Week 1: Sights and Sounds (Video and Recaps)

<p><strong>RIO RANCHO</strong> – Centennial put the ball into the hands of their best players. The decision paid off handsomely as the Hawks outlasted Cleveland, 35-28, Friday night at Lightning Bolt Stadium by scoring a late touchdown and then stopping the Storm on downs.</p>   <p>Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='613746' first='Zaiden' last='Davis']</strong> and WR/RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='280925' first='Jordan' last='Lucas']</strong> showcased their next level talents throughout Friday night's game. Davis, a New Mexico State commit, completed 11-of-18 passes for 157 yards and 2 TD. He overcame 2 interceptions, including a Pick-6 by the Storm defense early in the third quarter.</p>   <p>Davis also rushed 21 times for 109 yards and 2 TD, constantly using his 6-foot-3, 200-pound frame and his special speed to elude or fight through Cleveland tacklers for big gains.</p>   <p>“Zaiden is a tough guy to prepare for,” Centennial head coach Aaron Ocampo said after the win. “He runs well. He throws the ball well. He's a tough kid.”</p>   <p>After losing to rival Las Cruces in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A playoffs last November, Centennial tweaked its offense to give Lucas, another next level talent, more touches in the run game. He finished with 4 rushes for 51 yards (12.8 yards per attempt) and 6 receptions for 106 yards and 1 TD (17.7 yards per catch) on a 65-yard catch-and-run.</p>   <p>Lucas accounted for 157 all-purpose yards on his 10 touches, averaging 15.7 yards every time he touched the ball. You have to figure Lucas will get the ball even more as the season progresses.</p>   <p>“Jordan was great for us,” Ocampo said. “He both ways tonight because we had some guys out. Getting him more involved in the run game was something we felt we needed to do. But our two running backs are doing a heckuva job too. We definitely have to figure out ways to get Jordan the ball.” </p>   <p>Cleveland scored on a well-executed swing pass late in the second quarter to tie the score, 14-14, at halftime and then took the lead (20-14) early in the third quarter on Pick-6 by DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854200' first='Collin' last='Joyner']</strong>.</p>   <p>But shortly thereafter Davis ran for his second TD of the game midway through the third quarter to give Centennial a 21-20 lead. Cleveland regained the lead a few minutes later on a perfectly executed end-around that fooled the Centennial defense. The 2-point conversion attempt was successful to give Cleveland a 28-21 lead with 2:41 left in the third quarter.</p>   <p>Centennial responded quickly on Lucas's 65-yard TD reception to even the score at 28-28 going into fourth quarter.</p>   <p>“Zaiden really recovered well after throwing that Pick-6 early in the second half,” Ocampo said. “He made a nice throw to Lucas on the post for the touchdown. And he made some big plays at the end.”</p>   <p>The final frame, played mostly in a driving rain, belonged to Centennial.</p>   <p>First, the Hawks defense stopped Cleveland on fourth down in the red zone with just under 9 minutes remaining. Storm players and coaches argued vehemently that defensive pass interference should have been called on the fourth down pass attempt. Too vehemently, as it turned out, as the officials flagged Cleveland for unsportsmanlike conduct.</p>   <p>“Our defense got some key stops,” Ocampo said. “We gave them a short field on their first touchdown and we gave them a Pick-6. We did a lot of good things defensively.”</p>   <p>Centennial gladly accepted the additional 15 yards and promptly marched down the field. They scored with about 3 minutes remaining on a well-executed play when the Hawks' offensive line flowed to the right but the pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='837060' first='Rudy' last='Rios']</strong> went to the left. Rios strolled into the end zone to give Centennial a 35-28 lead.</p>   <p>Cleveland drove out to around midfield before a fourth down pass fell incomplete. Centennial picked up the needed first down on a face mask penalty and went into victory formation with less than a minute left.</p>   <p>“It was definitely a team effort,” Ocampo said. “We knew it was going to be one of those back-and-forth games. Our mental strength had to be tougher than our emotions. Our guys did a really good job of that.”   </p>   <p>Cleveland junior quarterback <strong>Jordan Hatch</strong> had a good night for the Storm and frequently found receivers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1257321' first='Angel' last='Gallegos Azpeitia']</strong> (early TD catch) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='851903' first='Jacob' last='Maldonado']</strong> several times to move the ball downfield.</p>   <p><strong>VIDEO 1:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/z_t-cTFvKD4?si=yY8ue7hL2GEcnW_d </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 2:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/9nPLMB_4Oa4?si=GQsXKj_npNRASxsh </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 3:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/6JUWhwfIWd8?si=irR1S-PMlr9wNsZ3 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 4:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/_-7TNrZxGPM?si=bTcPiK3VkODX-ZU4 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 5:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/QZh8Zq8U5Vo?si=bdXpPU0l51p1heL6 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 6:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/1qKzqul-jp0?si=Nh8cxlunVnboCmM9 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 7:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/3W1QZLfgaaQ?si=78m7anwMeWBfVKm9 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 8:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/4UseVJrGW-o?si=b4eOXed3fj8lX88f </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 9 (Game Winning TD)</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/fuTp1fJwJKg?si=BFyLN-NoN-ZtadBd </div></figure>   <p><strong>WEST MESA 48, ST. PIUS X 29</strong></p>   <p>West Mesa dominated the second half and unleased a powerful running game to beat St. Pius X Saturday at Community Stadium.</p>   <p>The Sartans led, 21-20, at halftime behind speedy sophomore RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1154954' first='Hershul' last='Olloway']</strong>, who rushed for over 200 yards and 3 long TD in the first half alone. But the West Mesa defense clamped down in the second half to hold St. Pius X to a single score.</p>   <p>Olloway, who runs the 40 in 4.4 seconds, making him one of the fastest players in the state, proved his impressive showing at the Prep Redzone Combine in Grants was no fluke. He finished with nearly 250 yards rushing.</p>   <p>West Mesa, forced to employ several quarterbacks on a hot late morning and early afternoon, outscored the Sartans, 28-8, in the second half, 21-0 in the  decisive third quarter. The running back trio of <strong>Jamari Woods</strong>, <strong>Logan Jacabson</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615617' first='Ronnie' last='Gilletti']</strong> ran for a ton of yards behind a massive offensive line. Woods and Jacabson did most of their damage in the first half before Gilletti took over in the third quarter with a pair of TD runs, one from 46 yards out, to give West Mesa the lead for good, 34-21.</p>   <p><strong>VIDEO 1:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/3M_7lspRYIA?si=qwnBlO2KLgwPlMMg </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 2:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/NGHkvPuE_Rw?si=t1k8t5V6AN9ZYmb1 </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 3:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/k7SyTD0QbTg?si=I8ERG3NZZlSP-Z3G </div></figure>   <p><strong>VIDEO 4:</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/3DlDpAC9w2s?si=d6OvImY_-oy3_Q6n </div></figure>   <p><strong>BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA</strong></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Jalil_Dixon_6/status/1827558061546095001 </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/ZachFoxSports1/status/1827137947176411465 </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/DDemonFootball/status/1827210473886073137 </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/artesiafootball/status/1827519094113103897 </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/reece_65w/status/1827404584245194949 </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/1827324297494626364 </div></figure>

RIO RANCHO – Centennial put the ball into the hands of their best players. The decision paid off handsomely as the Hawks outlasted Cleveland, 35-28, Friday night at Lightning Bolt Stadium by scoring a late touchdown and then stopping the Storm on downs.