Fantastic Forty: Top Performers of Week 9

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Week 9 of the 2023 New Mexico High Schol Football season is in the books. Here's our list of the week's top performers (in alphabetical order), something we're calling the Fantastic Forty:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590743' first='Jacob' last='Adcox'], Sandia</strong>: Adcox had 11 receptions for 102 yards and 52 kickoff return yards as the Matadors improved to 7-1 overall with a 35-28 victory over Farmington, putting themselves in position to win the district title outright with a victory Friday night over La Cueva.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119160' first='Soren' last='Annon'], St. Michael's</strong>: Caught the game-winning TD pass from QB [player_tooltip player_id='1119628' first='Reed' last='Bass'] with 2:33 left as St. Michael's rallied past Raton, 27-24.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275564' first='Trey' last='Archuleta'], Escalante</strong>: Archuleta is one of Class 2A's best players and he proved it again in Escalante's 46-18 road victory over McCurdy by rushing for 298 yards and 5 TD on 26 carries. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='613752' first='JJ' last='Arellano'], Rio Rancho</strong>: The Rams won their third straight game, 48-17 over Cibola, as Arellano completed 13-of-20 passes for 281 yards and 3 TD while rushing for 78 yards and 2 TD. Rio Rancho makes the short trip to Community Stadium to face Volcano Vista Friday night in a huge District 6A-1 matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103655' first='Saul' last='Armendariz'], Hobbs</strong>: Armendariz set a new school record with 347 rushing yards on just 18 carries in Hobbs' 56-19 rout of Alamogordo. He scored 4 TD and averaged 19.3 yards per rush with a long of 57 yards. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275064' first='Jacob' last='Baca'], Hope Christian</strong>: Baca has excelled on both sides of the ball for Hope Christian this season. In the Huskies' 22-20 win over Tucumcari, Baca had 5 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 5 QB hurries and 1 fumble recovery on defense while totaling 5 pancake blocks and 4 carries for 25 yards on offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody'], West Mesa</strong>: Brody is a dynamic dual threat QB and he flashed his skills in Saturday's loss to La Cueva by passing for 2227 yards and rushing for 146 yards on 23 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340316' first='Joshua' last='Calhoon'], Estancia</strong>: The state's leading rusher registered a season high 330 yards on 20 carries to propel Estancia past Mescalero Apache, 39-19. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1154948' first='Isaiah' last='Carpenter'], St. Pius X</strong>: The Sartans' freshman QB &nbsp;led his team to a 20-18 victory over Valencia by passing for 230 yards and 2 TD. He also rushed for the game-winning Td with about 3 minutes left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1154956' first='Cayl' last='Cox-Liggins'], St. Pius X</strong>: Six receptions for 131 yards and 1 TD in the Sartans' 20-18 win over Valencia. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615523' first='Paxton' last='Culpepper'], Portales</strong>: Culpepper and the Portales offense were firing on all cylinders against Albuquerque Academy as Culpepper completed 21-of-27 passes for 345 yards and 6 TD in the Rams' 54-0 win. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119266' first='Tristan' last='Davis'], Hobbs</strong>: The junior LB was credited with a staggering 26 tackles, 2.0 TFL and 1 forced fumble in Hobbs' win over Alamogordo. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zaiden Davis, Centennial</strong>: Filling in for [player_tooltip player_id='340297' first='Daniel' last='Hernandez'], Davis threw for 145 yards and rushed for 183 as Centennial crushed Carlsbad, 42-14.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Emi De la Torre, Los Lunas</strong>: Rushed for 132 yards and 2 TD in Los Lunas' lopsided district win over Santa Fe.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Adrick Deleon, Espanola Valley</strong>: Keyed Espanola Valley's 38-25 road win at Taos by rushing for 324 yards and 5 TD on 22 carries. He averaged 14.7 yards per carry. He accounted for 402 total yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611098' first='Cameron' last='Dyer'], La Cueva</strong>: Dyer did most of his damage with his feet in La Cueva's 54-26 victory over West Mesa. Dyer had three long TD runs of 38, 53 and 70 yards among his 8 carries and 167 rushing yards. Overall, he accounted for 4 TD.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275206' first='Mason' last='Espinda-McChriston'], Bernalillo</strong>: As good an offensive player as Espinda-McChriston has been this season, he might be a better defensive player. Against Lovington, he had 16 tackles, giving him 108 for the season. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119597' first='Kyle' last='Evenhus'], Los Alamos</strong>: The Hilltoppers prepared for Thursday's showdown game against Valley by trouncing Manzano, 48-9. Evenhus threw for 247 yards and 5 TD on 12-of-17 passing &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275459' first='Wyatt' last='Gomez'], Lovington</strong>: Gomez had one of the best Week 9 games of any quarterback in the state as he threw for 463 yards and 6 TD on 27-of-47 passing against a solid Bernalillo defense. For the season, Gomez has thrown for 2,367 yards and 30 TD. He visited New Mexico Highlands on Saturday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='860880' first='Mason' last='Greathouse'], Roswell</strong>: Returned a scoop-and-score fumble 60 yards for a TD in the second half as the Roswell defense dominated Friday's No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup with Artesia. The prolific Artesia offense didn't score a point.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590222' first='Melaki' last='Gutierrez'], Los Alamos</strong>: Flashing his impressive speed, Gutierrez had 112 receiving yards on just 3 receptions (average of 37.3 yards per catch) in the Hilltoppers' win over Manzano. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Frank Hren, Albuquerque</strong>: Hren scored on a run in overtime to lift Albuquerque High past Capital, 14-13. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590712' first='Charles' last='Lopez-Burton'], Valley</strong>: Lopez-Burton is a fixture on this list, and for good reason. He's become of the top running backs in the Albuquerque Metro region. He rushed for 172 yards in Valley's 53-0 win over Del Norte.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eliseo ‘Cheeto' Lumbrera III, La Cueva</strong>: Rushed for 135 yards on 6 carries, including a 90-yard TD sprint, in La Cueva's 54-26 victory over West Mesa. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='591958' first='Zane' last='Mayberry'], Portales</strong>: Caught 7 passes for 164 yards and 2 TD as the Rams mercy-ruled Albuquerque Academy. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='611069' first='Nick' last='Mertz'], La Cueva</strong>: Mertz led the Bears' defensive effort against West Mesa with 11 tackles and 4 TFL.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590512' first='Harris' last='Mbueha'], Cleveland</strong>: Rushed for 127 yards and 2 TD in one half of football in Cleveland's 56-6 mercy rule win over Atrisco Heritage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='854273' first='Elijah' last='Melancon'], Eunice</strong>: The Cardinals posted their biggest win of the season, a 42-28 victory over Jal, as Melancon threw for 243 yards and 5 TD on 15-of-23 passing. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615425' first='Amiri' last='Mumba'], Highland</strong>: Highland won its fifth straight game, 32-30 over Belen, as Mumba rushed for 335 yards and 1 TD on a super workhorse 42 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1119637' first='Adrian' last='Munoz'], Gadsden</strong>: Completed 14-of-18 passes for 209 yards and 5 TD in Gadsden's mercy-rule win over Chaparral.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lincoln Page, Moriarty</strong>: Page helped Moriarty snap its three-game losing streak by rushing for 152 yards and 3 TD against Pojoaque Valley.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590564' first='Anthony' last='Raymer'], Rio Rancho</strong>: One of the fastest players in the Albuquerque Metro region, Raymer had 103 receiving yards and scored 3 TD in Rio Rancho's win over Cibola. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1103734' first='Cruz' last='Rivera'], Sandia</strong>: Entrenched as one of Albuquerque's best quarterbacks, Rivera completed 24-of-38 passes for 254 yards and 3 TD in the Matadors big win over Farmington.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Derian Rodriguez, Belen</strong>: Belen lost a thriller to Highland but Rodriguez rushed for a season high 164 yards on 18 carries to spark the Eagles' offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jeremaya Roybal, McCurdy</strong>: Rushed for 155 yards and 2 TD on 16 carries in McCurdy's loss to Escalante. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='340165' first='Bryce' last='Sanchez'], Roswell</strong>: Sanchez and the Roswell defense were the main storylines of Roswell's impressive 29-8 victory over Artesia in a #1 vs. #2 battle at the Wool Bowl. Sanchez rushed for 187 yards on 29 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Demarcus Thompson, Lovington</strong>: Our Player of the Week was a two-way standout in the Wildcats' 47-26 victory over Bernalillo. Offensively, he caught 11 passes, five for touchdowns, for 238 yards, an average of more than 21 yards per reception. Defensively, Thompson had 8 tackles, 5 TFL and 2 sacks. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='592353' first='Tazhe' last='Wilson'], Valley</strong>: Rushed for 131 yards and 3 TD in Valley's win over Del Norte. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142363' first='Francisco' last='Winnikoff'], Las Cruces</strong>: The 2026 receiver had 3 TD receptions among his 5 catches for 177 yards in the Bulldawgs' win over Organ Mountain.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gavin York, Carlsbad</strong>: York led the Cavemen with 12 tackles and 2 TFL in their loss to Centennial.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/Sisco2x__/status/1713280419091882398?s=20","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/Sisco2x__/status/1713280419091882398?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/Anthonyraymer30/status/1713598278036795616?s=20","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/Anthonyraymer30/status/1713598278036795616?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/charleslb07/status/1713292906130493788?s=20","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/charleslb07/status/1713292906130493788?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/jacobadcox06/status/1713608868415386083?s=20","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/jacobadcox06/status/1713608868415386083?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/kklyps/status/1713677395633615288?s=20","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/kklyps/status/1713677395633615288?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/j1arellano/status/1713678953209323973?s=20","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/j1arellano/status/1713678953209323973?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/jacob_baca55/status/1714039484810183040?s=20","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/jacob_baca55/status/1714039484810183040?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/MarkHandy75/status/1714066067859865644?s=20","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/MarkHandy75/status/1714066067859865644?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/Jordan_Lucas_07/status/1714105973089190371?s=20","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/Jordan_Lucas_07/status/1714105973089190371?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->