2024 Look Ahead: City of Vision Schools Led By Dynamic QBs

When the 2023 season began, few players in New Mexico had larger shoes to fill than Cleveland sophomore quarterback Jordan Kekoa Hatch, a dynamic 6-foot-4, 190 pounder whose only high school experience had come at the JV level.   Hatch earned the responsibility of replacing two-time Gatorade Player of the Year Evan Wysong as the Storm's signal caller following a busy summer of team and individual workouts, 7-on-7 and preseason camp.   By the time the regular season started, Hatch had the full confidence of head coach Robert Garza, his offensive coaches and, just as important, his teammates that he possessed the chops to lead the Storm to their fourth straight ‘official' Class 6A state championship.   The Storm ultimately fell short of its goal, losing to La Cueva in the 6A title game, but Hatch enjoyed a solid first campaign at the varsity level, completing 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,657 yards and 18 TD.   He also demonstrated a flair for performing at his best in the biggest games, as two of his top performances of the season came against crosstown rival Rio Rancho, including 18-of-22 passing (81.8 completion percentage) for a season high 220 yards and 2 TD in the Oct. 27 winner-take-all district championship game.   “Jordan grew tremendously,” Garza told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “Sometimes starting a sophomore quarterback isn't ideal, but I thought he stepped up and rose to the occasion. It took him some time. He had some early growing pains but luckily we had some guys around him that could help him through some tough times and figure it out.   By the end of the year he was a leader out there and he did exactly what we wanted him to do. Against Rio Rancho, he was able to keep his composure, stay calm in the pocket and deliver some good footballs. Overall, Jordan had a very successful sophomore season.”   Garza, though, realizes Hatch, as a young quarterback, still has plenty of room for improvement during the off-season as he prepares for his junior campaign. Hatch recently impressed at the Level Up Elites Utah Winter Showcase camp.   “Jordan has a long ways to go, obviously,” Garza said. “He was skinny sophomore last year as a sophomore, so sometimes it was tough on him (from a physicality perspective). But he's hitting the weights as hard as anybody. He's out there running track, trying to add another dimension to his game. He's been going to camps. He's trying to make himself as good as he possibly can be.   “Jordan is a different style quarterback than Evan was. Our offense looks different. Jordan is a prototypical 6-foot-4, 190-pound quarterback who throws the ball very well. We designed our offense to fit him and his strengths. Right now, he's adding toughness and speed to his game. When he does, he could really be a threat when he puts it all together.”   Hatch has also embraced the mental aspects of playing quarterback at an elite level. He studies the game, watching hours of film with Cleveland's quarterbacks coach.   “Jordan is a 4.0 student in the classroom,” Garza said. “What he does over there, he puts into the film room here. He spends a lot of time with our quarterbacks coach. They watch a lot of film together. They make sure Jordan is mentally prepared. Jordan will do what it takes. He's a gamer. We wouldn't start any sophomore at quarterback unless we knew he had some potential.”   If there's another quarterback in the City of Vision who could have a vibrant discussion with Hatch about the pressures of starting at quarterback as a sophomore for a prominent program, it's Rio Rancho rising senior J.J. Arellano.   Two years ago, Arellano grabbed the Rams' starting QB job during the season and ended up throwing for nearly 1,100 yards and rushing for over 600 yards in nine games as a sophomore.   However, Arellano suffered a serious knee injury in Rio Rancho's first round playoff victory over Alamogordo and, after a long off-season of rehab, was finally cleared by team doctors to fully participate in football-related activities shortly before the start of the 2023 regular season.   Rio Rancho coaches were understandably cautious with Arellano. As a result, [player_tooltip player_id='274972' first='Noah' last='Nelson'] began the season as the Rams' starting QB. Arellano saw his first action in Week 2 and continued as the backup until the Week 6 matchup with Farmington when he was named the full-time starter for the rest of the season.   With Arellano leading the offense, Rio Rancho won four straight games and six of the next seven until losing to Cleveland in the Class 6A semifinals. He finished the 2023 season with 1,716 passing yards and 18 TD while completing 58 percent of his passes.   “J.J. was a heckuva player as a sophomore even though he wasn't the starter coming out of camp,” Rio Rancho coach Nate Pino told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “When our starter (Nelson) got hurt, he stepped in and steered the ship. He did some really good things.   “He's worked hard and is a good leader. He's mature for his age. When J.J. is healthy and playing, he can be a heckuva football player. He's a dual threat. He can run and throw. He puts us in good position to be successful and protects the football. And he's a high character guy.”        Arellano also rushed for 342 yards on 68 carries as a junior, far fewer than in 2022 when he had 128 carries. Pino says that was partially by design.   “J.J. was a fearless runner as a sophomore,” Pino said. “His legs were a weapon. They were last year as well, but we definitely didn't use the quarterback run as much with him. Confidence-wise, early on he was little bit tentative with his feet coming off the injury. He gained more confidence as the year went on. He made plays with his feet when he had to.”   Going into his senior season, Arellano will be expected to be one of the key team leaders for the Rams in 2024.   “I told J.J. that the big thing for him was to continue developing his voice as a leader in our locker room,” Pino said. “On the field, J.J. has to become a more consistent passer. He threw the ball well (in 2023) but there was definitely some meat left on the bone. We had some opportunities that went empty. He just has to be more efficient throwing the ball. I want us to be more completion driven. That's been a point of emphasis.”   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Jordan_k1Hatch/status/1731103374270251181?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/levelupelites/status/1746479565919141935?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/j1arellano/status/1761938674613391450?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/j1arellano/status/1727883557983723589?s=20 </div></figure>

When the 2023 season began, few players in New Mexico had larger shoes to fill than Cleveland sophomore quarterback Jordan Kekoa Hatch, a dynamic 6-foot-4, 190 pounder whose only high school experience had come at the JV level.