August 13, 2012

Kyle Henderson
NMPreps.com Columnist

Class 2A to be honest is one of my favorite classifications to track each year. It's a shark tank and lately, a Lion from Santa Rosa has dominated the 2A level. We previewed Santa Rosa earlier this year and you guess it, they are dangerous once again and we feel that they are the clear favorite to win the whole thing come December.

If the Lions were do win the 2012 State Title Trophy, it would be Head Coach Mario Trujillo's third state title victory in three years. Power Back Tim Valverde returns as does top two-way prospect Marcus Lopez. IF any team is going to topple the Lions in 2A this year they better have the athletes and size to keep up.

In steps teams like Tularosa and Texico. The Wildcats return a host of solid players into the 2012 season, most notably is their quarterback and receiver connection of Jared Rocha and 6-foot-4 receiver Jim Coleman who is already committed to the New Mexico State Aggies to play basketball after graduation.

As for Texico the Wolverines have size and athletes and have historically played Santa Rosa very close over the last few years. Daniel Gomez and DJ Griego were each among the top offensive and defensive linemen in 2A last year and don't forget about Shay Harrison who is likely a 1,000-yard type back this year.

Bubble Teams

Eunice is going to take a step back from their talented 12-1 team last year as Quarterback Tyler Almager and Defensive Back Junior Carrraza each have graduated. New Head Football Coach Caleb Aldridge takes over and during our preview, its clear it's a new begging, but don't write off the Cardinals just yet.

Slash type player Dylan Frank should be among the top players in 2A and the Cardinals have a very solid set of linemen returning including 6-foot-5, 290 pound James Marley.

Laguna Acoma a team that proved their talent last year nearly beating Tularosa in Wildcat Country returns some salty players from last year including 1,000-yard back David McGree and 1,000-yard receiver Austin Jones. They graduate some massive linemen, something that really helped this bunch get on the map at the end of the 2011 season.

NMMI, Tucumcari, Lordsburg, Hatch Valley, and Mesilla Valley are each going to bring competition to Class 2A this year. The Rattlers return running back Zach Hurd and Luke Smith at quarterback. You always hear rumors out of Tucumcari, but in fairness until they show up with eight players, Tucumcari is going to be Tucumcari.

You never know what you are going to get at NMMI, but we do know that Randy Montoya is a solid head football coach and will have them ready to go by mid-season. Lordsburg made statewide headlines recently as running back Wendell Hayes was clocked in at a 4.37 40-time during the NMPreps Elite Combine. Head Lordsburg Football Coach Louie Baisa is a very underrated head coach and loves to come into the season overlooked.

Hatch Valley and Mesilla Valley each are new additions to Class 2A. Hatch jumps down from Class 3A and the last time they were among the 2A crowd they won three state titles in a row in the early 2000's. New Hatch Valley Quarterback is two-year starter Chase Carson.

Mesilla Valley is coming off winning a Class 1A State Title, but as we've seen with schools jumping up in Classification, it's hard to be successful in year one. Mesilla Valley returns Joe Zielinski and John Jung, two very good football players.

Question Marks

Loving, Estancia, Dexter, Clayton, and Cobre. You know one of these teams is going to surprise us this year. Could it possibly be Cobre who jumps down from Class 3A? The Cobre Indian's seem to have talent that rolls in waves, let's keep an eye on them.