Early Impact: Top Freshmen During 2025 Season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last Saturday's Prep Redzone Stock Up Showcase in Grants demonstrated the abundance of talent in the 2029 class. Those players were freshman during the 2025 season, but that didn't stop many from excelling on the gridiron. Here are seven freshman who made a significant impact in 2025: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Devon Chavez, Estancia</strong>: Playing quarterback for the Bears, Chavez didn't just lead all freshman in rushing yards with 1,674 yards on a workhorse 226 carries, he finished sixth in the state in that category. Also threw for over 600 yards and 8 TD. Dynamic dual threat signal caller. Combined with fellow freshman <strong>Juan Cuevas</strong> for over 2,300 rushing yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1720592' first='Julian' last='Fernandez'], Grants</strong>: The most productive freshman running back in the state in 2025. Rushed for 817 yards and 14 TD with 3 100+ yard rushing games for the Pirates. He showed impressive speed, acceleration and footwork during the PRZ Stock Up Showcase in Grants. Very bright future. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1581314' first='Kingston' last='Lee'], Portales</strong>: The first thing you notice about Lee is his impressive size – he's 6-foot-2, 185 pounds. He's also a standout track athlete. His elite athleticism was on display in Grants. He started all 11 games for the Rams and passed for 1,610 yards and 19 TD with just 6 interceptions to earn Second-team All-District honors. But he's not afraid to tuck in and run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lucas Lopez, Eunice</strong>: Lopez can always say he played one season with former Eunice QB [player_tooltip player_id='854273' first='Elijah' last='Melancon']. Lopez was the only 2029 WR with more than 18 receptions (per MaxPreps) this past season. He finished with 32 catches for 587 yards and 7 TD. Good size at 6-foot-0 and, like most Eunice receivers, extremely athletic and quick. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Niemiah Pacheco, Tucumcari</strong>: Led all freshman with 64 tackles and an impressive 11.5 TFL, 11.5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. Terrorized opposing offensive backfield all season long. Huge role in helping Tucumcari qualify for the Class 2A playoffs. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2079275' first='Dominic' last='Riley'], Grants</strong>: The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Riley was a fixture on the Pirates' offensive line this past season. Last Saturday, he showed why. He's big, strong and mobile with excellent feet. He'll be one of the state's top offensive linemen in a couple of years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Braylon Walton, Raton</strong>: Yes, there's another Walton on the way for Raton. Braylon was Raton's primary QB during the second half of the season and ended up with almost 800 yards passing and 12 TD. Raton sometimes had an all-freshman backfield with Walton and promising RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1865586' first='Harlem' last='Coley']</strong>, who had 515 yards rushing and made over 50 tackles on defense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2025 Highlight Tape <br>2029 6'2” 185 QB<br><br>✅ Started all 11 Varsity Games<br>✅ 2nd Team All District QB<br>✅ 125-208-19 TDs-6 Ints<br>✅ 4.0 GPA<br><br>Check out my Highlights 👇👇👇<a href="https://t.co/tjo2O6G9ri">https://t.co/tjo2O6G9ri</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/TomLoy247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomLoy247</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/QBimpact?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QBimpact</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/QBUniverseQBU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QBUniverseQBU</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1581314' first='Kingston' last='Lee'] (@kingston_lee10) <a href="https://twitter.com/kingston_lee10/status/1996604672644395172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>     </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->