Weekly News and Notes – July 10

Belen High School suddenly found itself without a football coach less than a month before the start of preseason camp, but the school moved quickly in naming a replacement. Phil Lopez, hired May 20, informed Belen eight days ago that he would not be coaching the Eagles this upcoming season, citing a lack of affordable housing in the area and obstacles in hiring some of the coaches he wanted for his staff, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Lopez told the Valencia County News-Bulletin that he learned after a golfing fundraiser in late June that multiple Belen assistants were leaving the program due to their inability to find affordable housing and teaching jobs. Soon thereafter, he decided to cut ties with Belen. Undeterred, the Belen school district administration quickly hired former Eastern New Mexico assistant Andrew McCraw on Wednesday, four days after Lopez abruptly left the post. McCraw coached at ENMU for the past five seasons under former head coach Kelley Lee, who resigned to take a Texas high school coaching job. McCraw was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Greyhounds. He previously coached at Socorro (head coach for single season), and Valencia (2009-2012). “Belen is one of the best programs in 5A,” McCraw told the Journal. “It’s been a good job.” McCraw interviewed in May for the Belen head coaching job before the school district settled on Lopez, who was the head coach of Rio Rancho when the Rams won its first district title and was 29-14 in four seasons there (2003-06). McCraw also interviewed for the Belen job five years ago. Belen opens the 2021 season Friday, Aug. 20 against West Mesa at home. Preseason practice begins Aug. 2. <strong>NOTES</strong>: -- GOING CAMPING: 2023 Cibola QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"]</strong> is attending a camp in Atlanta this weekend. . .2022 Albuquerque High DL <strong>Landon Williams</strong> camped at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas this weekend. . .2023 Artesia QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137932" first="Payton" last="Deans"]</strong> attended the FBU Top Guns camp. -- ESPN ranks 2022 Jal OL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26228" first="Roger" last="Carreon"]</strong> as the No. 85 offensive tackle in the country. Carreon recently committed to Boise State. -- Hobbs faced Lovington Tuesday night in 7-on-7 at Watson Memorial Stadium. Hobbs starting QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134908" first="Colton" last="Graham"]</strong> did not compete because he was participating in a baseball tournament in Georgia. As a result, backups <strong>Ethan Vanlandingham</strong> and <strong>Omar Argott</strong> quarterbacked the Eagles offense. “It was good to be out here and get a little bit of normalcy going,” Hobbs coach Ken Stevens told the Hobbs News-Sun.“ Lovington will be in Hobbs again each of the next two Tuesdays. The Wildcats will also host Clovis on Thursday, July 15 before traveling to Carlsbad on Thursday, July 22. -- 2021 Cleveland WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"]</strong> is a multi-sport Gatorade Player of the Year winner after being named the 2020-21 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Track &amp; Field Player of the Year. Wysong won the Class 6A 100-meter dash championship in 10.55 seconds. He was previously named GPOTY in Football. He signed with New Mexico and has joined the Lobos program for summer workouts. -- 2022 Carlsbad OL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134796" first="Ramon" last="Loya"]</strong> has been offered by the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. -- 2021 Cleveland QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26185" first="Jeff" last="Davison"]</strong> has accepted a PWO offer from New Mexico State. --  2022 Santa Fe RB/DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"]</strong> has been invited to play in the 2021 Blue-Gray All-America game in December at AT&amp;T Stadium in Arlington, Tex. -- 2023 Albuquerque Academy WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137928" first="Kellan" last="Gehres"]</strong> made the trip to the Pacific Northwest to tour Lewis &amp; Clark College and Willamette University in the Portland, OR metro area along with the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1413914767400611843 https://twitter.com/iamlandoo/status/1413528421477531655 https://twitter.com/LukeWysong/status/1413335461079121921 https://twitter.com/_j1ff_/status/1412868728337756161 https://twitter.com/KellanGehres23/status/1411482783315230725