And the winner of the 2021 New Mexico Heisman is. . .

The high school football season is in the books, and what a fantastic season it was. The time has come to award the 2021 New Mexico Heisman. <strong>THE THREE FINALISTS: (Alphabetical Order)</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137861" first="Aden" last="Chavez"], Cibola</strong>: As our #1 prospect for the 2023 class, the 6-foot-5 Chavez more than lived up to the preseason hype even though Cibola saw its season come to an end in a quarterfinal loss to district rival Rio Rancho. In 11 actual games (the Cougars are credited with a forfeit win over Highland) , Chavez threw for 3,075 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 62.1 percent of his passes.  He finished first in the state in total passing yards (by a margin of 350+ yards) and second in TD passes. Chavez has everything a Div. I programs wants in a QB: height, arm strength, accuracy, intelligence, leadership. By this time next year Chavez could be ready to sign with a FBS program. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"], Rio Rancho</strong>: Had Rio Rancho not had two regular season games cancelled due to covid protocols by their opponents (or suffered a rib injury in the postseason), Vigil would have likely led the state in rushing yards. Still, in 10 games, Vigil amassed 1,583 yards on the ground (158.3 yards per game), averaged 9.1 yards per carry, accounted for 2,000+ all-purpose yards and scored 30 touchdowns. His Heisman moment came in the final regular season game when he rushed for 323 yards and multiple TDs against rival Cleveland. Two weeks later, he rushed for five TDs in the Rams’ quarterfinal victory over Cibola. Vigil is fast, elusive, slippery and gifted with great vision. That’s why he’ll be playing FBS football next season for New Mexico. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="139521" first="Evan" last="Wysong"], Cleveland</strong>: MaxPreps has already named Wysong as the 2021 New Mexico Player of the Year. And he’s deserving of the honor after quarterbacking the Storm to a perfect 13-0 record and another Class 6A championship. He passed for 1,787 yards and rushed for 987 yards, barely missing membership in the prestigious 1,000-1,000 club. Wysong’s older brother Luke was the fastest player in the state last year and Evan has plenty of speed as well. Several times this season Wysong has burst through the first and second levels of the defense, fired up the rockets and raced past the secondary on his way to a TD. Best news for Storm fans? Wysong returns for one more season looking for a Cleveland three-peat. <strong>And the winner is</strong>. . . [player_tooltip player_id="26227" first="Zach" last="Vigil"]. Yes, Vigil didn’t play many snaps in Rio Rancho’s final two playoff games, but his regular season and playoff opener were extraordinary. He essentially secured the award in the regular season finale against Cleveland. It was as dominant a performance by a running back as any we’ve seen in years. The fact it came against a talented Storm defense makes it even more impressive.  Next stop for Vigil: UNM. <strong>Seven Serious Contenders</strong>: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"], La Cueva: </strong>Armenta’s first season as the starting quarterback for La Cueva was a success as he led the Bears to the 6A semifinals before a heartbreaking 35-34 loss to Rio Rancho ended their season. Armenta threw for 2,696 yards and 28 TD and just 6 INT. Like Chavez, he’ll be back in 2022. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137885" first="Paul" last="Cieremans"], Los Lunas</strong>: Few quarterbacks in the state had a better season than Cieremans, who returns in 2022 when Los Lunas elevates to Class 6A after winning the 5A title Thanksgiving weekend. Cieremans was arguably the top dynamic QB in the state with 1,347 rushing yards and 1,544 rushing yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26247" first="Josh" last="Gerardo"], Volcano Vista</strong>: Gerardo directed one of the state’s most prolific passing attacks by throwing for 2,713 yards and 26 TD.  After one season as Volcano Vista’s starting QB, Gerardo will play at the next level. He holds recent offers from Gustavus Adolphus, Clarke University, Cornell College and Bethany College. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137884" first="A.J." last="Rivera"], Albuq. Academy</strong>: The Chargers saw their 2021 season come to a disappointing end at Moriarty in the quarterfinals but there’s no question Rivera enjoyed a fantastic season as a junior with 2,531 passing yards and 23 TD in leading Albuquerque Academy to a 9-3 record. He’ll be back in 2022. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26233" first="Isaac" last="Hinson"], Lovington</strong>: Hinson is one of a core group of players that helped lead Lovington to the Class 4A state championship. Hinson has been a two-way standout all season long as one of the Wildcats’ ‘Fantastic Four’ on offense and one of the top defensive backs in 4A. Offensively, he accounted for a team high 1,299 all-purpose yards. Defensively, he made 110 tackles. He deserves to play at the next level. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134963" first="Nathan" last="Lopez"], Cibola</strong>: The most impressive thing about Lopez, besides his toughness and competitiveness, is that he finished as the state’s leader in receptions with 88. The next highest figure is 67 ([player_tooltip player_id="137928" first="Kellan" last="Gehres"], Albuq. Academy). So Lopez had at least 21 more receptions than anybody else in New Mexico. His prep career is over but he was enjoyable to watch. The People’s Champion. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138053" first="Cayden" last="Walton"], Raton</strong>: Walton probably isn’t well known south of Santa Fe, but you could make the argument he was the state’s second best running back behind Vigil this season. Walton finished as the state’s leading rusher with 1,905 yards and 24 TD. He’ll be back in 2022 and has already amassed 4,848 career rushing yards. <strong>Honorable Mention: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26253" first="Dallas" last="Boyd"] (Las Cruces); [player_tooltip player_id="26232" first="Brandon" last="Furbee"] (Farmington)<strong>; </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="26265" first="Martell" last="Mora"] (Santa Fe); [player_tooltip player_id="26256" first="Adam" last="Aguilera"] (Lovington); [player_tooltip player_id="208819" first="Aidan" last="Granado"] (Silver); [player_tooltip player_id="26267" first="Ian" last="Lopez"] (Centennial); [player_tooltip player_id="198052" first="Kieran" last="Cordova"] (Volcano Vista); [player_tooltip player_id="198250" first="Dominic" last="Esquibel"] (Pojoaque Valley); [player_tooltip player_id="26257" first="Marco" last="Ybarra"] (St. Pius X); [player_tooltip player_id="137928" first="Kellan" last="Gehres"] (Albuq. Academy); [player_tooltip player_id="26269" first="Damien" last="Gallegos"] (West Las Vegas); [player_tooltip player_id="26261" first="Matthew" last="Gonzales"] (Robertson); [player_tooltip player_id="208691" first="Mikah" last="Gutierrez"] (Centennial); [player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"] (Hobbs); [player_tooltip player_id="26234" first="Dylan" last="Quartieri"] (Raton); [player_tooltip player_id="208812" first="Andres" last="Madrid"] (Santa Rosa); [player_tooltip player_id="135097" first="Kaden" last="Valdez"] (Volcano Vista); [player_tooltip player_id="139523" first="Nic" last="Trujillo"] (Cleveland). https://twitter.com/_RRHSathletics/status/1467335793375002627 https://twitter.com/zacharyvigil21/status/1466499127538159618 https://twitter.com/zacharyvigil21/status/1465149943124054016 https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1467317543043944449 https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1467021757764755456 https://twitter.com/AdenChavez08/status/1465130312791302147 https://twitter.com/VSCHS_Storm/status/1466565408253624327 https://twitter.com/WysongEvan/status/1465473018327552001