Week 5 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 5 of the 2024 New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is our fifth edition of the Weekly Whiparound, our deep dive into everything that happened on the field:   Teams of the Week: Cleveland and Rio Rancho (6A); Roswell (5A); Valencia (4A); NMMI (3A); Loving (2A).   Cleveland and Rio Rancho are rewarded for their victories over Texas schools. The Storm traveled to El Paso and beat Pebble Hills, 49-27. Rio Rancho hosted El Paso (TX) Eastlake and prevailed over the Hawks, 26-21. Cleveland junior QB [player_tooltip player_id='851873' first='Jordan' last='Kekoa Hatch'] completed 18-of-25 passes for 276 yards and 3 TD while [player_tooltip player_id='1595801' first='Isaiah' last='Yannis'] rushed for 149 yards and 2 TD on 15 carries and [player_tooltip player_id='611120' first='Juan' last='Munoz'] rushed for 126 yards and 1 TD on 10 carries. Cleveland ran for 385 yards on 39 carries.   For Rio Rancho, [player_tooltip player_id='1604705' first='Micah' last='Takahashi'] made his first career start at QB for the Rams and threw 3 TD passes in the first half, including a 23-yarder to Jace Pitts with less than one minute left in the first half. Pitts also caught a 4-yard TD pass in the first quarter and a 25-yarder from QB [player_tooltip player_id='613752' first='JJ' last='Arellano'] in the fourth. [player_tooltip player_id='1266408' first='Parker' last='Miller'] caught a 23-yard TD pass from Takahashi midway through the first quarter. Ahead 26-21, the Rio Rancho defense halted Eastlake's final drive with a fourth-down stop on a pass breakup by Kai Bradford. Arellano sealed the win by running for just enough yardage to gain a first down with one minute left.                  Roswell went on the road and convincingly beat Deming, 51-20. The Coyotes were leading, 28-14, in the third quarter when QB Jacob Palomino raced 71 yards for a TD. Deming responded with its final TD of the night early in the fourth quarter on a short run by [player_tooltip player_id='611155' first='Isaiah' last='Pizarro']. A safety and two TDs by Roswell sealed the key district win. Palomino passed 25 yards to [player_tooltip player_id='1750777' first='Kolby' last='Sanchez'] during that's stretch.   Valencia improved to 4-1 overall with a 17-6 home victory over Silver. The Jaguars trailed 6-3 at halftime before second half rushing TDs by Chris Waseta and [player_tooltip player_id='1595752' first='Aidan' last='Harrington'] lifted Valecia to the win. The Valencia defense forced 4 turnovers. The Colts return to the Albuquerque Metro Region Thursday night for a clash with St. Pius X.   NMMI brought their highly efficient triple option offense to Hatch Valley and the Colts blanked the Bears, 42-0. NMMI rushed for 369 yards on 32 carries with senior Tegin Maloney leading the way with 115 rushing yards on 9 carries. The Colts averaged 11.5 yards per attempt.   Loving made the long trip to Newcomb and overwhelmed the Skyhawks on the ground in a 45-6 road victory. Loving QB [player_tooltip player_id='1137875' first='Tristen' last='Onsurez'] did most of the damage for the Falcons with 171 yards rushing and 3 TD on 12 carries. [player_tooltip player_id='854281' first='Bobby' last='Parraz'] added 2 TD. The Loving defense did its part by allowing just a single TD to one of Class 3A's top offenses.     Players of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id='851873' first='Jordan' last='Kekoa Hatch'], Cleveland (6A); [player_tooltip player_id='1600893' first='Trent' last='Egeland'], Artesia (5A); Nick Sandoval, Espanola Valley (4A); [player_tooltip player_id='1137124' first='RJ' last='Montoya'], Hope Christian and [player_tooltip player_id='615555' first='CJ' last='Perea'], West Las Vegas (3A); Xavier Perez, Navajo Prep (2A).   Hope Christian QB [player_tooltip player_id='1137124' first='RJ' last='Montoya'] was sensational at Estancia, throwing SEVEN TD passes and rushing for 2 more in a 62-12 victory for the Huskies. Perea led West Las Vegas to a 42-0 victory over Santa Rosa. In doing so, he set a new school record for career TD passes with 70. He also surpassed the 7,000-yard career passing mark by completing 10-of-15 passes for 244 yards.           Best Team Offensive Performance: Cleveland. The Storm totaled 661 yards in total offense while holding El Paso (TX) Pebble Hills to 259. It's not often you see a New Mexico inflict as much damage offensively on a Texas school.   Best Team Defensive Performance: Loving. The Falcons stonewalled Newcomb's vaunted rushing attack for most of the game in a 45-6 win on the road.               Best Game: Rio Rancho 26, El Paso (TX) Eastlake 21.   Who's The Best Team In Class 6A?: Going into Week 5, La Cueva and Centennial were ranked 1-2 in the MaxPreps and the Coaches polls and both teams won easily this weekend. La Cueva jumped out to a 35-0 lead over Farmington at halftime and cruised home for a 45-13 win at Wilson Stadium. Bears QB Cam Dyer threw 3 TD passes and RB Cheeto Lumbrera ran for another. La Cueva scored 2 TD in the first quarter and 3 more in the 2nd quarter.  Speedy WR [player_tooltip player_id='853013' first='Tanner' last='Montano'] finished with 7 receptions for 100 yards and 2 TD. The La Cueva defense led by [player_tooltip player_id='611083' first='Mason' last='Posa'] didn't allow Farmington to score until late third quarter when the outcome had already been decided. . .Centennial beat Carlsbad, 35-13, at Field of Dreams Thursday as QB [player_tooltip player_id='613746' first='Zaiden' last='Davis'] completed 12-of-18 passes for 195 yards, rushed for 72 yards on 12 carries and accounted for 3 TD (One of them came on an impressive zigzag TD run) to cement his status as one of the frontrunners for the 2024 New Mexico Heisman. [player_tooltip player_id='280925' first='Jordan' last='Lucas'] caught 7 passes for 154 yards and scored 1 TD on the final play of the 1st quarter to give the Hawks a 14-0 lead. Centennial tied its season high for most passes in a game (18) and rushed a season low 35 times for 182 yards. Will the trend continue when the Hawks return to action Oct. 4 against Alamogordo?               The ‘Big Three' In 5A Is Still The Big 3: Lovington, Artesia and Roswell are widely regarded as the ‘Big 3' in Class 5A and all three teams won by 20+ points in Week 5. Lovington, the #1 ranked team in 5A, improved to 5-0 with a convincing 46-6 victory over Goddard at the Wool Bowl. QB Mathew Prudencio continued his outstanding play by completing 22-of-30 passes for 235 yards and 4 TD, two to [player_tooltip player_id='1137475' first='Jayden' last='Gutierrez'] (7 receptions for 61 yards). LB [player_tooltip player_id='1137465' first='Kyler' last='Reaves'] led the Wildcats defense with 13 tackles. Lovington hosts Artesia Friday at Wildcats Stadium in a District 5A-2 showdown. . .Artesia hosted Gadsden, another team trying to climb the 5A ladder and the Bulldogs prolific offense was flying high again in a 57-34 victory at the Bulldog Bowl. Gadsden led, 20-16, with under 10 minutes left in the 2Q before the Artesia offense – specifically the QB [player_tooltip player_id='1432984' first='Izac' last='Cazares'] to WR [player_tooltip player_id='1600893' first='Trent' last='Egeland'] connection – heated up. Over the final 9 minutes of the second quarter, Egeland caught 3 TD passes (55, 6 and 35 yards) as the Bulldogs turned the 4-point deficit into a 16-point halftime lead at 36-20. Artesia set the second half tone early with a fourth down sack in the red zone. Artesia led, 43-28, after three quarters. Cazares ran 5 yards for a TD to make it 50-28 with 9-1/2 minutes left in the 4Q. After a lightning delay, a 91-yard [player_tooltip player_id='1266504' first='Edel' last='Villa'] Pick-6 sealed the win with just under 5 minutes left.   The Psychology of Winning: Sometimes, the psychology of spots is just as important as the physical part. Three weeks ago, Organ Mountain and Chaparral were burdened with long losing streaks that in the case of the Lobos extended all the way back to 2018. Both have now won twice since the beginning of September. Organ Mountain held off Alamogordo, 18-10, Friday night at the Field of Dreams for their second straight victory. The Knights didn't secure the win until DB [player_tooltip player_id='1606054' first='Alejandro' last='Guerra'] intercepted an Alamogordo Hail Mary pass in the end zone on the final play of the game. The Organ Mountain defense forced 5 Alamogordo turnovers. It was the Knights' first district win since 2019. Meanwhile, Chaparral beat visiting Albuquerque Academy, 44-20, for their second win in the last three games. Three weeks ago, the Lobos beat Santa Teresa top snap their 40+ game losing streak dating back to 2018.            Class 6A Roundup: Las Cruces staked a claim to being the No. 3 team in Class 6A by beating Hobbs, 44-14, on the road. The Bulldawgs scored 20 points in the final 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter when RB [player_tooltip player_id='1137388' first='Daniel' last='Amaro'] carried 15 yards for the TD. After Hobbs connected for an 80-yard TD pass from [player_tooltip player_id='1119255' first='Brock' last='Beaty'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1600876' first='Braddock' last='Beaty'], Las Cruces QB [player_tooltip player_id='853029' first='Gunnar' last='Guardiola'] passed 40 yards for a TD to make it 20-7. When Hobbs quickly fumbled, Guardiola threw another TD pass  to give the Bulldawgs a 27-7 halftime lead. . .Second half comebacks appear to be Volcano Vista's M.O. this season. Saturday, the Hawks were held scoreless in the first half and trailed 2-0 at intermission to Eldorado. But a 45-yard catch-and-run TD pass early in the third quarter from QB [player_tooltip player_id='1119623' first='Ilijah' last='Hansen'] to WR Devin Dunkin jumpstarted the offense and Volcano Vista went on to defeat Eldorado, 28-8, at Wilson Stadium. RB [player_tooltip player_id='1257357' first='Mason' last='Gurule'] soon added a 3-yard TD run on 4th-and-goal to make it 14-2. Gusty winds played a factor in the game. . .Sandia jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the 1st quarter and walloped Santa Fe, 51-6, Thursday at Wilson Stadium. Matadors QB Jahleel Lewis threw 3 TD passes and LB [player_tooltip player_id='1259059' first='Thomas' last='Adams'] had a Pick-6 for a score. That was one of 4 interceptions by the Sandia defense. Sandia led, 37-0, at halftime. . .The Los Lunas defense brought their ‘A' game against West Mesa, holding the Mustangs to less than 25 yards of total offense in the first half of a 54-21 district victory. While the Tigers defense was stonewalling the West Mesa offense, the Los Lunas offense scored 2 TD for an 18-0 halftime lead. After West Mesa scored early in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 18-7, Los Lunas QB [player_tooltip player_id='1137088' first='Kaiden' last='Reese'] ran 52 yards for a TD top restore the three-score lead. West Mesa's [player_tooltip player_id='1137115' first='Marcus' last='Ochoa'] returned a kickoff 92 yards for a TD in the second half. . .Albuquerque High (4-1) grinded out a 14-12 victory over Atrisco Heritage as the Bulldogs rushed for 232 yards on 41 carries. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='1258907' first='Isaac' last='Houlihan'] led the way with 100 yards rushing and 2 TD on 16 carries. Atrisco QB [player_tooltip player_id='1021201' first='Landon' last='Griego'] threw for 171 yards. AHS has a bye in Week 6 before squaring off against Los Lunas in a potentially huge District 6A-2 matchup. . .Mayfield walloped Santa Teresa, 52-6, in a District 5A-2 contest despite 242 yards passing and 117 yards rushing by Desert Warriors QB Nichola Vierra. . .Cibola knocked off winless Clovis, 36-12, Thursday at Community Stadium in Albuquerque as junior RB [player_tooltip player_id='1748730' first='Emmanuel' last='Apodaca'] rushed for 104 yards and 3 TD on 21 carries. RB [player_tooltip player_id='1137899' first='John' last='Royal'] raced 60 yards for the first Clovis TD. LB  Kyden Everett returned an interception for a Pick-6 TD for the Wildcats' final score in the second quarter. Cibola outscored Clovis, 15-0 in the second half. Sophomore QB [player_tooltip player_id='1154930' first='Javier' last='Jimenez'] returned to action for Clovis.                   Class 5A Roundup: Again playing without stud RB [player_tooltip player_id='615425' first='Amiri' last='Mumba'], Highland (2-3) got 100+ yard rushing games from [player_tooltip player_id='615426' first='Alex' last='Lopez'] and Erik Ochoa in a 42-13 victory over Rio Grande. The Hornets rushed for 324 yards. Lopez scored three different way – rushing, receiving and punt return. . .Valley won its first game of the season with a 13-6 win over Miyamura at Milne Stadium on Saturday. Gabe Gonzales caught a TD pass and [player_tooltip player_id='1600815' first='Jose' last='Jaramillo'] rushed for a TD for the Vikings. . .Belen mercy-ruled Del Norte, 50-0, as six different Eagle players scored touchdowns. Jasode Harris had 2 scores. . .Los Alamos blanked Capital, 43-0, as the Hilltoppers defense collected 5 interceptions.   Class 4A Roundup: Espanola Valley (5-0), again employing a balanced ground attack, rushed for 336 yards to stay unbeaten with a 27-7 road victory at Moriarty. Junior RB [player_tooltip player_id='1599942' first='Leonard' last='Martinez'] led the way with 85 yards and 2 TD on 10 carries. Three other Sundevil RBs had 44+ rushing yards – [player_tooltip player_id='1752753' first='Michael' last='Maestas'] (63 yards), [player_tooltip player_id='854296' first='Dylan' last='Sandoval'] (44 yards) and Ezekial Cuevas (44 yards). OL Nick Sandoval had 7 pancake blocks for Espanola Valley. The win sets up a crucial Battle of Unbeatens Friday night when Espanola Valley hosts Bernalillo (4-0). . .Manzano's move to Class 4A in the latest NMAA realignment continues to pay off as the Monarchs improved to 4-1 overall, 1-0 in District 4A-2 with a 40-20 victory over Portales Saturday at Wilson Stadium. Manzano QB [player_tooltip player_id='1258970' first='James' last='Vautier'] completed 13-of-27 passes for 144 yards and 3 TD and led a balanced rushing attack for the Monarchs. Six-foot-1, 175-pound freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1613352' first='Broden' last='Price'] caught 4 passes for a season-high 73 yards and 2 TD. Portales LB [player_tooltip player_id='613053' first='Manny' last='Chavez'] made 14 tackles for the Rams. . .Bloomfield won its third straight game by mercy rule, trouncing Aztec, 53-0, in the district opener. QB [player_tooltip player_id='615635' first='Blake' last='Spencer'] completed 7-of-9 passes for 200 yards and 5 TD in less than one half of football. Three Bloomfield receivers each had 2 TD catches – [player_tooltip player_id='853022' first='Peyton' last='Duncan'], [player_tooltip player_id='1594564' first='Kaden' last='McCown'] and Christian Alcantar. Bloomfield averaged 36.4 yards per completion. Spencer also ran for a TD. The Bobcats host Taos in Week 6. . .Grants outscored Kirtland Central, 21-6, in the second half to prevail, 28-16, on the road in the Four Corners, spoiling the Broncos' Homecoming. Pirates RB [player_tooltip player_id='613060' first='Andres' last='Lazos'] scored 3 TD in the second half to spark the comeback in the District 4A-1 game. Lazos ran for 2 TD in the 3rd quarter and caught a 25-yard TD pass in the fourth.   Class 3A Roundup: If there's a team that could rightfully be called ‘Road Warriors,' it's defending champion St. Michael's. Six days after trouncing Albuquerque Academy on the road, the Horsemen made the long 6-hour journey to Eunice, located in the extreme southeast corner of the state, and beat the 2A Cardinals, 40-8. AS usual, St. Michael's relentlessly pounded away with their punishing rushing attack with [player_tooltip player_id='1119160' first='Soren' last='Annon'] and [player_tooltip player_id='613193' first='Cole' last='Sandoval'] both gaining 100+ yards on the ground. WR [player_tooltip player_id='1267011' first='Brayden' last='Hollis'] had 2 TD catches. St. Michael's totaled over 450 yards in total offense. The Horsemen scored 2 TD in the final minute of the first half on [player_tooltip player_id='853063' first='Isaiah' last='Dominguez']'s 8-yard TD run and DE [player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt']'s scoop and score on an Eunice fumble with 16 seconds left in the first half. . .St. Michael's top rival, Robertson, continued its strong play and stayed unbeaten with a 49-7 victory over former district rival Raton, now in Class 2A. Cardinals QB Jesse James Gonzalez (11-for-17 passing for 215 yards and 4 TD) and freshman RB [player_tooltip player_id='1613284' first='George' last='Smith'] (105 rushing yards on just 5 carries) again teamed up to produce a bulk of Robertson's offense. . .Crownpoint beat Wingate, 28-12, in a District 3A-1 matchup as they jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead and never looked back. QB [player_tooltip player_id='1595795' first='Lavontae' last='Robinson'] (3-yard rushing TD) and [player_tooltip player_id='1137889' first='Austin' last='Begay'] (45-yard rushing TD) scored in the 1st half for the Eagles. Robinson connected with Begay on a 45-yard TD pass in the 4th quarter that sealed the win. . .Pojoaque Valley RB [player_tooltip player_id='1129687' first='Jonah' last='Villegas'] rushed for 151 yards and 2 TD on 12 carries and [player_tooltip player_id='1416992' first='D'Marcus' last='Rodriguez'] ran for 129 yards on 8 carries as the Elks mercy-ruled Hozho Academy, 54-0. . .Socorro improved to 4-1 with a 35-0 home victory over Hot Springs. The Warriors defense has allowed just 6 points in the last 3 games. Dual threat QB [player_tooltip player_id='613184' first='Isaiah' last='Ocampo'] continued to excel by throwing for 270 yards on 18-of-23 passing and rushing for 124 yards. WR [player_tooltip player_id='1137096' first='Jay' last='Lee'] caught 9 passes for 167 yards. The Warriors' perfectly balanced offense threw 25 times and rushed 24 times for 211 yards. Circle this date on your calendar: Socorro hosts Dexter on Oct. 11. . .Speaking of the Demons, they mercy-ruled Cobre, 51-0, as QB [player_tooltip player_id='1155032' first='CJ' last='Granados'] threw for 171 yards and 1 TD on 7-of-8 passing. Dexter needed just 24 plays to reach 50 points. . .Tohatchi scored the final 38 points in a 54-12 victory over Gallup. . .Thoreau beat Shiprock, 47-8.               Class 2A Roundup: Navajo Prep QB Xavier Perez rushed for 5 TD as the Eagles beat independent Santa Fe Indian School, 42-20, on the road Friday night. Perez finished with 100+ rushing yards as the Navajo Prep O-Line dominated the line of scrimmage. The Eagles, which improved to 3-1, built a 20-8 halftime lead and maintained the momentum in the second half. . .Legacy Academy improved to 5-0 by mercy-ruling McCurdy, 54-0. Legacy QB [player_tooltip player_id='1600087' first='Lorenzo' last='Sedillo-Urban'] completed 9-of-10 passes for 181 yards and 4 TD. . .Tucumcari beat Cuba, 29-14, despite 78 yards rushing by Cuba RB Santiago Maestas. . .Tularosa mercy-ruled Capitan, 50-0.                                    Week 6 Top Games (Sept. 26-28)   Artesia at Lovington   Bernalillo at Espanola Valley   Las Cruces at Organ Mountain   La Cueva at West Mesa   Taos at Bloomfield   Texico at West Las  Vegas   Silver at St. Pius X (Thur.)   Hatch Valley at Socorro   Goddard at Gadsden   Tularosa at Robertson   St. Michael's at Raton   Deming at Mayfield   Chaparral at Manzano   Newcomb at McCurdy   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/CoachCarlos62/status/1837353167564009928 </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/jeffmatthews22/status/1837634867384971479 </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/1837553065421164557 </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/CoachKirkMurad/status/1837320944605380944 </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/1837562538613264482 </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/HHS_HornetsFB/status/1837556141984809006 </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/Monarchs_MHS/status/1837653595396718899 </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/PrepRedzoneNM/status/1837334224019288169 </div></figure>

Week 5 of the 2024 New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here is our fifth edition of the Weekly Whiparound, our deep dive into everything that happened on the field: