Week 11: 10 Things That Happened

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prior to the playoff brackets being released on Sunday, Week 11 of the New Mexico high school football season unfolded across the state. Here are 10 Things That Happened:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Note: The Eldorado-Volcano Vista and Lovington-St. Pius X games were covered extensively with stories and video posted Saturday on the Prep Redzone New Mexico website, so they will not be mentioned here. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>La Cueva Tops Sandia In Thriller</strong>: La Cueva earned the No. 3 seed in the 6A playoffs, but it might not have happened without Saturday's wild 43-42 win over Sandia at Wilson Stadium. La Cueva took the lead with one minute left on a touchdown pass from QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1183085' first='Monty' last='Melendez']</strong> to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2251188' first='Devyn' last='Williams']</strong>. Trailing by one, the Bears elected to go for two. They made it with a pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1613367' first='Cash' last='Brewer']</strong>. Sandia started at its 28 and drove as far as the La Cueva 33. But three straight incomplete passes, one into the end zone, allowed the Bears to escape with the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/NMGameDay/status/2116908717405061471","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/NMGameDay/status/2116908717405061471 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Las Cruces Edges Centennial In OT</strong>: The annual Las Cruces-Centennial rivalry game at Field of Dreams went to OT before it was decided. After Las Cruces scored and kicked the PAT, Centennial responded with a TD as well. The Hawks lined up as if to kick the tying PAT but when the ball was snapped, the holder jumped up and started running to his left. But he was swarmed under by a group of Las Cruces tacklers, setting off a celebration on the Bulldawgs' sideline. Despite the loss, Centennial received the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the 6A playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/SamGuzmanTV/status/2116398489659904137","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/SamGuzmanTV/status/2116398489659904137 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Roswell Holds Off Cross Town Rival At Wool Bowl</strong>: Roswell held off Goddard for a 42-35 victory in the annual 67^th annual ‘Blue vs. Red' rivalry game at the Wool Bowl. The Rockets scored first on [player_tooltip player_id='1787584' first='Isaiah' last='Montoya']'s 13-yard TD run to take a 7-0 lead before Roswell scored 21 straight points (3 TD passes by QB [player_tooltip player_id='1853724' first='Andruw' last='Fuentez']) for a 21-7 lead. The Coyotes never trailed again. Goddard scored again late in the second quarter and trailed by just one score, 21-14, at halftime. The two teams swapped touchdowns in the third quarter for a 28-21 score. Roswell hung on from there. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cleveland Wins City Of Vision Trophy Again</strong>: Cleveland has dominated the City of Vision rivalry with Rio Rancho over the last decade. Friday, the Storm mercy-ruled the Rams, 50-0, as Storm junior QB [player_tooltip player_id='2181232' first='Michael' last='Denison'] wrapped up a sensational regular season by completing 12-of-17 passes for 273 yards and 4 TD. The Storm also rushed for 197 yards. Sunday, Cleveland was rewarded for their perfect 10-0 season with the No. 1 seed in the Class 6A playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2116371892416475609","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2116371892416475609 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dexter Trounces District Rival</strong>: Dexter traveled to Eunice for what most folks thought would be a close, hard fought game between District 2A-4 rivals. But the Demons won convincingly, 55-12, and earned the No. 3 seed in the 2A playoffs. Dexter QB [player_tooltip player_id='1155032' first='CJ' last='Granados'] threw for 123 yards and 3 TD while rushing for 122 yards on 16 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Albuquerque High Wins, Earns Historic Playoff Berth</strong>: The Albuquerque High Bulldogs entered Friday's matchup with West Mesa knowing they probably needed to win to secure a berth in the 6A playoffs and end the school's 30+ year playoff drought. Quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2251173' first='Adam' last='Aguirre']</strong> completed 16-of-22 passes for 243 yards and WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2108944' first='Liam' last='Smartt-Saunders']</strong> had 9 receptions for 163 yards in Albuquerque High's 34-20 win over the Mustangs. Sunday, the Bulldogs earned the No. 11 seed in the 6A playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/ChazWrightTV/status/2116539046210187446","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ChazWrightTV/status/2116539046210187446 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>West Las Vegas Knocks Rival Off Top Four Seed Shelf</strong>: West Las Vegas went into Saturday's rivalry game against Robertson hoping to beat the Cardinals and knock them out of top four seed consideration. The Dons succeeded with a 6-0 victory at Cardinals Stadium that dropped Robertson to a No. 5 seed in the 3A playoffs. Moriarty got the No. 4 seed instead. West Las Vegas was given the No. 7 seed and will host Hot Springs next weekend in the first round. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bloomfield Captures Winner-Take All District Championship Game</strong>: Bloomfield hosted Valley Saturday at Bobcats Stadium in a winner-take-all District 4A-1 championship game. Both teams were 7-0 in district play. Sophomore QB &nbsp;[player_tooltip player_id='2114514' first='Wyatt' last='Babcock'] completed 15-of-27 passes for 263 yards and 4 TD in the Bobcats' 53-0 win. Junior RB [player_tooltip player_id='2466833' first='Questin' last='Ellis'] rushed for 149 yards and 2 TD on 15 carries. Sunday, the two-time defending 4A state champions earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Carlsbad Nips Hobbs In Thriller</strong>: The Carlsbad Cavemen rallied from a two-score deficit entering the fourth period to edge Hobbs, 41-40, in a wild District 6A-2 game. Cavemen RB [player_tooltip player_id='1605005' first='Brock' last='Wright'] score two touchdowns in the fourth period and both PAT were good to spark the comeback. Hobbs led, 32-21, going into the final frame. Carlsbad rushed for 316 yards as Wright amassed 180 yards and 5 TD on 27 carries. In all, Carlsbad ran the ball 47 times compared to just 16 passes. Sunday, Carlsbad received the No. 7 seed and will host Hobbs again in the first round of the 6A playoffs. If the sequel is as good as the first matchup, we're in for a treat.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St. Michael's Pushes Winning Streak To 42</strong>: The St. Michael's Horsemen have dominated Class 3A over the past several seasons, Saturday, they concluded another perfect regular season with a dominating 53-0 victory over Pojoaque Valley. It was the EIGHTH straight shutout for the St. Michael's defense. Thus, the key question entering the 3A playoffs isn't whether anybody can beat top-seeded St. Michael's. Instead, its whether anybody can actually score on the Horsemen. They allowed six points in nine games. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2116955036827988071","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"x","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_NMAA/status/2116955036827988071 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->