Week 2: Friday Night Recap & Review
Grine of NMPreps
Complete recap from across the state of New Mexico.
El Paso-Franklin, TX 36, No. 1 Cleveland 13: The number one ranked team in El Paso opened their season with a 21-point win over the top ranked team from New Mexico on Friday night. El Paso-Franklin got on the board early with a pair of rushing touchdowns by Ethan Bustillos and Pablo Gutierrez but failed on both extra points. Cleveland would respond with a rushing TD of their own, before a Franklin FG would make it 15-7. Making one last TD to end the first quarter Franklin QB hit his WR for a 22-7 lead to end the opening quarter. Jeff Davidson completed an 85-yard TD pass to Luke Wysong for a spark to open the second quarter but that would be all for the Storm offense. Franklin moved to 1-0 on the season and Cleveland dropping to 1-1.
No. 5 Centennial 55, West Mesa 0: Aiden Trujillo, who starred last week in the win for Centennial, opened the game with a pair of 35 yard touchdowns and this one was all the Hawks. Trujillo would finish with 225-yards passing, three passing touchdown, along with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the game. Centennial running back Gabriel Acosta hit 100-yards rushing (2 TDs) and Darren Rodriguez had over 100 receiving yards and a pair of TD catches. Centennial goes to 2-0 on the season, West Mesa drops to 0-2.
No. 6 Roswell 76, Lovington 54: No, this is not a typo and yes we are still in football season. Roswell was led by Joel Renteria who was just shy of 200-yards rushing. Roswell running back Freddy Anaya, QB Dominic Nava, Joel Sanchez and Jasia Reese all reached the end zone in this scoring frenzy by the Coyotes. Lovington, made things interesting led by quarterback Casey Perez, who used his legs to grab a 7-0 lead in the first quarter before the gate was left open. He also had a highlight 71-yard TD pass. Roswell improves to 1-0 on the season while Lovington goes to 1-1.
Pine Creek, CO 62, No. 7 Rio Rancho 32: Pine Creek, Colorado jumped out early on the visiting Rams 27-6 in the opening quarter and never looked back. By halftime it was 41-6 and it was time to close shop on this one. The Rams would get an early touchdown in the second quarter but by this time the Eagles had it on cruise control. Rio Rancho falls to 0-2 on the season with the loss.
No. 10 Clovis 30, No. 8 Los Lunas 15: The Tigers opened the contest with a touchdown and looked to control the contest early on. Stud running back Jeston Webskowski (2021) would take it in for a touchdown to and give the Wildcats their first lead to end the half, 8-7. The Cats came alive with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Chance Harris to Malik Phillips and the Wildcats would go on to score 22 points in the second half after a slow start in the first half. The Wildcats improved to 2-0 on the season with Los Lunas dropping to 1-1.
No. 13 Artesia 62, No. 16 Hobbs 28: Bulldog quarterback Clay Houghtaling came alive and opened the game with a touchdown to Matthew Davis. After a Hobbs quick answer, it would be Johntae Rodriguez with an 85-kick return followed by a Jayven Ortega touchdown. The Bulldogs would go up 28-7 to end the first quarter and never slowed down. Another highlight of the night was an Eric Cueto, 90-yard kick off return, Houghtaling would also his McDonald on a 50-yard touchdown pass.
No. 14 Goddard 21, No. 12 Carlsbad 6: In a pounding game the Goddard Rockets are starting to make noise. The Rockets went up 14-0 behind Sammy Zaragoza and Robert Aragon touchdowns to get things going, Aragon's touchdown scored first with under a minute to go in the first. Aragon also reached the end zone in the second to give the Rockets a 21-7 winning score. Goddard moves to 2-0 on the season. Carlsbad evens up at 1-1.
No. 15 Manzano 49, Rio Grande 6: Austin Erickson with back-to-back highlighting nights led the Monarchs to their first win of the season. Erickson had 180-receiving yards in the game with three touchdowns (2 receiving). The Monarchs improve to 1-1 on the season with Rio Grande dropping to 0-2.
No. 18 Deming 22, Capital 14: The visiting Capital Jaguars jumped out early in this game grabbing the attention of the Wildcats with an 8-0 lead with a Luke Padilla touchdown. Deming answered on a 72-yard touchdown catch by Jesse Varela. The teams went into the half tied at 8. Deming score a touchdown better in the second half on their way to a 2-0 start to the season. Capital falls to 1-1 on the year.
No. 20 Cibola 35, Onate 26: In what is a surprising score the Cibola Cougars escape a big upset loss to visiting Onate. The Cougars held on to a late 28-26 lead before finding the end zone again to give them the go-ahead. It is growing pains on both ends for each team. Props to new Onate Knights head coach who got things going offensive for the Knights. This is the most points they've scored since the 2017 season. Aden Chavez (2024) would hit his target for the final touchdown on the night.
No. 21 West Las Vegas 39, Santa Rosa 16: The West Las Vegas Dons moved to 2-0 on the season with a convincing win on the road. Santa Rosa drops to 0-2 on the season.
No. 24 Farmington 46, Belen 24: The Farmington Scorpions moved to 2-0 on the season and defended their rank on the early season. Belen falls to 1-1 on the season.
No. 25 Eunice 38, Estancia 0: Eunice moves to 2-0 on the season with the long trip north to Estancia. The Bears of Estancia dropped to 0-2 on the year.
RAPID FIRE
Earned Front Row Parking at School: Phil Lovato, Highland. Lovato lead the Hornets to a 24-6 win over Valencia on Friday night. The Hornets, now 2-0 on the season, have made a quick statement after being preseason ranked 18th (out of 18). Note taken.
School President: Malik Phillips, Clovis. The Wildcats had impressive outings by running back Jeston Webskowski and quarterback Chance Harris but we go with Phillips who reached the end zone twice in this one.
Free Lunch Ticket: Aiden Trujillo, Centennial. Trujillo could have rushed out early to a New Mexico Mr. Football candidacy after a 225-yard passing night, he hit 10 of 13 passes.
Biggest Win of the Night: Goddard over Carlsbad. Most would go Clovis over Los Lunas, hard to disagree but Goddard is really peaking the interest.
Playoff Win: Farmington over Belen. We said it heading into the weekend that this one could lead to a playoff conversation. Farmington may be thinking higher than projected - could be eyeing a top-four seed?
Bigger 0-2 Surprise: Hobbs. Not because they are 0-2, we projected them to lose both but a 62-28 loss is a bit shocking.
Line-Dine: The house is up many units this week. We still have two tickets out as we watch Pius and St. Michael's games.
Biggest Upset of the Night: It was kept quiet until late into the night but the Tularosa Wildcats just silenced many with a 9-7 win over Socorro who many were quick to claim as the team to beat.
Bigger 2-0 Surprise: Highland. I wanted to go with another team, we mentioned Highland already in rapid fire but I don't think any of us would have picked Highland to be 2-0.
SCOREBOARD
Friday, August 30th
Artesia 62, Hobbs 28 - F
Aztec 50, Newcomb 0 - F
Bernalillo 47, Zuni 0 - F
Bloomfield 63, Escalante 12 - F
Bowie, TX 27, Silver 7 - F
Carrizozo 46, Reserve 0 - F
Centennial 55, West Mesa 0 - F
Cibola 35, Onate 26 - F
Clovis 30, Los Lunas 15 - F
Deming 22, Capital 14 - F
Dexter 21, Texico 15 - F
Dulce 46, Tse' Yi' Gai 12 - F
EP Franklin, TX 36, Cleveland 13 - F
Eunice 38, Estancia 0 - F
Farmington 46, Belen 24 - F
Fort Sumner 57, Cuba 7 - F
Goddard 21, Carlsbad 6 - F
Grants 50, Gallup 0 - F
Hagerman 61, Mescalero Apache 6 - F
Highland 24, Valencia 6 - F
Hot Springs 50, Thoreau 0 - F
Jal 40, Hobbs-JV 20 - F
Kirtland Central 50, Montezuma-Cortez 0 - F
Lake Arthur 77, San Jon/Grady 32 - F
Boise City 14, Logan 0
Lordsburg 56, Loving 6 - F
Magdalena 60, Navajo Pine 6 - F
Manzano 49, Rio Grande 6 - F
Menaul 50, Mesilla Valley 0 - F
Mountain View, TX 28, Gadsden 20 - F
Navajo Prep 50, Wingate 0 - F
NMMI 28, Capitan 0 - F
Pine Creek, CO 62, Rio Rancho 32 - F
Pojoaque Valley 21, Santa Fe Indian 14
Raton 43, Trinidad, CO 6 - F
Robertson 34, Cobre 14
Roswell 76, Lovington 54 - F
Ruidoso 22, Hatch Valley 0 - F
Santa Fe 19, Moriarty 13 - F
Shiprock 16, Crownpoint 14
Springer/Maxwell 61, Hondo Valley 20 - F
Taos 44, Los Alamos 27 - F
Tularosa 9, Socorro 7
Wellington 44, Clayton 0
West Las Vegas 39, Santa Rosa 16
