Today we preview in-depth the Class 6A State Championship Game between the 11-1 Mayfield Trojans and the 12-0 Rio Rancho Rams. Catch live game coverage tonight on NMPreps.com starting at 6PM MST.

6A State Football Championship

Mayfield 11-1 vs. Rio Rancho 12-0

Game Time: 7:00PM

Game Location: Rio Rancho Football Stadium

Live Coverage: NMPreps.com, follow @nmpreps

More Lerma Continues Legacy | Artesia Going For No. 28 | 4A Preview | 3A Preview

Rio Rancho Rams 12-0

PF: 556

PA: 199

Wins: 12

Losses: 0

Home Wins: 7

Home Losses: 0

Away Wins: 4

Away Losses: 0

W - Valley 55-0

W - @ Americas 46-18

W - @ La Cueva 41-20

W - Las Cruces 30-22

W - @ Clovis 42-14

W - Atrisco Heritage 57-14

W - Santa Fe 63-7

W - @ Volcano Vista 42-0

W - Cibola 51-16

W - @ Cleveland 24-22

W - Las Cruces 41-23 (Quarterfinals)

W - Eldorado 64-43 (Semifinals)

QB - Easton Bruere, Sr.

WR - Brady Patterson, Sr.

K - John Finnegan, Sr.

WR/DB - Miguel Barreras, Sr.

RB - Matt Jackson, Sr.

DB - Josh Foley, So.

RB - Angelo Lujan, Sr.

LB - Ikaika Waters, Sr.

LB - Anthony Nolan, Sr.

DL Adrian Linzy, Sr.

OL - Luis Torres, Sr.

OL - Grant Hermanns, Jr.

WR - Jacob Perez, Sr.

WR - Marky Alvardo, Sr.

The Rio Rancho Rams are finally here. They've arrived at the big stage and are hosting New Mexico's first ever Class 6A title game Friday Night. A Juggernaut? Yes. What Rio Rancho has done in the last 14 weeks puts them in the category with great teams such as 2011 Cleveland, 2008 Las Cruces, and 2006 Mayfield, that is how good this team is (of course those other three mentioned all went undefeated throughout). Their offense has been almost impossible to stop this year as they've hot the over 40 mark 9 times out of 12. Their offensive line is not the biggest, but they don't give up any sacks, move well, and overall the team chemistry on offense is glue of this unit. "I knew this team would be good, but could they finish? We have a banner in our field house that reads "It's a great distance between Said and Done." We have 5 brand new varsity coaches, had to build a new offensive line, and our defense is somewhat of a rag-tag group that just refuses to lose," Said Head Rio Rancho Football Coach David Howes. 7 out of 8 teams playing in this weekend's state championship game have all played in a title game, expect for Rio Rancho. "It's huge for our community, it's great for the businesses, and I feel that a lot of our community feels that they are part of this. It's a big deal and having the state championship game right here in Rio Rancho. It seals the deal," Said Howes.

There have been just 24 teams at the New Mexico big school classification to ever completed the perfect season. The last was Cleveland High School in 2011 as The Storm went 13-0 beating Mayfield 48-28 under Head Coach Kirk Potter. Ironically, this year the Trojans are the team that stands in front of Rio Rancho's perfect season. (Click Here To See Which Teams In NM Have Gone Undefeated)

On paper and in the stats department, Rio Rancho has been on a completely other level than the rest of the New Mexico High School Football Teams in Class 6A. Head Mayfield Trojan Coach Michael Bradley agrees, "Watching Rio Rancho on film, they remind me of the 2001 Clovis Wildcats. They have a few backs who can go, they have great team chemistry and rarely make mistakes."

The Wildcats went undefeated that year going 13-0 and beating the Mayfield Trojans 17-10. As we dig deeper into what has made Rio Rancho success this year, Head Rio Rancho Rams Coach David Howes said it's been the overall mentality. "We knew we could be good this year, but could we finish. We have a banner in our locker room that says "there is a great distance between said and done."

We have a bunch of guys on this team who just simply refuse to be average and refuse to lose. This senior group has an expectation to be nothing less than a state champion." Stats wise, Rio Rancho has been very explosive on offense scoring 46.3 points per game scoring over 40 in 10 out of their 12 games this year. They have been held to under 30 just once this year in a 24-22 win over Cleveland in the quarterfinals. Senior Quarterback Easton Bruere who is a 2014 NMPreps.com Mr. Football Candidate has thrown for 4,184-yard and 46 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 75%. Last weekend against Eldorado in the semifinals he threw for 567-yards and 4 touchdowns in the Ram's 64-43 win over the Eagles.

"What else is there to really say about Easton?" Said Howes. "Some college out there is going to land him and New Mexico and New Mexico State will have to read about his success." Other stat stars for Rio Rancho include: Angleo Lujan at running back who has rushed for 743-yards, caught for 1,065-yards, and totaled 19 touchdowns. Matt Jackson who will be running track at Arizona State next year has ran for just shy of 400-yards and then there is their A+ receiving corps. Brady Patterson has caught for 1,201-yards, Miguel Barreras has caught for 856-yards, and Marky Alvardo has caught for 418-yards. One area that should not be overlooked enter Friday Night's game is their offensive line.

They are not overly big: Luis Torres is 5-foot-10, 235 and Grant Hermann is having an outstanding year at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds. They have an athletic line which suits their up-tempo offense. Moving to the defensive side of the ball, Rio Rancho is allowing 16.5 points per game which is outstanding in today's game of high scoring offenses they see weekly. "We have a rag tag crazy bunch of guys that just get the job done. Adrian Lindzy is just 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, but leads the team in sacks with 11.0. Cody Gallegos is one linebacker that gets overlooked, but he is solid for being blind in one eye (79 tackles this year)." Leading the team in tackles is Anthony Nolan who has 121 total tackles and Ikaika Waters who has 98 total tackles. In the secondary Miguel Barreras has 8 interceptions and special teams wise, you guess it Rio Rancho is strong in that area as well. Kicker Jonathan Finnegan has over 79 total points this year and kicked two 40-yard field goals last weekend against Eldorado.

"Overall this group just enjoys playing with one-another. We have a program at our school called Character Matters and that has really seemed to help these kids connection. Either way after the game it's going to be bittersweet for me as a coach. You either win or lose, but it's the last high school football game for most of these guys who have worked so hard to get here," Said Howes.

Mayfield Trojans 11-1

PF: 531

PA: 281

Wins: 11

Losses: 1

Home Wins: 7

Home Losses: 0

Away Wins: 4

Away Losses: 1

W - Hobbs 55-35

W - @ EP Franklin 62-55

W - Carlsbad 45-8

W - Alamogordo 51-20

L - Eldorado 50-49 OT

W - Manzano 44-24

W - Onate 35-14

W - Deming 51-0

W - Gadsden 52-7

W - Las Cruces 28-27

W - Clovis 35-21 (Quarterfinals)

W - @ La Cueva 24-20 (Semifinals)

DB - Ethan Alvardo, Jr.

WR - Isaac Figueroa, Sr.

RB - Isaac Vance, So.

QB - Kavika Johnson, Sr.

RB - Payson Rogers, Sr.

LB - Lloyd Gardner, Sr.

LB - Louie Lombardi, Sr.

DL - Mitchell Matheison, Sr.

OL - Colton Evans, Jr.

OL - Cameron Mills, Sr.

OL - Dominic Trujillo, Sr.

OL - Jordan Zuniga, Sr.

OL - Kyle Owens, Sr.

OL - Shane Tiemaan, Sr.

DL - Noah Pierce, Jr.

DL - Brett Kowalski, Sr.

The is the Mayfield Trojans we are talking about. They have played in 10 state championship games since the 2000 season, have one of the richest traditions in all of New Mexico High School Football, and most important know what type of mindset to have on the final weekend of the season. And while Mayfield is peeking at the right time, has only one-loss, playing at Rio Rancho against an undefeated team is going to present a tall task according to Head Mayfield Football Coach Michael Bradley, "Rio Rancho's team reminds me of the 2001 Clovis Team. They don't make mistakes, they had two or three backs who could go and they just played so well together." Looking at the breakdown, you see that Rio Rancho is scoring 46.3 points per game, Mayfield is scoring 44.2 points per game. "You never know what type of game it will be, the winner is usually the team who's defense can step up and make the big play," Said Bradley.

Over the last 20-years: Mayfield and Las Cruces have combined to play in 18 state championship games. Combined they have won 13 out of 19 (68%) of the championship games since 1995. Think about where you were in 1995? There is no question that Jim Bradley Sr. built Mayfield Football, you could even argue he built Las Cruces High School Football as a whole. Bradley Sr. took the Trojans to State Championships in: '95, '96, '98, '01, '03, and '05 before turning over the keys to his son Michael Bradley.

In Michael's first two-years as Head Coach he took the Trojans to back to back state championships finishing a three-peat his father started in 2005. In 9-seasons with the Trojans Bradley has taken the Trojans to now 7 state title games winning in '06, '07, and in '10. Last year the Trojans were defeated by their cross town rival the Las Cruces Bulldawgs losing a heart breaker 27-26.

Rio Rancho Head Football Coach commented on the success of Mayfield going into Friday Night's Game, "They are so well coached, similar to our group in the sense that they have great team chemistry. Quarterback Kavika Johnson is very good, their tailbacks are good, and on defense they are just fundamentally sounds.

There is a reason they continue to get to the State Championship Game." Both offenses can score on any down, Rio Rancho is scoring 46.3 points per game, Mayfield is scoring 44.2 points per game. "These are two of the best two quarterbacks in the state going up against each other. KJ is able to run, pass, and have complete control of our offense.

He has matured every year and really guys like him and Bruere from Rio Rancho are field generals who are calling the shots come game-time. You never know what is going to happen in any game, especially a state championship game, but it usually comes down to which defense can step up and make the big play," said Head Mayfield Football Coach Michael Bradley.

D-1 Bound: Mayfield's Kavika Johnson currently has offers from UTEP, BYU, NMSU, UNM, Easton Washington, and Army. On the year he has thrown for 1,870-yards, rushed for 1,455-yards, and scored 42 touchdowns.

0: State Championship games Las Cruces has lost since 1995

2: Times Mayfield and Las Cruces have met in the championship game

3: State Championship Games Michael Bradley has won since 2006

3: State Championship Games Michael Bradley has lost since 2006

6: State Championships that Las Cruces has won since 1995

6: State Championships that Mayfield has lost since 1995

7: State Championships Mayfield has won since 1995

10: Years in a row that either Mayfield or Las Cruces has reached the title game

18: State Title Games in total that either Mayfield or Las Cruces has played in since 1995

2014: Rio Rancho vs. Mayfield - Friday Night, December 5th at Rio Rancho

2013: Las Cruces 27, Mayfield 26

2012: Las Cruces 35, Sandia 28

2011: Cleveland 48, Mayfield 28

2010: Mayfield 69, Manzano 42

2009: La Cueva 31, Mayfield 14

2008: Las Cruces 26, Eldorado 21

2007: Mayfield 49, Clovis 48

2006: Mayfield 31, Alamogordo 7

2005: Mayfield 17, Clovis 7

2004: La Cueva 40, Clovis 0

2003: La Cueva 24, Mayfield 21

2002: Las Cruces 17, Mayfield 14

2001: Clovis 17, Mayfield 10

2000: Las Cruces 45, Carlsbad 21

1999: Las Cruces 42, Goddard 12

1998: Mayfield 13, Goddard 7

1997: Goddard 3, Clovis 0

1996: Mayfield 14, Manzano 0

1995: Mayfield 13, Clovis 12

[rl]