Week 8 Whiparound: Top Performances, Best Games and Fun Stuff

Week 8 of the New Mexico High School football season is complete. Here are some of the best performances, best games, fascinating numbers and other fun stuff from the eighth weekend of the 2021 season. Three weekends remain in the regular season: Team of the Week: Clovis. A week after saving their season with a dramatic last-minute touchdown against Albuquerque High, Clovis (2-4) rallied from a 21-6 deficit in the third quarter by scoring on three straight possessions to stun district Santa Fe, 28-21, at Ivan Head Stadium Friday night. Senior DB [player_tooltip player_id="138039" first="Robert" last="Nora"] clinched the win by intercepting a pass inside the 5-yard line. Sant Fe took a 15-point lead with 8:23 left in the third quarter on senior LB Adan Chavez’s 70-yard Pick-6. But QB [player_tooltip player_id="134999" first="Milo" last="Acosta"] led a 64-yard TD drive to make it a 1-score game before another TD drive and 2-point conversion evened the score with 26 seconds left in the third quarter. After a 3-and-out by Santa Fe (5-3), Clovis mounted a 12-play, 76-yard drive for the game-winning TD by Cam Dickson. Clovis is 2-1 in district play with games remaining against Manzano, Sandia and Eldorado. Honorable Mention: Albuquerque Academy; Centennial; Mayfield. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-215010" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/Screenshot-2021-10-10-at-20-38-13-6A-District-2-5-Football-Standings-MaxPreps-300x210.png" alt="" width="300" height="210" /> Player of the Week: [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"], Cleveland. If you still think of [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"] simply as current UNM Lobo WR [player_tooltip player_id="26158" first="Luke" last="Wysong"]’s younger brother, stop it. Evan’s accomplishments as Cleveland’s starting quarterback stand on their own merit, and Friday night he showed why he’s a major contender for our New Mexico Heisman Award. [player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"] ran for four touchdowns and threw three more in unbeaten Cleveland’s 56-12 victory over Cibola. He finished with 161 yards passing and 180 rushing yards. Scary part? Evan and the Storm’s No. 1 RB [player_tooltip player_id="138204" first="Josh" last="Perry"] are both juniors, assuring Cleveland’s offense will keep roaring next season. Perry, though, suffered a broken collarbone early in last week’s lopsided win over Atrisco Heritage and didn’t play against Cibola. Cleveland just shrugged its shoulders and rolled up 455 yards of total offense (307 on the ground) in the first half. Honorable Mention: [player_tooltip player_id="26247" first="Josh" last="Gerardo"] (Volcano Vista). Best Team Offensive Performance: Jal and Eunice. We could have said Cleveland, of course, but variety is the spice of life. Jal and Eunice combined for 78 points in a Class 2A shootout. For Jal, scoring a lot of points is nothing new this season. The Panthers, led by the talented Carreon brothers, have scored 38 or more points in 5 of the 6 games they’ve played this season. Honorable Mention: Cleveland, Volcano Vista, Best Team Defensive Performance: Cleveland. The Storm held the high-powered Cibola offense to 218 total yards and 11 first downs as the Cougars registered a season-low in points. Honorable Mention: Centennial, Eldorado, Mayfield. Best Game: Mayfield 20, Goddard 13. The Rockets again found themselves on the wrong end of a 48-minute battle dominated by the defenses. Goddard took a 13-6 lead on junior QB [player_tooltip player_id="137924" first="Adrian" last="Solis"]’ 62-yard TD run in the third quarter. But Mayfield responded with [player_tooltip player_id="134970" first="Jose" last="Montoya"]’s 31-yard TD gallop to make it 13-12 heading into the fourth quarter. With just over three minutes left, Mayfield faced a fourth-and-7 from its 35-yard line. The Trojans didn’t just pick up the first down, they scored the game-winning TD on a 65-yard catch-and-run by senior WR Cameron Sowards to give them the lead for the first time in the game. Mayfield went for two and converted with Montoya powering over the goal line. Goddard marched into the red zone with seconds remaining but a pass into the end zone was batted down as time expired. Mayfield and Goddard both begin district play next weekend. Mayfield travels to Chaparral while Goddard travels to Alamogordo. Honorable Mention: Jal 40, Eunice 38; Organ Mountain 34, Gadsden 29; Raton 28, Robertson 26. Best Finish: Taos 13, Silver 12 (OT). In a defensive stalemate that required two overtimes, Taos denied Silver on a potential game-winning two-point conversion in the second OT to win it. The game was played on a neutral field at Los Lunas High School. Taos WR [player_tooltip player_id="208825" first="Favian" last="Cordova"] caught a TD pass for the Tigers in the second OT. The PAT was good. Silver scored on its first play of the second OT and decided to go for 2. But the pass fell incomplete. Honorable Mention: Raton 28, Robertson 26 (Robertson’s attempt to tie the score with 2-pointer near end of regulation was denied). Best Rivalry Win: Jal 40, Eunice 38. The top two teams in Class 2A dueled for four quarters as Jal snapped a 15-year losing streak to Eunice. Cardinal QB [player_tooltip player_id="134902" first="Conagher" last="Pierce"] completed 20-of-33 passes for 282 yards and 2 TD and rushed for 131 yards and four TD in an admirable losing effort. Things You Need To Know: Week 9 features a MONSTER Thursday night schedule with Cleveland-Volcano Vista (both teams are 2-0 in District 6A-1) at Community, Sandia-Eldorado (battle for 2nd place behind La Cueva in District 6A-2) at Wilson, Valencia-St. Pius X (District 4A-5 battle) at Milne and, of course, Las Cruces-Centennial at the Field of Dreams. . .St. Pius X trounced Bernalillo, 35-7, in the Sartans’ district opener. St. Pius X RB [player_tooltip player_id="26257" first="Marco" last="Ybarra"] rushed for 182 yards on 28 carries, catapulting him over the 1,000-yard mark with three regular season games remaining. . .Volcano Vista walloped Atrisco Heritage, 61-9, as QB [player_tooltip player_id="26247" first="Josh" last="Gerardo"], one of our Top 10 contenders for the New Mexico Heisman, threw for 183 yards and 4 TD. [player_tooltip player_id="135097" first="Kaden" last="Valdez"] had 5 receptions for 96 yards and 2 TD. . .Piedra Vista (5-3) beat Capital, 28-8, to keep pace with Farmington atop the District 5A-1 standings. QB Logan Howell threw 2 TD passes and ran 20 yards for another score. . .Sandia RB [player_tooltip player_id="137923" first="Malachi" last="Thymes"] rushed for 120 yards and 3 TD in the Matadors’ 30-14 victory over Albuquerque Thursday night. . . Bloomfield continues to win without injured QB [player_tooltip player_id="208748" first="Ryan" last="Sharpe"]. Backup QB Blake Spencer was 11-for-11 passing for 142 yards and 3 TD as the Bobcats beat Shiprock, 56-0, in a game that ended early in the fourth quarter. Bloomfield is 6-1 with games left against Aztec, Gallup and Kirtland Central. They should earn a high seed in the Class 4A playoffs. . .Navajo Prep earned its first victory in 8 years over a team not located on the Navajo Nation when the Eagles beat Espanola Valley, 42-8. Navajo Prep opens District 3A-1 play against Zuni Friday. Las Cruces Schools Go 4-for-4: Besides Mayfield’s big win over Goddard, Las Cruces held off Hobbs, 34-28, on the road as [player_tooltip player_id="137934" first="Jacob" last="Maes"] intercepted an Eagles pass in the end zone to preserve the win, Organ Mountain outlasted Gadsden, 34-29 and Centennial thrashed Carlsbad, 35-0. The results left Las Cruces and Centennial atop the District 6A-3 standings with identical 2-0 district records heading into Thursday night’s showdown between the two schools at the Field of Dreams. The winner of that duel will likely capture the district title and a higher seed in the Class 6A playoffs. Farmington Continues To Roll: Just as Cleveland and Rio Rancho are dominating Class 6A, Farmington is doing the same in Class 5A. The Scorpions are 8-0 and have outscored their opponents, 400-36 following Friday night’s 56-0 victory over Miyamura that ended before halftime. Farmington is two wins away from an undefeated – and dominant – regular season. Yet, the Scorpions could still end up as the No. 2 seed for the Class 5A playoffs if Los Lunas finishes undefeated as well. Right now, the Tigers, who enjoyed a bye this Week 8, are 7-0 with games remaining against Valley, Del Norte and Valencia County rival Belen. If Los Lunas finishes 10-0, they could get the nod as the No. 1 seed for the Class 5A playoffs based on superior strength of schedule. Raton Likes Fourth Quarters: Four of the top 5 teams in MaxPreps’ latest Class 3A poll come from one district: 3A-2. Raton (#1), St. Michael’s (#2), West Las Vegas (#4) and Robertson (#5) are all highly ranked. District play has started, and we got a taste of what to expect last week when Raton defeated West Las Vegas in a defensive slugfest, 14-7. Raton drove the length of the field in the fourth quarter for the winning TD, draining 8 minutes off the clock. This past Friday, the Tigers did it again. Clinging to a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, Raton mounted a 9-minute drive to paydirt, with All-State RB [player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"] (191 rushing yards) again putting his team on his shoulders. He scored his third TD of the game with just under 3 minutes left to make it 28-20. However, bolstered by a 51-yard pass, Robertson drove 79 yards for a TD by [player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"] on 4th down with 7 seconds remaining. The Cardinal went for 2 to tie the game but failed. Raton won another nail-biter, 28-26, and improved to 8-0 overall, 2-0 in the district. Week 9 Lookahead (Oct. 14-16): Las Cruces at Centennial (Thur. at FOD) Cleveland at Volcano Vista (Thur. at Community) Sandia at Eldorado (Thur. at Wilson) Valencia at St. Pius X (Thur. at Milne) Artesia at Roswell Atrisco Heritage at Rio Rancho West Mesa at Cibola Capital at Miyamura Grants at Albuquerque Academy Lovington at Silver Socorro at Hot Springs Portales at Ruidoso Deming at Santa Teresa Goddard at Alamogordo Bloomfield at Aztec Pojoaque Valley at Moriarty Clovis at Manzano Los Lunas at Valley Navajo Prep at Zuni Los Alamos at Piedra Vista https://twitter.com/AdamKedge/status/1446816814596567045 https://twitter.com/NFHSNetwork/status/1446668904605093890 https://twitter.com/Sartan_football/status/1447300246862635010 https://twitter.com/jonathanfu2nt2s/status/1447022564111421442