebastian rushed for 110 yards on 17 carries while dynamic WR Michael Beck caught 9 passes for 182 yards, an average of 20.2 yards per reception, and 2 TD. His longest reception was 60 yards. Four Farmington receivers had 50+ receiving yards, so Griego did a fantastic job distributing the football to different players.           Best Team Defensive Performance: Las Cruces. The Los Lunas offense scored 36+ points seven times during the regular season, including 54+ points during a four-game winning streak leading into the heartbreaking loss to Clovis in the winner-take-all district championship game. However, the Tigers offense was stonewalled by the Las Cruces defense in the Bulldawgs' 42-6 win at Field of Dreams. However, Los Lunas was held to 81 total yards in the first half as Las Cruces jumped out to a 28-0 lead at intermission. Things didn't get much better in the second half for Los Lunas. In fact, the Tigers didn't score until the Bulldawgs led, 42-0, in the fourth quarter.          Best Game: Socorro 30, Hope Christian 27. For the second time this season, these two teams engaged in a close, hard-fought contest that wasn't decided until late in the fourth quarter. Socorro snapped a 21-21 tie with a safety and touchdown. Hope Christian scored with about two minutes left to cut the deficit to three points. But after that Socorro drained the clock for the first round win. Socorro travels to Robertson Saturday for a quarterfinal clash with the Cardinals.   Honorable Mention: Mayfield 13, Gadsden 12; Aztec 21, Taos 14.       Brody's Last Game: West Mesa QB Elijah Brody saw his illustrious two-year football career with the Mustangs come to an end Friday night as the 12-seeded Mustangs dropped a 35-21 decision to No. 5 Rio Rancho at Rams Stadium. Brody led West Mesa to a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter before Rio Rancho scored 28 unanswered points for a 35-14 lead. The run started with a 42-yard TD pass by QB JJ Arellano to WR Jace Pitts and continued with a 3-yard TD pass to [player_tooltip player_id='1266408' first='Parker' last='Miller'] in the final seconds of the first half for a 21-14 Rio Rancho lead at halftime. TD runs by Rayce Ramirez and JJ Arellano in the fourth quarter gave the Rams a 35-14 lead with less than three minutes left. But the drama wasn't over. West Mesa quickly scored on a long TD heave by Brody and then recovered the onsides kick. Brody did it again with another TD pass but the score was negated by an illegal man downfield penalty, crushing West Mesa's hopes for a miracle comeback. Brody, who also played safety on defense, finished with 163 yards rushing on 25 carries. He has been offered by New Mexico.              First Round Fun For Las Cruces Schools: Both the Las Cruces Bulldawgs and Mayfield Trojans, two traditional powers in New Mexico high school football, won their first round matchups, albeit in different ways. No. 7 Las Cruces cruised past No. 10 Los Lunas, 42-6, as sophomore QB Gunnar Guardiola threw four TD passes, two to [player_tooltip player_id='1142363' first='Francisco' last='Winnikoff'], and RB [player_tooltip player_id='1137388' first='Daniel' last='Amaro'] rushed for 2 TD for the Bulldawgs, who face local rival Centennial in the quarterfinals Friday night at the Field of Dreams. . .No. 9 Mayfield edged No. 8 Gadsden, 13-12, in a defensive battle at Gadsden. The Trojans scored first on a Pick-6 interception midway through the first quarter and trailed 12-7 at halftime before recording the only points of the second half on an 18-yard TD pass with 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Mayfield defense held the Gadsden offense off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game to earn a trip to the Wool Bowl for a quarterfinals clash with district rival Roswell, the top-seeded team in Class 5A.   First Round Roundup: Hobbs QB Owen Calloway completed 10-of-11 passes for 187 yards, RB [player_tooltip player_id='1103655' first='Saul' last='Armendariz'] rushed for 168 yards and 3 TD and WR Jeremiah Jaquez caught 4 passes for 111 yards as the Eagles trounced Clovis, 50-13, in a first round 6A game at Watson Stadium. Hobbs travels to Rio Rancho Friday for a clash with No. 1 Cleveland at Thunderbolt Stadium. The last time Hobbs played there the Eagles beat Rio Rancho, 24-21, in a game that was moved from Rams Stadium due to a power outage. . .Is Valley peaking at the right time? The Vikings and Manzano engaged in a high-scoring  duel (62-42) earlier this season. Saturday's 1st round playoff game was a different story as Valley mercy-ruled the Monarchs, 50-0, at Milne Stadium behind their powerful running game and stellar defense. Vikings RB Tazhe Wilson rushed for 105 yards and 3 TD and Charles Lopez-Burton scored the game-ending TD on the final play of the third quarter. Lopez-Burton also had a Pick-6 interception TD return. Valley led, 23-0, after the first quarter and cruised home from there. Valley travels to Farmington Friday for a quarterfinal battle with No. 4 Piedra Vista. The Vikings have reached the 5A quarterfinals in each of Billy Cobos' first two season as head coach. . .Espanola Valley's 31-7 first round victory over St. Pius X in 4A playoffs was the school's first-ever playoff victory in the third-ever postseason game. Espanola Valley (8-3 has historically been well known as a passionate basketball school but head coach Tylon Wilder has the Espanola community uniting behind the long-suffering football program. Espanola Valley travels to Lovington to face the No. 2 seeded Wildcats in the quarterfinals.   The first round was rough for the three Valencia County schools as Los Lunas (42-6 loss at Las Cruces), Belen (40-3 loss at Deming) and Valencia (52-0 loss at Bernalillo) all lost by lopsided margins. Those three school were outscored by a combined 134-9. . .Volcano Vista RB Alijah Gonzales rushed for 229 yards and 2 TD (both in the second half) on a workhorse 34 carries in his final high school game for the Hawks. . .Santa Rosa improved to 10-1 this season with a 57-15 victory over Loving in a first round 2A game. The Lions scored first on a 91-yard TD run by AJ Romo before Jykub Gage's TD on a kickoff return late in the first quarter gave Santa Rosa a 14-7 lead. After that, RB Nicolas Chavez scored four TD as Santa Rosa pulled away for a 36-7 halftime lead and they were never seriously threatened in the second half. . .No. 6 Dexter eliminated No. 11 Hatch Valley, 38-6, as RB [player_tooltip player_id='1119136' first='Julian' last='Manzanares'] rushed for 201 yards and 3 TD on 17 carries. Freshman QB [player_tooltip player_id='1155032' first='CJ' last='Granados'] passed for 145 yards and 2 TD. . .NMMI secured a trip to Las Vegas to face No. 4 West Las Vegas by beating Navajo Prep, 48-8. NMMI's vaunted running game overwhelmed Navajo Prep with seven rushing TD and averaged nearly 8 yards per carry. NMMI jumped out quickly to an early 14-0 lead on TD runs by Alex Sanchez (29 yards) and [player_tooltip player_id='1119319' first='Cohen' last='Tomasits'] (46 yards). Two more TD in the first quarter allowed NMMI to pull away. Navajo Prep scored its lone TD on a 78-yard flea flicker reverse option play in the first quarter. . .   Raton went on the road and beat Thoreau, 35-8, as Cannon Walton, younger brother of Cayden Walton, the state's all-time leading rusher, rushed for four TD in the first half. Raton travels to Santa Fe Saturday for a clash against No. 1 seeded – and district rival - St. Michael's at Horsemen Complex. . .In Los Alamos, the Hilltoppers routed Highland, 49-13, to eliminate the Hornets from the 5A playoffs and earn Los Alamos a trip Saturday to the Bulldog Bowl to take on No. 2 Artesia in a quarterfinal game. Melaki Gutierrez and Haiden Jorgenson each caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Hilltoppers, which lost in the first round last year to Gadsden. The Los Alamos did a good job limiting Highland's elite RB Amiri Mumba for most of the game. After the regular season Mumba had, holding him to 162 yards and 1 TD on 29 carries felt like a win for the Hilltoppers defense. Los Alamos held Highland to 73 passing yards with 2 interceptions. . .Bernalillo blanked Valencia, 52-0, in a 4A game at BHS, earning the Spartans a rematch with Portales on Friday night at Greyhound Stadium. Bernalillo rushed for 193 yards on just 13 carries in the one-sided contest. . .In another 4A first round game, Aztec edged Taos, 21-14, scoring the game-winning TD on a 35-yard run with about 4 minutes remaining. Taos subsequently drove down the field into scoring range but were denied by the Aztecs defense.    <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/1720667228402561138?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/1720670551608356902?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/1720930755482878443?s=20 </div></figure>   Quarterfinal Playoff Schedule (Nov. 10-11):   Class 6A   Hobbs at Cleveland, 7 p.m. (Fri)   Farmington at La Cueva, 7 p.m. (Fri)(Wilson)   Rio Rancho at Sandia, 7 p.m. (Fri)(Milne)   Las Cruces at Centennial, 7 p.m. (Fri)(FOD)   Class 5A   Mayfield at Roswell, 7 p.m. (Fri)   Valley at Piedra Vista, 7 p.m. (Fri)   Deming at Goddard, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Los Alamos at Artesia, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Class 4A   Bernalillo at Portales, 7 p.m. (Fri)   Albuquerque Academy at Bloomfield, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Espanola Valley at Lovington, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Aztec at Silver, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Class 3A   NMMI at West Las Vegas, 5 p.m. (Fri)   Raton at St. Michael's, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Dexter at Cobre, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Socorro at Robertson, 1 p.m. (Sat)   Class 2A (Semifinals)   Santa Rosa at Texico, 1 p.m. (Sat.)   Tularosa at Eunice, 1 p.m. (Sat.)   <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/1720813421539795289?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/1721069814981312965?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/RGSunSports/status/1721010980845727813?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/_NMAA/status/1720607299138383883?s=20 </div></figure>

The First Round of the 2023 playoffs unfolded this weekend throughout the state of New Mexico with 20 games in Classes 6A-2A. Here is our latest edition of the Weekly Whiparound, which takes a deep dive into everything that happened on the field over the past two days: