Fantastic Freshmen: Top 2028 Offensive Performers This Season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Numerous freshmen made significant contributions to their teams this past season. Ahead of our debut release of the 2028 rankings in January, here are 10 freshman on offense who made a difference during the 2024 season:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613409' first='Mason' last='Fikany'], Ruidoso</strong>: Fikany averaged close to 9 yards per rush (28 carries, 243 yards), caught 23 passes for 305 yards and 2 TD and made 16 tackle son defense. Solid freshman campaign. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613382' first='Gad' last='Harris'], Sandia</strong>: Harris emerged as one of the top young running backs in Albuquerque this past season as he boosted the Sandia offense by rushing for 375 yards and 7 TD while catching 14 passes. Harris and rising junior QB Jahleel Lewis are the future for the Matadors offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613370' first='Romeo' last='Jones'], Organ Mountain</strong>: The top freshman rusher in the state this season with 751 yards and 7 TD in 10 games. Organ Mountain improved by leaps and bounds this season and Jones was a major reason for the improvement. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613476' first='Christian' last='Morales'], St. Pius X</strong>: We first heard about Morales when he was an 8^th grader in 2023. As a freshman, Morales was part of St. Pius X's dynamic offense that carried the Sartans all the way to the Class 4A state championship game. He caught 22 passes for 231 yards. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613459' first='Ezra' last='Ocampo'], Socorro</strong>: The Ocampo Dynasty will continue in Socorro for a few more years. Ocampo caught 10 passes for 114 yards (presumably from his brother, Isaiah) on offense and made 41 tackles with 3 passes defended and 1 forced fumble on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613262' first='Devin' last='Ortiz'], Moriarty</strong>: Ortiz was Mr. Everything for Moriarty in 2024. He contributed to the vaunted rushing game (165 yards on 33 carries) , made 61 tackles, 5.0 TFL and 2 sacks on defense and served as the Pintos' punter. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613352' first='Broden' last='Price'], Manzano</strong>: Another talented young wide receiver. Made 27 receptions for 477 yards and 7 TD for the improved Monarchs, who will play at least one more season in Class 4A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613398' first='Slade' last='Segovia'], Portales</strong>: Few freshmen in the state had a better season than Segovia, who excelled on both sides of the ball for the Rams. He rushed for 419 yards on 54 carries in 7 games while making 64 tackles on defense. He was one of several Portales players who stepped up following the early season-ending injury to QB [player_tooltip player_id='615523' first='Paxton' last='Culpepper']. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613284' first='George' last='Smith'], Robertson</strong>: Was there a better all-around freshman in the state than Smith this season? Probably not. Because he competes in Class 3A, he probably didn't get the attention he deserved. Smith was the No. 2 freshman rusher (nearly 700 yards), the No. 1 pass catcher&nbsp; (34 receptions for 759 yards by a wide margin and a dynamic kick returner. He returned a punt and 2 kickoffs for TDs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613435' first='Gracin' last='Vigil'], Navajo Prep</strong>: 3^rd leading freshman receiver in terms of yardage (341 yards on 19 receptions, 17.95 yards per catch) and made 35 tackles on defense as Navajo Prep reached the Class 2A playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mid season <a href="https://t.co/A26mKfSeOB">pic.twitter.com/A26mKfSeOB</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1613352' first='Broden' last='Price'] (@Broden_19Wr) <a href="https://twitter.com/Broden_19Wr/status/1838638434300076058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2024</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html -->