Look Back, Look Ahead: Class 3A

We continue our popular Look Back, Look Ahead series with a review of the 2025 season in Class 3A and a peek ahead to some of the key storylines, topics, players and questions concerning the 2026 campaign, which begins next August with revamped districts.   LOOK BACK   Best Team: St. Michael's. The Horsemen went undefeated for the second straight season to claim their third consecutive 3A title. Their winning streak now stands at 33 games, third longest in state history. But it took another rally against Dexter in the state championship game to keep the winning streak alive. The Horsemen's offense overpowered opponents all season long. They finished with a 2,500-yard passer, two rushers with a combined 2,000 yards and two receivers with 40+ receptions. Defensively, the Horsemen had 41.5 sacks and 61.5 TFL, and allowed 20+ points only twice in 13 games.              Most Improved Team: Wingate. The Bears went from two wins in 2024 to a playoff appearance and seven wins in 2025. It was the first time they've reached the playoffs in in almost two decades.                          Offensive Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id='1600843' first='Kamal' last='Stith'], St. Michael's. In his one season leading the Horsemen offense, Stith threw for 2,468 yards and a school record 37 TD. He was intercepted only seven times. Also rushed for 970 yards, so he fell just short of joining the 1,000-1,000 yards club.                        Defensive Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt'], St. Michael's. The 6-foot-4 Hunt didn't have the most tackles ([player_tooltip player_id='1600953' first='Zach' last='Friberg'] of Ruidoso led 3A with 132), but he was the most dominant defensive players. Out of his 79 tackles, a staggering 35.0 were for loss. Going into his senior season in 2026, Hunt has already amassed 62.0 TFL and 39.5 sacks in his career.       Special Teams Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id='1137876' first='Jordan' last='Calladitto'], Thoreau. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns and averaged 44.4 yards on 8 kickoff returns in 2025. That's pretty good production.   Two-Way Player Of The Year: [player_tooltip player_id='854288' first='Tristan' last='Polanco'], Hot Springs. Polanco had one of the best all-around seasons by any player in New Mexico in 2025. He threw for 747 yards and 8 TD, rushed for over 300 yards and 14 TD, caught 34 passes for 484 yards and 9 TD and made 105 tackles with 17.0 TFL on defense. That's an impressive production. Polanco literally never came off the field.                  Junior of the Year (Not Named [player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt']): [player_tooltip player_id='1155256' first='Nathan' last='Gonzales'], Robertson. Several months after leading Robertson to the 3A state basketball championship, the 6-foot-5 Gonzales quarterbacked the Cardinals through adversity as several players were suspended for multiple games. Gonzales, though, was undeterred, passing for almost 1,600 yards and 13 TD, rushed for 491 yards and 8 TD and made 48 tackles on defense.      Sophomore of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id='1613409' first='Mason' last='Fikany'], Ruidoso. Along with the rest of his Warrior teammates, Fikany overcame considerable adversity in 2025. He led Ruidoso to the quarterfinals of the 3A playoffs by passing for over 700 yards, rushing for nearly 900 yards and 15 TD and catching 12 passes for 212 yards. In all, he accounted for 1,843 total yards. He also returned kicks for the Warriors.                   Freshman of the Year: Dylan Acosta, Hatch Valley. Acosta had 41 tackles, 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries for the Bears.                   Breakthrough Player of the Year: [player_tooltip player_id='1137124' first='RJ' last='Montoya'], Hope Christian. Often overshadowed by the players at the Class 6A and 5A schools in the Albuquerque Metro Region, Montoya enjoyed a fantastic senior campaign for the Huskies by throwing for over 1,600 yards and 17 TD while rushing for nearly 700 yards and 12 TD. He led the Huskies to a top four seed and the semifinals of the 3A playoffs.     Game of the Year: St. Michael's 28, Dexter 21 (Championship Game). These were the two best teams all season long and when they finally met in the title game, they produced the fireworks we expected. St. Michael's rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to score the winning TD to pull out another dramatic victory over the Demons.       LOOK AHEAD   Top Storyline for 2026: Like Class 6A, 5A and 4A, the main storyline for the 2026 season will be the new 17-team classification divided into one 9-team district (St. Michael's opts to play up) and an 8-team district. Here is how the Class 3A districts break down for 2026 and 2027:        District 1: Aztec, Gallup, Kirtland Central, Pojoaque Valley, Robertson, St. Michael's, Thoreau, West Las Vegas, Wingate.     District 2: Hatch Valley, Hope Christian, Hot Springs, Moriarty, NMMI, Ruidoso, Socorro, Silver.        Four teams moved from 4A to 3A: Aztec, Kirtland Central, Moriarty and Silver.      10 Offensive Players To Know For 2026   [player_tooltip player_id='1606164' first='Urijah' last='Arrey'], Silver   [player_tooltip player_id='1604919' first='Chance' last='Aspaas'], Kirtland Central   [player_tooltip player_id='1155121' first='Billy' last='Baca'], Hot Springs   [player_tooltip player_id='1791395' first='Caydin' last='Encinias'], West Las Vegas   Tristan Garcia, Gallup   [player_tooltip player_id='1248677' first='Joshua' last='Gonzales'], Pojoaque Valley   [player_tooltip player_id='1155256' first='Nathan' last='Gonzales'], Robertson   [player_tooltip player_id='1606046' first='Mario' last='Romero'], Moriarty   [player_tooltip player_id='1129687' first='Jonah' last='Villegas'], Pojoaque Valley   [player_tooltip player_id='1605990' first='Darrien' last='Williams'], Hope Christian   10 Defensive Players To Know For 2026   [player_tooltip player_id='1790845' first='Kade' last='Aguirre'], Silver   [player_tooltip player_id='1613430' first='Zaiden' last='Baker'], Hot Springs   [player_tooltip player_id='1137075' first='Lucas' last='Basile'], Hot Springs   [player_tooltip player_id='1606079' first='Royce' last='Dennisson'], Moriarty   [player_tooltip player_id='1155019' first='Ryan' last='Hunt'], St. Michael's   [player_tooltip player_id='1606130' first='Francisco' last='Lopez'], Robertson   [player_tooltip player_id='1613664' first='Santos' last='Martinez'], Robertson   Drake Rivera, Aztec   [player_tooltip player_id='1791434' first='AJ' last='Trujillo'], West Las Vegas   Curtis Valdez, St. Michael's   Team on the Rise: Gallup. The Bengals went 5-5 in Lawrence Garcia's first year as head coach. It's the most wins in a single season for Gallup since 2006. Tristan Garcia is a dynamic young quarterback and Truitt Lewis is a promising running back.   Teams Looking To Bounce Back: Aztec, Kirtland Central and Socorro.                Player Ready To Blow Up: [player_tooltip player_id='1606046' first='Mario' last='Romero'], Moriarty. Because Moriarty doesn't attract a lot of mainstream media attention, Romero's sensational 2025 season for the Pintos went largely unnoticed. He rushed for 1,420 yards and 17 TD on 172 carries and led them with 92 tackles and 7.0 TFL on defense. With Moriarty moving to 3A, Romero should have another huge campaign in 2026.   5 Key Questions:   1. How will new head coach Kelley Lee transform the Silver program?   2. With Dexter moving to Class 2A, who will rise up and challenge St. Michael's for the title?   3. Currently at 33 games and counting, how long can St. Michael's keep winning?   4. Who's the favorite in District 3A-2? Is this the most evenly matched district in the state?   5. How will reducing the number of districts in 3A from three to two affect non-district scheduling?   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">BREAKING: Former ENMU head coach Kelley Lee has agreed to become the new HC at Silver High. We spoke with Lee about the job, his return to HS coaching, growing up in SW New Mexico and possibly coaching his son. <a href="https://t.co/tzigtijFq0">https://t.co/tzigtijFq0</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachKelleyLee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachKelleyLee</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kingston_lee10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kingston_lee10</a> <a href="https://t.co/wxyEEwTy9z">pic.twitter.com/wxyEEwTy9z</a>— Prep Redzone New Mexico (@PrepRedzoneNM) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM/status/2005419658766377379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote>   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">#4 in 3A first time ever hosting a playoff game in Pojoaque this team is making history. <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachZekeV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachZekeV</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://t.co/Nj5ODG5TMP">pic.twitter.com/Nj5ODG5TMP</a>— Pojoaque valley football program (@PojoaqueP) <a href="https://twitter.com/PojoaqueP/status/1984854082692268215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2025</a></blockquote>   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Year 1 establishing the shoot. X & Z Go 3 for 3! <a href="https://t.co/ClSL9QlDEh">pic.twitter.com/ClSL9QlDEh</a>— Lawrence Garcia (@CoachGarcia62) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachGarcia62/status/1985780858499056019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2025</a></blockquote>

We continue our popular Look Back, Look Ahead series with a review of the 2025 season in Class 3A and a peek ahead to some of the key storylines, topics, players and questions concerning the 2026 campaign, which begins next August with revamped districts.