Grine: Must-See Games This Week
Today, NMPreps publisher Joshua Grine provides his weekly top five games to watch this week in New Mexico high school football.
Over 100 Years of Battles
You hear about the Malice in the Palace well in 1975 we had the war of the Eddy County rivalry. Fans in the bleachers, teams on the field, it was referred too as an all out battle. The two schools didn't play again for two years. Well, I don't think it will be that big of a war but the two teams will do battle on opening Friday night in Artesia. The Artesia Bulldogs enter the season fresh off another trip to a state championship and went 9-4 in 2021. The Bulldogs feature Payton Deans (QB/2023) and Peyton Greathouse (WR/2024) two outstanding and preseason All-New Mexico Team players. The Cavemen, trying to avenge a 31-6 loss in 2021, welcome newly hired head coach Oliver Soukup a former NMSU assistant coach to he Cavemen. The Cavemen will bring back Saul Ruiz (LB/2023), Dane Naylor (QB/2023), and University of Arizona commit Tylen Gonzalez (DE/2023) lead the way for the Cavemen. The Cavemen went 3-7 last season.
Bears, Rams, Oh My!
Number one and number three will kick off the first Friday night in fashion as the La Cueva Bears (No. 1 NMPreps Team Rankings) will take on the Rio Rancho Rams (No. 3) in Rio Rancho. The La Cueva Bears enter the season with a plethora of top talent and look to top ranked quarterback Aidan Armenta (2023) in week one. The Rams will have a new look this season with new head coach Nate Pino taking over after many years as an assistant to the program. Look for next level talents Mikey Wood (WR/2023), Travien Williams II (WR/2023), and Chris Montoya (CB/2023) to take the lead. Last season the Rams flexed on opening night with a 50-0 shutout. The two faced in the playoffs later in the season with the Rams moving on to the state championship with a 35-34 win.
Top Five Match Up in the Metro
We wouldn't do justice to the "must-see" title in the headline if we didn't include the 6A power Cleveland Storm. The Storm preseason ranked second in the state will play host to the Centennial Hawks (No. 7 NMPreps Team Rankings) on Friday night. Although the Centennial Hawks lost some key pieces from last season they have a core of prospects returning in Mikah Gutierrez (RB/2023) and Izaiah Gonzales (DE/2023). The Hawks return off an 8-2 season. The Cleveland Storm welcome new head coach Robert Garza, a longtime assistant at Cleveland, as the new lead man. He will have plenty of options to get him started -- Evan Wysong (QB/2023) a dual threat quarterback along with top ranked prospect Stratton Shufelt (2024) at Linebacker. Nic Trujillo (2023), who like Wysong committed to UNM, will be a target as the Storms' top receiver. The Storm went a perfect 13-0 last season. Cleveland won this game in 2021, 49-21 in Las Cruces.
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Every Game Ranked for Week 1
Join the Conversation
What game should we attend?
What games did we miss and why should they be listed?
Today, NMPreps publisher Joshua Grine provides his weekly top five games to watch this week in New Mexico high school football.
Over 100 Years of Battles
You hear about the Malice in the Palace well in 1975 we had the war of the Eddy County rivalry. Fans in the bleachers, teams on the field, it was referred too as an all out battle. The two schools didn't play again for two years. Well, I don't think it will be that big of a war but the two teams will do battle on opening Friday night in Artesia. The Artesia Bulldogs enter the season fresh off another trip to a state championship and went 9-4 in 2021. The Bulldogs feature Payton Deans (QB/2023) and Peyton Greathouse (WR/2024) two outstanding and preseason All-New Mexico Team players. The Cavemen, trying to avenge a 31-6 loss in 2021, welcome newly hired head coach Oliver Soukup a former NMSU assistant coach to he Cavemen. The Cavemen will bring back Saul Ruiz (LB/2023), Dane Naylor (QB/2023), and University of Arizona commit Tylen Gonzalez (DE/2023) lead the way for the Cavemen. The Cavemen went 3-7 last season.
Bears, Rams, Oh My!
Number one and number three will kick off the first Friday night in fashion as the La Cueva Bears (No. 1 NMPreps Team Rankings) will take on the Rio Rancho Rams (No. 3) in Rio Rancho. The La Cueva Bears enter the season with a plethora of top talent and look to top ranked quarterback Aidan Armenta (2023) in week one. The Rams will have a new look this season with new head coach Nate Pino taking over after many years as an assistant to the program. Look for next level talents Mikey Wood (WR/2023), Travien Williams II (WR/2023), and Chris Montoya (CB/2023) to take the lead. Last season the Rams flexed on opening night with a 50-0 shutout. The two faced in the playoffs later in the season with the Rams moving on to the state championship with a 35-34 win.
Top Five Match Up in the Metro
We wouldn't do justice to the "must-see" title in the headline if we didn't include the 6A power Cleveland Storm. The Storm preseason ranked second in the state will play host to the Centennial Hawks (No. 7 NMPreps Team Rankings) on Friday night. Although the Centennial Hawks lost some key pieces from last season they have a core of prospects returning in Mikah Gutierrez (RB/2023) and Izaiah Gonzales (DE/2023). The Hawks return off an 8-2 season. The Cleveland Storm welcome new head coach Robert Garza, a longtime assistant at Cleveland, as the new lead man. He will have plenty of options to get him started -- Evan Wysong (QB/2023) a dual threat quarterback along with top ranked prospect Stratton Shufelt (2024) at Linebacker. Nic Trujillo (2023), who like Wysong committed to UNM, will be a target as the Storms' top receiver. The Storm went a perfect 13-0 last season. Cleveland won this game in 2021, 49-21 in Las Cruces.
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Every Game Ranked for Week 1
- La Cueva at Rio Rancho
- Carlsbad at Artesia
- Centennial at Cleveland
- Clovis at Hobbs
- Cibola at Eldorado
- Las Cruces at Volcano Vista
- Lovington at Roswell
- Eunice at Raton
- Piedra Vista at Farmington
- Bloomfield at St. Pius X
- Taos at St. Michael's
- Manzano at Mayfield
- Los Lunas at Belen
- Albuquerque at Organ Mountain
- Atrisco Heritage at Sandia
- Santa Fe at West Mesa
- Alamogordo at Valencia
- Dexter at Santa Rosa
- Gadsden at Ruidoso
- Goddard at Santa Teresa
- Aztec at Miyamura
- Capitan at Hagerman
- Estancia at Texico
- Deming at Del Norte
- Cobre at Chaparral
- Espanola Valley at Los Alamos
- Kirtland Central at Silver
- Pojoaque Valley at Socorro
- Grants at Capital
- Santa Fe Indian at Cuba
- West Las Vegas at Escalante
- Hatch Valley at Laguna-Acoma
- Highland at Portales
- Crownpoint at Valley (AZ)
- Albuquerque Academy at Rio Grande
- Tucumcari at Jal
- Gallup at Moriarty
- Shiprock at Tohatchi
- Hot Springs at Tularosa
- Thoreau at Zuni
- Mescalero Apache at NMMI
- Loving at Carlsbad-JV
- Wingate at Belen-JV
Join the Conversation
What game should we attend?
What games did we miss and why should they be listed?
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