2024 Look Ahead: Lovington embraces move to Class 5A

Part 1 of a 2-part series with Lovington head coach Anthony Gonzales   In Anthony Gonzales' first two seasons as Lovington head coach (2016-17), the Wildcats competed in Class 5A but struggled to keep up with the larger schools, compiling a record of 6-15 in those two seasons.   However, beginning in 2018, Lovington moved to Class 4A, competing weekly against schools with comparable student population numbers. Since 2021, the Wildcats have won two Class 4A state championships (2021, 2023) and amassed an overall record of 25-13, 9-0 in the district.   Beginning in 2024, though, it's back to the future for Lovington.   As part of the NMAA's realignment, the Wildcats returned to Class 5A. They will compete in the same district as longtime geographic rivals Artesia, Roswell and Goddard along with Deming, Gadsden, Mayfield and Santa Teresa.   It will be challenging, no doubt, but after twice lifting the blue trophy in the last three seasons, Lovington has plenty of momentum – and confidence - on its side.   “I knew it was coming because I had spoken with our athletic director and our superintendent,” Gonzales told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “They stay on top of that stuff. But some folks in our community were surprised because they didn't expect it to happen.   “As an oil community and with its workforce, there's always an influx of students. I figured we would go back to 5A eventually. I think we're a few hundred students over the line. We'll definitely be one of the smaller 5A programs. There are so many different variables that go into your school population.”   Regardless of the change in classification, Gonzales said the expectations within the Wildcats program and the sports-mad community at large won't change: Lovington expects to win every game they play.   “This is a sports town and the Lovington community loves its sports programs,” Gonzales said. “They expect them to be successful. It doesn't matter if we're in 4A or 5A or what our schedule is, at the end of the day the community expects our sports programs to do well. It's our responsibility as coaches to make sure we're the best prepared team we can possibly be to take this next step.”            Lovington's 2024 and 2025 schedules won't require a significant makeover because the Wildcats have regularly faced most of their new district rivals in non-district play over the past few years. This past season, Lovington faced Artesia, Roswell and Santa Teresa in non-district play.   “With the exception of Mayfield and Deming, all the other schools in our district have either been on our schedule or we've played them in the past,” Gonzales said. “The only thing moving to Class 5A has done is up the ante on those games and change the time when we play them. Those games now mean a whole lot more.”   With seven district games, Lovington must find only three opponents to fill the non-district portion of the schedule. In the past, finding non-district opponents in New Mexico has been challenging. The past two years Lovington has faced cross border rivals Seminole (TX) and Denver City (TX).   “The NMAA's realignment with the bigger districts has helped us out tremendously,” Gonzales said. “We used to have to find six or seven non-district games. That was tough.”   They won't need to do that anymore. Lovington will open the 2024 season with a Week 1 home game against Class 6A Hobbs, whose traditional opener against rival Clovis has been moved to later in the season since the Wildcats have joined that district. Lovington shocked Hobbs last season at Watson Stadium.   In Week 2, Lovington faces Portales in a game that has developed over the past few years into a fierce rivalry. In Week 3, Lovington squares off with Carlsbad, another 6A opponent.   The District 5A-2 opener in Week 4 will be against Roswell. The clash with the Coyotes will be followed, in chronological order, with district games against Goddard (Week 5), Artesia (Week 6), Mayfield (Week 7), Bye (Week 8), Gadsden (Week 9), Deming (Week 10) and Santa Teresa (Week 11).   <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/1738398131136393645?s=20 </div></figure>

Part 1 of a 2-part series with Lovington head coach Anthony Gonzales