2024 Look Ahead: Will Artesia and Roswell dominate 5A again?
When Artesia and Roswell squared off in a much-hyped No. 1 vs. No. 2 (MaxPreps and Coaches polls) showdown last October at the Wool Bowl, few folks in the stands that night thought the two teams wouldn’t meet again in…
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Continue ReadingWhen Artesia and Roswell squared off in a much-hyped No. 1 vs. No. 2 (MaxPreps and Coaches polls) showdown last October at the Wool Bowl, few folks in the stands that night thought the two teams wouldn’t meet again in the Class 5A championship game.
And that’s exactly what happened as Artesia secured revenge for the loss in Roswell with a Thanksgiving weekend victory over the Coyotes at the Bulldog Bowl.
The championship game capped a season in which Artesia and Roswell thoroughly dominated their Class 5A brethren. In four playoff games in the quarterfinals and semifinals, the Coyotes and Bulldogs outscored their opponents by a combined 202-14. Two of the four contests ended via the 50-point mercy rule.
And that’s really how the regular season went as well.
Here are two key question with the start of the 2024 season just over five months away: Will it happen again? What steps can the other Class 5A programs take to close the now enormous gap?
Start with this premise: Artesia and Roswell aren’t lowering their standards or expectations for their highly successful football programs. Since the NMAA’s reorganization of high school football in 2014 created Class 6A, Artesia and Roswell have combined to win seven of the nine Class 5A titles.
“There’s a lot of tradition here for football,” Artesia head coach Jeremy Maupin told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “The kids want to be here. After Covid, there’s was an even greater desire to get back out there and play. Twenty percent of our boys at the high school play football. There are a lot of positive things going on right now.”
In a way, last season wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. It just played out on a different (or more alarming, depending on your perspective) level.
“I don’t think last season was an aberration,” Roswell head coach Jeff Lynn told Prep Redzone New Mexico. ““Over the last 10 years, if you look at our programs, we’ve won the lion’s share of the state championships in our classification. Last year, the two teams were on a collision course the entire season. When you build programs like the way we have, that’s the expectation.”
So, what can the other 14 Class 5A teams do about it? Not much, unless they’re willing to match or surpass the talent, passion, enthusiasm, community support, work ethic and elite coaching found in the Artesia and Roswell programs.
“We have a good group of seniors coming back and we follow up that with a junior class that’s really solid,” Lynn said. “The goal hasn’t changed. We’re hoping to be right there again next season.”
Maupin said so many boys came out for football last year that Artesia had to add lockers in the locker room to keep up with the demand and spend a considerable sum on new jerseys and helmets.
“It’s two good programs that have a lot of tradition,” Maupin said. “We play each other a lot.”
Are there 5A programs that can get to that level? Sure. Deming, Goddard (Roswell’s former DC is the new head coach of the Rockets), Lovington (moving up from Class 4A) and Mayfield have proud histories and seemingly the considerable resources to compete. Gadsden is on the rise.
In District 5A-1, Valley has reached the 5A playoff quarterfinals the past two years and looks to be on the upswing under head coach Billy Cobos. Highland is improving. Capital has a new head coach, an Air Raid advocate, and possibly new enthusiasm.
“I know some of those other schools have good teams and good athletes,” Maupin said. “But I also know they want to increase their numbers. Injuries will hurt you. We have to make sure we maintain and keep raising our bar.”