Week 13: High School Football Playoff Preview
Week 13 Playoff Preview
Today we preview the Week 13 High School Football Playoff Games from around the State of New Mexico.
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Class 5A Quarterfinals | 5A Brackets Here
No. 8 Clovis @ No. 1 Valley
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Location: Community Stadium, Albuquerque
Time: 7PM
Story Line: Clovis has scored 113 points in their last two games, Valley has scored 123 points in their last two games.
Who's Hot For Clovis: Shaprei Bryant ran for 339-yards and 5 touchdowns against Volcano Vista
Who's Hot For Valley: Bo Coleman who has over 40 total touchdowns this year
Henderson's Take: Think this one is a shootout obviously. If Clovis defensive backs can stop Valley's passing attack = ballgame. Clovis Running Back Kamal Cass is going to get his, you have to hope to contain him. Valley's Student Section should be in full force in hopes of being the 12th Man.
No. 5 Sandia @ No. 4 Las Cruces
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Field of Dreams, Las Cruces
Time: 1PM
Story Line: Rematch of the 2012 5A State Title Game. D-1 Athletes a plenty. Be there.
Who's Hot For Sandia: Sandia's defensive line, scored 3 touchdowns last weekend
Who's Hot For Las Cruces: Linebacker Sam Denmark who has 116 tackles this year
Henderson's Take: Sandia has the best defensive line in New Mexico and they are going to bring the heat on Las Cruces Quarterback Kameron Miller who is just a sophomore, that's what Mayfield did and Mayfield was able to beat the Bulldawgs. Las Cruces has the edge talent wise, now it's just a Coaching Chess Match between Jim Miller and Kevin Barker.
No. 11 Hobbs @ No. 3 Cleveland
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Lightning Rod Stadium At Cleveland, Rio Rancho
Who's Hot For Hobbs: Steven Olivas who caught for 3 touchdowns against Cibola
Who's Hot For Cleveland: Kian Homme who has thrown for over 1,700-yards this year
Story Line: Each have a 2nd year coach, the two teams already played this season with Cleveland winning 52-12
Henderson's Take: Hobbs keeps shocking the State of New Mexico and I cannot remember a time when Hobbs Football was taking place at the same time as Hobbs Basketball. Poor Clayton Jones. Haha. Expecting Hobbs to go out guns blazing, but Cleveland beats them 10 times out of 10 times. Storm should roll into the semifinals.
No. 7 Rio Rancho @ No. 2 Mayfield
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 7PM
Story Line: Rio Rancho is coming off a thrilling win over Carlsbad, Mayfield is coming off a thrilling win over Las Cruces
Who's Hot For Rio Rancho: QB Easton Bruere who's thrown for over 2,700-yards and 31 touchdowns
Who's Hot For Mayfield: QB Kavika Johnson who has over 500-yards total yards of offense in his last two games
Henderson's Take: The last time Rio Rancho went to Las Cruces they lost big 42-6 against Las Cruces. However, the last time Rio Rancho went to Las Cruces in the playoffs they beat Las Cruces in overtime. Let's not write out the Rams just yet. If they can somehow stop Mayfield Quarterback Kavika Johnson, they have a shot. Mayfield looked like a title contender a few weeks back against Las Cruces. Michael Bradley should also be mentioned in the Coach of the Year Conversation.
Class 4A Quarterfinals | 4A Brackets Here
No. 8 Moriarty @ No. 1 Goddard
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 7PM
Location: Wool Bwol
Story Line: Moriarty beat Artesia in 3OT's last week. Goddard is going for back to back titles
Who's Hot For Moriarty: Jonathan Myrick scored 4 TD's last week
Who's Hot For Goddard: Cameron Neff who has played QB all season long
Henderson's Take: Moriarty beat Artesia in overtime and we could not show more respect to their coaching staff. Impressive year after year job by Coach Bob Allcorn. This week Moriarty might find themselves running into a buzz saw traveling to Goddard. Goddard is the heavy favorite in this one. Paging Cody French...
No. 5 Centennial @ No. 4 Los Lunas
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 7PM
Location: Tiger Field
Story Line: Centennial's 2nd playoff game in history, Los Lunas has enough talent to win the whole thing
Who's Hot For Centennial: RB Daniel Conklin who ran for 100-yards against Santa Fe
Who's Hot For Los Lunas: The Seniors: Jacob Holland, Chris Sanchez, Darron Gallegos, Dakota Wood, Jalen Chavez, and Chris Romero
Henderson's Take: I think Centennial Head Football Coach Aaron Ocampo deserves some praise finally. No one saw them beating Deming for the District Title and while they are huge underdogs against Los Lunas, they have had a great season. Los Lunas is completely opposite of Centennial being they are all seniors and extremely experienced. Tigers roll.
No. 6 Deming @ No. 3 Belen
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 7PM
Location: Eagle Field
Story Line: The two teams met back in week one with Belen winning by three. This is one of Deming's best ever senior groups
Who's Hot For Deming: Jerome Sandoval who scored 3 TD's against Roswell
Who's Hot For Belen: Trent Barba who has ran for over 900-yards and 12 touchdowns this year
Henderson's Take: I picked Deming to win this game because I think they have enough senior leadership to make a deep run this year. Belen is as well coached as they get, similar coaching philosophies to Goddard in that regard. Lerma will have his boys ready to prove me and whomever else doubts them wrong.
No. 7 Valencia @ No. 2 Farmington
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 7PM
Location: Hutchinson Stadium, Farmington
Story Line: Valencia just beat Piedra Vista, remember they've also beaten Belen. Farmington is 9-0 against 4A teams
Who's Hot For Valencia: Tyler McClarran who scored 4 touchdowns against PV
Who's Hot For Farmington: Brian Farley who has over 1K yards rushing and over 120 tackles
Henderson's Take: Really impressed that Valencia has made it to the quarterfinals. Props to 2nd year head coach Kevin Jolley. Farmington deserves more credit than they've received. I think Farmington makes another statement this weekend and see them moving into the semifinals with ease. Watch for Brian Farley who has over 1,000-yards and over 100 tackles for Farmington.
Class 3A Quarterfinals | 3A Brackets Here
No. 8 Robertson @ No. 1 St. Mike's
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Brother Abdon, Santa Fe
Time: 1:30PM
Story Line: The Horsemen have won 23 in a row, won their last 35 of 36 games.
Who's Hot For Robertson: Dominic Lucero continues to have a big year rushing the football
Who's Hot For St. Mike's: Nathaniel Leyba has been stepping up at running back lately
Henderson's Take: Robertson might be peaking at the right time with Dominic Lucero doing his thing at Running Back, but it's hard to remember the last time that Robertson beat St. Mike's. The Horsemen seem to be in a class of their own, if Daniel Ortega is healthy the Horsemen should roll.
No. 5 Taos @ No. 4 Bloomfield
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Location: Bobcat Stadium
Time: 7:00PM
Story Line: Taos is 9-1, Bloomfield's only 3A loss is against St. Mike's, Bobcats are loaded
Who's Hot For Taos: Isaac Gonzales is a top flight running back
Who's Hot For Bloomfield: Robert Lyon has thrown for 2,005 yards and 23 touchdowns
Henderson's Take: Taos, if you want to make a statement now is your opportunity. People have doubted this team all year, their only loss is against Santa Rosa. Bloomfield is very, very good this year. I think Bloomfield edges the Tigers out. Is Adrien Vigil playing this weekend?
No. 6 Hope @ No. 3 Silver
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Location: Colt's Stadium
Time: 7:00PM
Story Line: Hope enters as one of the hottest teams in New Mexico, Silver already beat Hope this year 28-8. Hope nearly beat St. Mike's two weeks ago
Who's Hot For Hope: Caleb Myer-Hagan threw for 458-yards and 7 touchdowns last weekend
Who's Hot For Silver: QB Derek Salas has thrown for over 2,128-yards and 23 passing touchdowns this year
Henderson's Take: Hope is on fire. Two weeks ago they nearly beat St. Mike's. I think if this game was in Albuquerque, Hope would have a great shot to beat Silver. Silver is eager to get back to the title game and should have just enough talent to edge out Hope.
No. 7 Pojoaque @ No. 2 Ruidoso
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Location: Warrior Field
Time: 7:00PM
Story Line: Pojoaque won their firs every playoff game last week, Ruidoso is undefeated against 3A teams this year
Who's Hot For Pojoaque: John Ainsworth threw for 2226, ran for 210 last week
Who's Hot For Ruidoso: Parker Johnson has 29 touchdowns this year
Henderson's Take: Never thought we'd be talking Pojoaque in the playoffs, outstanding by Coach Ainsworth beating Academy last weekend 41-40. This week they take on Ruidoso who has enough talent to win the whole thing. Think Ruidoso will win convincingly.
Class 2A Quarterfinals | 2A Brackets Here
No. 8 Navajo Prep @ No. 1 Santa Rosa
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Frank Ortiz Pride Field, Santa Rosa
Time: 1:30PM
Story Line: Santa Rosa has won 29 games in a row and has won the last three 2A state titles
Who's Hot For Navajo Prep: Tyler Sorensen who has thrown for 3,800-yards and 5q touchdowns
Who's Hot For Santa Rosa: Zeke Sena who has ran for 1,200-yards
Henderson's Take: Single Wing vs. the Spread. Could not be any different playing styles this week. This one could come down to weather. It's suppose to snow all day on Saturday. Every tried to throw a football in the snow?
No. 5 Estancia @ No. 4 Clayton
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Location: Yellowjacket Field, Clayton
Time: 7:00PM
Story Line: The two teams are each from District 2-2A and have already met this season with Clayton winning 19-12
Who's Hot For Estancia: Cesar Quintana who ran for 223-yards and 4 touchdowns against Eunice
Who's Hot For Clayton: Allen Hass who has 9 quarterback sacks this year
Henderson's Take: Round two between these two teams should be a good one. Estancia is hot right now and has the talent to beat Clayton. This game comes down to this: Who's better: Estancia's Offense or Clayton's Defense?
No. 6 Cobre @ No. 3 Dexter
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Demon Field, Dexter
Time: 12:00PM *New Start Time
Story Line: Cobre is 9-2, Dexter is 8-2, Cobre looking for the upset, Dexter's defense has been incredible
Who's Hot For Cobre: Head Football Coach Jerry Martinez, Cobre won just one game last year
Who's Hot For Dexter: Kyle Bonner at QB and Jaden Amaro at OL/DL
Henderson's Take: Cobre is making the long drive to Dexter this weekend and they better bring their offense. Dexter is a team built on solid defense and has the talent to win the whole thing.
No. 7 Laguna Acoma @ No. 2 Hatch
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Bear Field, Hatch Valley
Time: 1:00PM
Story Line: Laguna pound Texico last weekend, Hatch has been untouchable against 2A teams this year
Who's Hot For Laguna Acoma: David McGee. Ran for 324-yards and scored 5 touchdowns against Texico
Who's Hot For Hatch: QB Chase Carson who has ran for 1,161-yards and 15 touchdowns
Henderson's Take: Laguna Acoma is the real deal and Hatch better have a game plan in order to win a shootout. Laguna RB David McGee is playing like Mr. Football, Hatch has another Mr. Football Candidate in Chase Carson. Should be a fun one.
Class 1A Finals | 1A Bracket
No. 1 Hagerman @ No. 3 Capitan
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Tiger Field
Time: 1:00PM
Story Line: Hagerman is undefeated on the year, 14 point favorite
Henderson's Take: I did not think Capitan would beat Escalante, just because the Lobos had returned so much talent. Capitan has their work cut out for them again against Hageramen. In my opinion, Hagerman is the 3rd best team if you put them in Class 2A.
8-MAN Finals | 8Man Bracket
No. 1 Gateway @ No. 2 Foothill
Date: Saturday, November 23rd
Location: Menual
Time: 1:00PM
Story Line: Gateway is going for 3 in a row
Henderson's Take: Gateway is going for three in a row, but it's going to be tough winning in Albuquerque on Saturday against a team that is hungry for the upset. Shootout expected, thinking Gateway wins in a nail biter.
