Week 3 In Review: Top Players
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Week 3 of this extraordinary – and abbreviated – New Mexico high school spring football season unfolded this past weekend across the state. Here are the standout performers and units for the weekend: Jaden Cowley, Atrisco Heritage: The secret is…
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Continue ReadingWeek 3 of this extraordinary – and abbreviated – New Mexico high school spring football season unfolded this past weekend across the state. Here are the standout performers and units for the weekend:
Jaden Cowley, Atrisco Heritage: The secret is out. Cowley is a pretty good running back. He rushed for 166 yards on just 9 carries and multiple touchdowns in Atrisco’s 55-8 victory over Manzano last Thursday.
Myles Lane, Atrisco Heritage: The sophomore quarterback completed 7-of-11 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns in Atrisco’s big win. Another talented 20213 QB to watch.
Chris Rios Chris Rios 6'1" | 215 lbs | LB Atrisco Heritage | 2021 State NM , Atrisco Heritage: Atrisco’s best defensive player recorded 12 tackles in just over two quarters due to AHS’ lopsided win. Rios has signed with Bethel University in Minnesota.
Eunice’s Rushing Attack: The Cardinals registered 286 rushing yards on 27 carries (10.6 yards per carry) in their 42-6 win over Loving. Junior Conagher Pierce led the way with 130 yards on 10 carries. QB Hayden Dean added 88 yards on 11 carries.
Cord Cox Cord Cox 5'10" | 170 lbs | QB Artesia | 2021 State NM , Artesia: After struggling a week ago in a loss to Goddard, Cox bounced back with a solid performance in Artesia’s 43-28 victory over Roswell at the Bulldog Bowl, ending the Coyotes’ 19-game winning streak. Cox was 13-of-16 passing for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Jake Barrera, Artesia: We knew it was going to be Barrera’s night when he took a handoff on Artesia’s first offensive play of the night and raced 58 yards for a touchdown less than a minute into the game. He finished with 180 yards rushing on 22 workhorse carries.
Braxton McDonald Braxton McDonald 5'10" | WR Artesia | 2021 State NM , Artesia: Arguably the state’s top wide receiver did it again with eight receptions for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns. For the season, he has 25 receptions for 307 yards and 5 TDs.
Alonzo Acosta, Roswell: One of the Coyotes’ few bright spots in a 43-28 loss to Artesia. He had 11 catches for 246 yards and two TDs.
Bernalillo Defense: The Spartans put the clamps on the Albuquerque Academy offense, limiting the Chargers to less than 100 yards in total offense in a 43-0 win.
Uriel Mendoza, Carlsbad: He scored the game-winning TD on a 10-yard run with 11 seconds left to lift Carlsbad to a 27-21 win over Hobbs.
Carlsbad Defense: The Cavemen forced six turnovers by the Hobbs offense, a key and sometimes overlooked factor in the Cavemen’s narrow 6-point win.
Kaden Trevino, Hobbs: Four receptions for 146 yards and 1 TD in the loss to Carlsbad.
Chance Carrillo Chance Carrillo 5'3" | WR Farmington | 2022 State NM , Farmington: He caught a 37-yard TD pass from his brother Caleb in the third quarter before helping spark Farmington’s 28-point fourth quarter in a 49-28 win over Bloomfield. His highlight reel 60-yard TD reception in which he broke three tackles was ‘Top 10 Plays of the Day’ worthy. It gave Farmington a 42-21 lead with 5 minutes left.
Jaiden Shaw, Las Cruces: With the score tied 14-14 late in the in the third quarter, Bulldawgs QB Marcos Lopez Marcos Lopez 6'1" | 185 lbs | QB Las Cruces | 2021 State NM completed a deep pass to Shaw, who hauled in the throw for a 65-yard touchdown. The score ignited a 28-point run by Las Cruces in their 42-14 win over Onate. Later, Shaw laid out for a 31-yard TD reception from Lopez to make it 35-14.
Terrell Hocker, Grants: He led the Pirates to a 51-0 victory over Gallup by rushing 81 yards and 5 yards for a pair of TDs and returning a fumble 55 yards for another TD. He also rushed for a 2-pt conversion. He accounted for 20 points.
Martell Mora Martell Mora 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Santa Fe High | 2022 State NM , Santa Fe: The Demons needed a victory against Los Alamos in the worst way possible after being trounced by Rio Rancho a week earlier in the season opener. Mora lifted Santa Fe to a 40-0 shutout win by rushing for 100 yards and scoring three touchdowns.
Dominic Sais, St. Pius X: He scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and recovered a fumble in St. Pius X’s 21-6 win over Moriarty.
Nathaniel Stone Nathaniel Stone 6'2" | DB Goddard | 2021 State NM , Goddard: The Rockets spread the wealth in a surprisingly easy 50-0 victory over Lovington. Stone scored a TD on offense and intercepted a pass to key the Rockets’ defense.
Luke Padilla Luke Padilla 5'9" | 190 lbs | RB Capital | 2021 State NM , Capital: Padilla rushed for 5 touchdowns as capital crushed Pojoaque Valley in Santa Fe.
Cayden Walton, Raton: The sophomore running back did it all in Raton’s 36-12 win over Estancia, gaining huge chunks of yardage running the football and catching passes.
Calvin Cox Calvin Cox 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB Mayfield | 2022 State NM , Mayfield: Cox led the way in Mayfield’s 28-7 win over Deming at the Field of Dreams by rushing for over 140 yards and two touchdowns, including a 49-yard scamper in the second quarter. Mayfield totaled 215 yards on the ground.
Zakk Thomas Zakk Thomas 5'10" | RB Kirtland Central | 2022 State NM , Kirtland Central: The Broncos trailed 21-7 early in the fourth quarter when Thomas went to work. He first scored on a 5-yard TD run, then returned a punt 66 yards for a score to give Kirtland Central a lead they would never relinquish. Thomas capped off his fantastic fourth quarter with a 26-yard TD reception.
Paul Cieremans, Los Lunas: Another talented quarterback in the 2023 class emerged Saturday as Cieremans threw for one touchdown and ran for two more scores in Los Lunas’ wire-to-wire 31-20 victory over La Cueva. Cieremans’ second TD run went for 85 yards.
Gabe Dickerman, Texico: The Wolverines’ QB accounted for five touchdowns in Texico’s 43-21 victory over Santa Rosa, three passing and two running. He finished 18-of-26 passing for 253 yards while rushing for 166 yards.
Baylor Diaz, Portales: The Rams’ QB threw a 60-yard TD pass and ran 15 yards for another score in Portales’ 45-10 win over Ruidoso.
Trey Ortega Trey Ortega 5'11" | DB Cleveland | 2021 State NM , Cleveland: Ortega scored three touchdowns on a 48-yard reception and two rushes and intercepted a pas sin Cleveland’s 36-21 victory over centennial in Socorro.
Tyler Jensen Tyler Jensen 6'2" | 185 lbs | RB La Cueva | 2021 State NM , Cleveland: Jensen rushed for 162 yards on 18 carries in Cleveland’s win over Centennial. This is what the Storm thought they were getting when Jensen transferred from La Cueva last summer.
Joey Cave Joey Cave 6'0" | 185 lbs | QB Rio Rancho | 2021 State NM , Rio Rancho: After Tommy Lujan Tommy Lujan 5'11" | DB Rio Rancho | 2021 State NM provided Rio Rancho with its lone first half points on an 89-yard kickoff return, Cave led a second half Rams comeback in a 27-14 win over Clovis. Cave ran 32 yards for a TD and then connected with WQR Elijah Figueroa on a 58-yard TD pass.
Johnny Herrera, Volcano Vista: The Hawks’ QB had himself quite a game in Volcano Vista’s 47-43 shootout win over Eldorado Saturday. Herrera threw for 381 yards and 6 TDs, two to Kaden Valdez and two to Kieran Cordova. The winning points came on Valdez’s stunning kickoff return in the closing seconds.
1st Game of Senior Szn!
381 Pass Yards, 6 TDs https://t.co/No0HOpvCYy— Johnny Herrera (@johnny_ix) March 22, 2021
Rio Rancho beat Clovis 27-14. Here are some of the highlights
https://t.co/63WYBTpIUw— NMAA (@_NMAA) March 21, 2021
Beautiful Day in Artesia today, captured this photo. Ready for another week of football. pic.twitter.com/Gyn3dZKSSU
— BulldogFootball 🏈🏆x32 (@artesiafootball) March 22, 2021
– Christopher Rios
– 6’1” 215LBS OLB
– Senior season game 1 highlights
– 12 tackles in 2.5 quarters due to blow out @PrepRedzoneNM @AcademyAtrisco pic.twitter.com/mz6907PAVF— chris rios (@rios552) March 21, 2021
The Los Lunas Tigers scored an impressive victory on Saturday as the the team took down the La Cueva Bears at LLHS, 31-20. Take a look at the game as seen through the lens of News-Bulletin photographer Matthew Narvaiz. https://t.co/0mLcHdYaW3
— VC News-Bulletin (@VCNewsBulletin) March 20, 2021
Let’s Gooooo!!! pic.twitter.com/QZ0Bg7pFw3
— Cleveland Storm 🏈 (@CHSStormFB) March 20, 2021