Semifinals Preview: Class 3A and 2A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're down to the final 20 teams as the semifinals of the 2025 New Mexico High School playoffs are set for this weekend with one game scheduled for Friday night and nine on Saturday. Here is a look at the semifinal games&nbsp; in Class 3A and 2A:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 3A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NMMI at St. Michael's (Sat., 1 p.m.)</strong>: These two teams clash in the 3A semifinals for the third consecutive year. St. Michael's dominated the first two meetings, winning 41-0 in 2023 (Santa Fe) and 48-7 in 2024 (Roswell) on the way to capturing the 3A title. In order to change the narrative, NMMI, making its second trip to northern NM in as many weeks, must find a way to crank up its offense against the rugged Horsemen defense. <strong>Konstantino Scopelitis</strong> was brilliant in last week's quarterfinal win over Pojoaque Valley, rushing for close to 100 yards, catching 4 passes for 113 yards and scoring 5 touchdowns. Trying to stop the St. Michael's offense will prove equally difficult for the Colts. The Horsemen have plenty of weapons from QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600843' first='Kamal' last='Stith']</strong> (set school record for passing TDs in a season) to RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='853063' first='Isaiah' last='Dominguez']</strong> to WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267011' first='Brayden' last='Hollis']</strong> to elite WR/DE <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt']</strong>. St. Michael's can beat you in a lot of ways. That's why they're carrying a 31-game winning streak into Saturday's matchup. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hope Christian at Dexter (Sat., 1 p.m.)</strong>: This game features one of the better quarterback battles in the semifinals. Hope Christian QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137124' first='RJ' last='Montoya']</strong> has enjoyed a fantastic senior season by throwing for over 1,600 yards and rushing for nearly 700 yards. He's accounted for 29 TD. Montoya totaled 293 yards (186 passing, 107 rushing) and accounted for 5 TD in last week's 48-21 victory over Hot Springs in the quarterfinals. Senior RB <strong>Kingsley Fritz</strong> complements Montoya well in the run game. The Huskies have FOUR receivers with 27+ receptions. Montoya's Dexter counterpart, junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155032' first='CJ' last='Granados']</strong>, is also a dynamic dual threat QB. Dexter likes to run the football with Granados and RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854287' first='Garet' last='Gonzalez']</strong> combining for over 1,500 yards and 33 TD on the ground. Granados completes 59 percent of his passes and rarely throws interceptions with just two in 106 pass attempts. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class 2A</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eunice at Legacy Academy (Sat., 1 p.m.)</strong>: A week after holding Loving to 213 total yards in a convincing quarterfinal win, the Legacy Academy defense gets an even greater challenge this week as they face Eunice QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854273' first='Elijah' last='Melancon']</strong> and the high-flying Cardinals offense. Melancon has passed for 2,394 yards and 36 touchdowns in 10 games this season, and has already surpassed 10,000 career passing yards. But he's hardly flying solo. Eunice has a reliable running back in Greyson Meek and a fleet of receivers led by senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1600116' first='Dyson' last='Lord']</strong>, sophomore <strong>Ezequiel Garcia</strong> and freshman <strong>Lucas Lopez</strong>. Eunice has scored 40+ points in&nbsp; 8 of its 10 games this season. Legacy Academy (10-1) will likely try to lean on its solid ground game led by RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1606048' first='Xander' last='Chavez']</strong> to chew up clock and keep the Eunice offense off the field. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hozho Academy at Texico (Sat., 1 p.m.)</strong>: If Hozho Academy isn't the biggest surprise in Class 2A this season, they're darn close. In just their third season playing 11-man football, the Wolves earned a top four seed and a first round bye. They edged Raton, 49-47, at home in a quarterfinals thriller. Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1137855' first='Brandon' last='Bonaguidi']</strong> sparks the Hozho offense with his passing (981 yards, 12 TD) and running (team high 629 yards rushing on 81 carries). Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1155101' first='Abraham' last='Azua']</strong> is the top receiving threat with 30 receptions, by far the most on the team. Texico QB/RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613755' first='Cross' last='Figg']</strong> isn't far from joining the prestigious 1,000-1,000 club. He has thrown for 926 yards filling in for injured starter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1343408' first='Bennett' last='Wahlen']</strong> and rushed for 1,518 yards and 15 TD. Right now, he's No. 8 in the state in rushing yardage and a legitimate contender for the 2025 New Mexico Heisman Award. Texico has lost just one game to a New Mexico opponent since Oct. 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We're not done yet! Silverbacks are locked in and headed to the semifinals 👊🏽🔥<br>This Friday we face off against the Cardinals at Bernalillo HS — 1PM, November 22nd. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RespectTheJungle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RespectTheJungle</a><a href="https://twitter.com/nmpreps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nmpreps</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepRedzoneNM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nmprepcosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nmprepcosports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/krqesports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@krqesports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RonKOAT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RonKOAT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesDYodice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesDYodice</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachJRom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachJRom</a> <a href="https://t.co/ytHpT6Ed6u">pic.twitter.com/ytHpT6Ed6u</a></p>&mdash; Legacy Academy Football (Silverbacks) (@legacyacademyFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/legacyacademyFB/status/1990524245844296182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>      </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->