October 13, 2012

Hendo & Grine
NMPreps.com Publisher

The King of New Mexico High School Football and Owner of NMPreps.com Kyle Henderson breaks down the high school football week seven winner's circle.

Class 5A | Game Recaps | Scores

The Rio Rancho Rams edged out Eldorado Friday Night going for two with just seconds left in the game to defeat the Eagles 39-38. What's impressive about the victory is the fact that Rio Rancho played 80% of the game without starting running back Ulises Astorga as Astorga suffered an MCL strain against Atrisco Heritage two weeks ago. Coach David Howes and Company will have an open week during week eight before opening district with Volcano Vista in two weeks. IF Rio Rancho goes 9-1 on the season they are the No. 1 overall seed in the play-offs regardless of what any other team does in 5A.

The Las Cruces Bulldawgs defeated Onate 52-20 hitting the 50-mark for the second straight week. Continued big play from Quarterback Jonathan Joy and Running Back J.J. Grandados has kept the Pre-Season Title Favorite in the mix now at 5-1 on the season.

Remember this: Las Cruces will finish the season with just played nine games as their week two game against Eldorado was canceled because of weather, so their best case is going 8-1 on the season which would likely pit them at the No. 2 spot in the play-offs as they have a 42-21 loss to Rio Rancho.

The Bulldawgs are more like a Bullmastiff this year. La Cueva moved to 5-1 this year with a commanding 37-13 victory over Cibola. It's interesting that a 5-1 La Cueva Bear Team is not garnering all the attention as some of their other 5A top tier peers. The reason is likely because of their 42-21 loss to Las Cruces bad in week five. Hype or no hype, the Bears can shut any critics up in their next five four games. Carlsbad, Eldorado, Manzano, and Sandia await?

Mayfield moves to 4-3 this year and don't let their record fool you as they are 4-1 against New Mexico teams with their lone loss this year coming against Eldorado 24-14. Friday night they beat Gadsden 51-21, but the score was 21-21 at one point. Clearly Gadsden is improved and when is it safe to say that Mayfield is down? Truth is Mayfield is still better than 80% of the New Mexico teams and it's going to stay that way. Another team no one seems to talk about much are the 5-1 Manzano Monarchs. Under First Year Head Coach Chad Adcox, Manzano has continued their winning ways.

Remember does have a key loss to Mayfield losing 20-14 down at the Field of Dreams and to be honest Manzano still needs a key victory against a 5A big. That opportunity is coming as they take on Sandia, La Cueva, and Eldorado over the next four weeks of the season. The Sandia Matadors at 5-1 this year made a statement Saturday against the 5A defending state champ Cleveland winning by three touchdowns 28-7.

What makes Sandia so tough to beat is dealing with their size up front, play of Quarterback Craig Coffman, and their abundance of depth at literally every position. The Matadors now face the best 2-5 team in the State of New Mexico as they head down to Clovis in week eight. Coach Kevin Barker should slide into the Coach of the Year Discussion if the Matadors can win at Leon Williams which they have done before.

The Valley Vikings now at 3-3 this year with a monster win against Atrisco Heritage literally makes this one of the most important wins of the weekend. Valley who had played a few big close was on the verge of missing the play-offs and with their back against the wall they were able to give Atrisco Heritage their second straight loss of the season with a 31-28 victory. Key fact to remember when filling out your play-off brackets.

If Valley wins District 5-5A with a 7-3 record and Atrisco finishes the year with a 8-2 record Valley has to be seeded higher in the play-offs by ruling of the NMAA seeding guidelines. Volcano Vista moved to 3-3 with a lopsided win against Del Norte, Hobbs is now 2-5 with a win against Lovington, and West Mesa beat Rio Grande earning their first win of the season with a 42-0 district victory.

Class 4A | Game Recaps | Scores

The overall No. 1 team in the State of New Mexico the Goddard Rockets came from behind for a second week in a row to beat a District 4-5A opponent. Goddard trailed Carlsbad 17-0 for most of the game until a late surge of offense led by Quarterback Anthony Ornelas kept the Rockets unbeaten record in tack to move to 6-0 this year. All teams are touchable on Friday Night when you play a tough weekly schedule, what is scary about Goddard for other 4A teams is they are playing up against 5A comp and continuing to show their resilience and heart when the game is on the line.

Up next for Goddard is Lovington, Artesia, and Roswell. They when those three and they are the No. 1 play-off seed in the 4A or 5A. The Artesia Bulldogs had to score 55 points to beat 2-5 Clovis.

Goddard beat Clovis last weekend by 30 points, so does that mean that Goddard is 30 points better than Artesia, NO. The Bulldogs score at will this season against teams that have trouble getting pressure on the quarterback, which puts their defense on the field more than any defense needs to be.

When Artesia beats Clovis, the Bulldogs are almost a lock to be in the State Title Game. The Los Lunas Tigers ran right past Valencia County Rival Belen Fright Night 40-0 and continue to prove each week that they are no fluke. Let's get this straight for any Southern New Mexico doubters, Los Lunas is a title contender and over the last five years Valencia County has produced some teams that match up against Artesia and Goddard very well.

Artesia owes Los Lunas in the play-offs if they are to meet in the finals or the semifinals, keep that in mind. Also, I want to make a personal apology to Chris Wisneski the quarterback of Los Lunas for not having him on our Midseason All-State Team. He is lights out and very comparable to Dyaln Barba of Belen and Orey Feerer of Valencia, which I think is a huge compliment.

The Piedra Vista Panthers now 6-0 this year are earning style points with lopsided victories weekly, but their competition has been nothing to brag about. Panther fans, we respect your play, the talent on your team is deep, but what on your schedule really says you're a title contending team? Beating Grants? Beating Santa Fe? Beating Moriarty or Bernalillo? Piedra Vista needs to close out the year 10-0 if they want to be mentioned in the same category with the other three 4A giants.

Deming moved to 4-2 this weekend with another thrilling victory. Two weeks ago they beat Silver 14-12 and this weekend they beat Alamogordo 29-28. Continued play from Ismail Garrett at running back has been key and Deming is the clear favorite to win district 3-4A this season which will likely put them at 8-2 if things continue to bounce their way. They have loses to Belen and to Artesia, which puts them at the No. 6 spot come play-off time or if Belen continues to slide in district, Deming will jump to as good as a No. 5 seed.

Moriarty dominated Roswell this weekend 56-14 thanks to 124-yards and six touchdowns from Junior Running Back Justing Manning. Year after year, Moriarty Head Coach Bob Allcorn continues to do more with less and with St. Pius X taking a late season slide, Moriarty should be eyeing the District 5-4A Title. Santa Fe, Del Norte, and St. Pius X are next, win those three and Moriarty will finish at 7-3.

Aztec, Farmington, Los Alamos, Grants, and Santa Fe are still in the play-off conversation won this weekend. Aztec now at 3-3 defeated St. Pius X 46-27 and it looks like Aztec has found their midseason stride wining three in a row. The Tigers played a gauntlet first half of the season and the three teams they have lost to (Los Lunas/Goddard/Manzano) are a combined 17-1. Hard to believe that Piedra Vista is really that much better than Aztec at this point. Farmington beat Bloomfield which was expected and moves to 4-2 and the record looks even better now that Miyamura lost to Grants this weekend.

Farmington is the spoiler in District 1-4A and needs to beat either Aztec or Piedra Vista to insure their play-off spot. Los Alamos moved to 4-3 this year with a win over Bernalillo thanks to three touchdowns from Quarterback Brice Van Etten. Santa Fe also in the 2-4A District Title Race beat Espanola by big margin thanks to three rushing touchdowns from Anthony Abeyta.

The Grants Pirates won a "must win game" against Miyamura powered by Timothy White's 181-yards rushing. Grants is looking good in District 6-4A and with Belen wounded, the Pirates could even take over the number two spot in District 6-4A. Lastly, Centennial beat Hot Springs, Kirtland Central beat Capital, and Valencia earned their first win on the year against Gallup.

Class 3A | Game Recaps | Scores

The St. Michael's Horsemen rolled to another victory against a struggling opponent 58-7. Saturday, the Horsemen dominated NMMI and basically played their JV for the entire second half. While St. Michael's is the clear favorite to win 3A, their last three wins come against teams that are a combined 2-17.

They are open in week eight before a trip to Silver City to take on Silver in a game that could be a preview of the 3A state title game. The Silver Fighting Colts buried Ruidoso 38-6. The same Ruidoso that was 6-0 on the season. Silver just proved how down Class 3A is this year and let's face it this year Class 3A is a two horse race. The Colts now 5-1 this year have Santa Teresa next then St. Michael's, Socorro, and Hot Springs. If they beat St. Michael's, Silver is the No. 1 in 3A come seeding time.

No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, and No. 7 in Class 3A all lost this weekend, so we highlight Socorro next as the Warriors defeated Taos 34-7. Now while Taos was ranked 5th and Socorro was ranked 8th, Socorro is a much better program under Damian Ocampo and I feel that most in the State picked Socorro to beat Taos, especially at Warrior Field.

If you're thinking that Socorro might just be the third best team in Class 3A, hold on for one minute, Ruidoso beat Socorro 19-10 and we all learned how good Ruidoso really is this weekend? This weekend has an interesting story line for Socorro as Damien Ocampo and Warriors take on Centennial and his brother Aaron Ocampo in what is really an important game for both teams.

The Robertson Cardinals took one step closer to winning District 2-3A with a 24-15 win over Pojoaque, Portales earned a huge home field victory over Hope Christian 19-14, and West Las Vegas won their first game of the season beating Santa Fe Indian School 38-6.

Class 2A | Game Recaps | Scores

The Santa Rosa Lions are so far out in front they are in Class 3A. The Lions rocked Estancia 51-0, I mean their last few games have not even been close. The Lions now 7-0 take on Clayton, Tucumcari, and Texico to finish out the season. Maybe one of those teams can are all three combined can give these Lions a late season test before the play-offs.

Texico is still undefeated as well now at 6-0 with a 28-21 win over Tucumcari. What I like about Texico is their no-nonsense type play and their rush attack. Seems like every week that running back Shay Harrison breaches the 100-yard mark.

At the No. 3 spot or the No. 2 spot depending on whom you speak with you have the Tularosa Wildcats who defeated Hatch Valley 34-28 thanks to three touchdowns from Jim Coleman. Tularosa is athletic as usually and have the speed to get in a scoring shootout with Santa Rosa. If their defense can improve they'll have a shot at the title.

Lordsburg beat Cobre 42-6 to move to 1-0 in district play and as long as Lordsburg Running Back Wendell Hayes is fed the rock, Lordsburg is going to put points on the board. The Mavericks are now 4-3 this year with a tough stretch coming up as Tularosa, Hatch, and Mesilla Valley are on tap.

Clayton and Laguna Acoma were also big winners in week seven. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Clovis JV 34-8. Their win over the Wildcat's JV pushes their record to 5-1 this year. I've been skeptical about this team all year and they can prove me wrong in these next four weeks against Santa Rosa, Tucumcari, Texico and Estancia.

I think if the Yellow Jackets go 1-3 in district they'll garner one of the final play-off spots. Laguna Acoma took control of their district 1-2A with a 41-6 win over perviously unbeaten Tohatchi.

Class 1A | Game Recaps | Scores

First off McCurdy is not undefeated. They are 5-1 this year. Well, unbeaten on the field, but since they had to forfeit their game against Ft. Sumner a few weeks back McCurdy has one loss. Saturday they beat Dulce 60-6. This team is powerful and headlined by Quarterback Eric Vigil.

The Escalante Lobos are now 7-0 this year after beating Ft. Sumner in Ft. Sumner 35-20. The Lobos continue to impress and this win against Ft. Sumner is enough to push them to the number one spot in our updated Class 1A Rankings. Hagerman his now 6-1 this year after beating Cloudcroft 48-12. The Bobcats look dangerous.

Capitan who got off to a rough start this year losing their first two have now won three in a row. They beat Loving 47-0, last week they beat NMMI 55-0, and the week before that they beat Estancia 47-8.