City Series: Top QBs in Southern New Mexico for 2024

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Part 2 of our new ‘City Series' takes a look at the top quarterbacks in southern New Mexico, including those signal callers on the rise:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP SIX</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='837197' first='Ryan' last='Alfaro'], Deming</strong>: Without much fanfare, Alfaro enjoyed&nbsp; a sensational junior campaign in 2023, coming THIS close to joining the prestigious 1,000-1,00 club. He passed for 952 yards and 8 TD while rushing for 944 yards and 19 TD, accounting for 27 TD. He rushed for 100+ yards three times. In his career, Alfaro has rushed for 34 TD, probably one of the top numbers for an active player in New Mexico.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119255' first='Brock' last='Beaty'], Hobbs</strong>: Beaty was Hobbs' backup QB behind the graduating Owen Calloway last season but now the stage belongs to him. He has great size at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds with a good arm, as he demonstrated at last month's College Football prospect ID Showcase in Albuquerque. Hobbs opens the 2024 season at Lovington. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615523' first='Paxton' last='Culpepper'], Portales</strong>: Culpepper is going into his third season as the starting QB for the Rams and he has clearly established himself as one of the best dual threat signal callers in the state. In two years, he has thrown for nearly 5,000 yards and 66 TD, and rushed for 800 yards and 11 TD. Last season, Culpepper helped lead Portales to the Class 4A state championship game and the Rams have plenty of talent returning. They'll be one of the favorites again.    </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='613746' first='Zaiden' last='Davis'], Centennial</strong>: In just half a season, Davis cemented himself as one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the state. &nbsp;He completed 63 percent of his passes and rushed for over 800 yards and 11 TD. Davis took over for the injured [player_tooltip player_id='1155301' first='Daniel' last='Hernandez'] in October. With a full off-season to prepare, Davis should be dynamite in 2024. Centennial opens at Cleveland, presenting Davis with a huge opportunity to turn heads right away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853029' first='Gunnar' last='Guardiola'], Las Cruces</strong>: Guardiola emerged as one of the top QBs in southern New Mexico last season by throwing for 2,783 yards and 22 TD while completing 66 percent of his passes. Guardiola has grown to 6-foot-1, 180 pounds and with two more years ahead of him, he should become a major prospect. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854273' first='Elijah' last='Melancon'], Eunice</strong>: Because he's a quarterback for a Class 2A school, Melancon probably doesn't get the publicity he deserves. But there's no denying his numbers. In two years as the Cardinals starter, he has thrown for 4,706 yards and a staggering 72 TD. This past year, he led Eunice to the Class 2A state championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ON THE RISE</strong>:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119239' first='Izac' last='Cazares'], Artesia</strong>: How much do the Artesia coaches believe in Cazares? They're willing to change Artesia's entrenched offensive scheme, centered around pocket passers, to fit Cazares' impressive dual threat skills. He completed 69 percent of his passes and averaged over 8 yards per carry in 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155032' first='CJ' last='Granados'], Dexter</strong>: Granados emerged as one of the state's top 2027 prospects by passing for almost 1,400 yards and rushing for nearly 300 yards. CJ will be fun to watch for the next 3 years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cade Holland, Ruidoso</strong>: After numerous personnel losses, Ruidoso struggled last season after capturing the Class 3A championship in 2022. Holland, though, offers promise for the future.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1154930' first='Javier' last='Jimenez'], Clovis</strong>: As a freshman in 2023, Jimenez threw for over 400 yards and 5 TD in the Wildcats' run-dominated flexbone offense. With [player_tooltip player_id='275376' first='Jett' last='Stone'] and [player_tooltip player_id='275303' first='Kash' last='Roberts'] both graduating, Jimenz should become the centerpiece of the Clovis offense in 2024.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1257289' first='Luke' last='Linnan'], Mayfield</strong>: Linnan led the Trojans to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs with his dual threat skills. Linnan and RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119315' first='Anthony' last='Nevarez']</strong> should be a very productive offensive backfield for Mayfield in 2023. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119637' first='Adrian' last='Munoz'], Gadsden</strong>: Munoz has helped the Gadsden program – much like the mythological Phoenix - rise from the ashes over the past couple of seasons. Munoz threw for 1,444 yards, rushed for 326 and accounted for 20 TD in 2023. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='613184' first='Isaiah' last='Ocampo'], Socorro</strong>: Ocampo enjoyed a phenomenal junior season, throwing for over 2,000 yards and rushing for over 1,100 yards, achieving the rare 1,000-1,000 double. After reaching the 3A quarterfinals in 2023, Socorro has the talent to go farther in 2024. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119650' first='Kason' last='Perez'], Carlsbad</strong>: The cavemen switched to a more passing-friendly offense under head coach Cale Sanders in 2023. Perez threw for 1,288 yards and 10 TD in 10 games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854288' first='Tristan' last='Polanco'], Hot Springs</strong>: Polanco was the Tigers' backup QB in 2023 and showed potential as both a passer and runner. He has the opportunity to lead the Hot Springs offense for two seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leonardo Rangel, Chaparral</strong>: Rangel showed promise as a sophomore in 2023, completing 57 percent of his passes. He was one of several quarterbacks for Chaparral last season but had the best stats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1089649' first='Cole' last='Seidenberger'], NMMI</strong>: Seidenberger is one of the top triple option QBs in the state. He rushed for nearly 700 yards and 13 TDs last season. Both Seidenberger and the Colts leading rusher <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119319' first='Cohen' last='Tomasits']</strong> are back in 2024, so look for NMMI to excel running the football again. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615513' first='Kelly' last='Stevens'], Las Cruces</strong>: Last season, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Stevens was the third down specialist for the Bulldawgs. Stevens has been a camp warrior as he prepares to battle for the starting QB job. He's been invited to Junior Day by Eastern New Mexico.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nicolas Vierra, Santa Teresa</strong>: Although the Desert Warriors struggled to win games last season, Vierra emerged as a promising dual threat QB with close to 800 yards passing and 544 rushing yards. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TEAMS LOOKING FOR NEW QB</strong>: Alamogordo, Cobre, Goddard, Hatch Valley, Lovington, Loving, Organ Mountain, Roswell, Silver, Texico, Tularosa.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/brockbeaty_/status/1761431650791985389?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/brockbeaty_/status/1761431650791985389?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/DavisZaiden/status/1724269506401333458?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/DavisZaiden/status/1724269506401333458?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/GunnarGuardiola/status/1730685373003813005?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/GunnarGuardiola/status/1730685373003813005?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/kelly_stevens10/status/1767032324158632179?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/kelly_stevens10/status/1767032324158632179?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->