Feature: District 1-5A Preseason Preview
- By J Grine
- New Mexico High School Volleyball
- 0 Replies
Last Season Record: 20-4, 8-0
Last Season District Finish: 1st Place
Quick Hit: The Panthers played in the 2014 State Championship falling to Centennial in the final game of the season. OH-Autumn Begay (2016) returns as one of the more experienced players from a team that losses a lot of talent including Brianna Murphy who will be playing at Otero Junior College this season. The Panthers will have to replace a lot and hope class of 2016 members step into important roles this year. Sheston Culpepper (2016) a talented DS played well last season and will need to be one of those players to step into that role. Stephanie Schmidt (MB/2017) stepped up early last season and will be another name to know this season.
The biggest question regarding the Panthers: They lose talent, will their returners be enough to be a top-4 team or even to win this District?
#2. AZTEC TIGERS
Last Season Record: 12-11, 5-3Last Season District Finish: 2nd Place
Quick Hit: The Tigers are moving in the right direction and return some young, but solid talent to the 2015 squad. The Tigers will look to class of 2017 player Vannessa Chavez and 2018 member Myra McCaskill to lead the way for the Tigers. These two could become the names to know for the next to years in this District especially with PV graduating some studs.
The biggest question regarding the Tigers: Is it their time or are we one year away from what could be a promising two year stretch for the Tigers. To early?
Last Season Record: 10-13, 4-4
Last Season District Finish: 3rd Place
Quick Hit: No. 11 (NMPreps.com Team Rankings) the Farmington Scorpions could be considered a true contender to play in the later rounds of the state tournament. They return two players in Lexie Jackson (2018/L) and Ashley Flack (2016/S) who create this duo that will be experienced enough to challenge the Tigers of Aztec along with the PV Panthers.
The biggest question regarding the Scorpions: They need more respect in this District, but will they accept the challenge or continue their recent decline after two above .500 years (2013 & 2012).
#4. GALLUP BENGALS
Last Season Record: 6-16, 2-5Last Season District Finish: 4th Place
Quick Hit: The Bengals had one solid win over Farmington late in district play and hope they could be that Gallup team in 2015. They only had wins over 4A Taos, 4A Bloomfield and cross town rival Miyamura. They will need to improve quickly if they want any chance at a DC. Good news they only graduate three players and bring back Adrienna Steward (2016/OH/Gallup HS).
The biggest question regarding the Bengals: They didn't lose much, do they have the talent to create some buzz for the volleyball team?
Last Season Record: 8-13, 1-7
Last Season District Finish: 5th Place
Quick Hit: It's uncertain what the Patriots return in terms of a roster. The roster is poorly managed and no response on the outlook for the 2015 campaign. After a nice 3-0 start last season, with wins over 4A and 3A teams the Patriots struggled against teams in 5A only beating Gallup (from 5A-NM).
The biggest question regarding the Patriots: Umm... Everything at this point until we get more info (grinejosh@yahoo.com).
2015 1-5A PRESEASON ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
Autumn Begay, (2016/OH/Piedra Vista HS) *Player of the Year Candidate
Vanessa Chavez (2017/Aztec HS) *Player of the Year Candidate
Ashley Flack (2016/S/Farmington HS) *Player of the Year Candidate
Lexie Jackson (2018/L/Farmington HS)
Stephanie Schmidt (2017/MH/Piedra Vista HS)
Sheston Culpepper (2016/DS/Piedra Vista HS)
Myra McCaskill (2018/Aztec HS)
Adrienna Steward (2016/OH/Gallup HS)
More Stories:
- 2015 Volleyball Preseason Headquarters (Previews, Rankings, Etc)
Inexperienced La Cueva has work cut out for them in 2015
- By kyle h
- New Mexico High School Football
- 5 Replies
Inexperienced Bears have work cut out for them in 2015
By Kyle Henderson of NMPreps.com
Overview
It’s La Cueva. The school no matter the enrollment number, the athletes, the sport, whatever, it’s the high school in the Northeast Heights that is supposed to win at pretty much everything. In the early 2000’s La Cueva produced some of the best football and baseball teams New Mexico had ever seen, the school is winning constant awards for academics and producing top tier student athletes on all fronts. However, while the school will continue to be among the top ranked academic public schools in New Mexico the neighborhood and the district are not growing compared to West Side schools, this is fact.
Homes of former La Cueva graduates are not turning over quickly enough and in the early 2000’s, La Cueva was sitting with an enrollment of 2,300-2,400 students. Today we’re told their enrollment just cleared the 1,800 mark. How does this relate to football? As you know football is a game of numbers and the more bodies you have, the higher chances you’re going to land better on the field personnel and senior leadership, two aspects where La Cueva is lacking heading into the 2015 season. The Bears have just 8 seniors on their roster and will start 6 sophomores.
“Being young is a fair observation of where we are at right now. We’ve got a young team, but it’s a hard working team, a team that has got to do a lot of learning, a team that has to go through some trail by fire, but we’re pretty proud of this year’s team.
We don’t have the seniors we had last year, but we have teammates that are willing to support each other and that means Freshmen on up to Seniors. We have some great upperclassmen that don’t have any egos, they just come out and work hard every day, and are helping out our younger guys,” Said Back now in his third year as Head Coach at La Cueva and coming off an impressive 9-3 season in 2014 just losing to Mayfield in the semifinals 24-20.
What To Expect
Leading the offense this year will be incoming Junior Quarterback Chris Campbell at 6-foot-0 and 170 pounds. Campbell had an older brother go through the program and speaking with him yesterday, he seems more like a senior than a junior and looks to be their offensive leader. Campbell looks to have good athleticism and playmaking skills. In the backfield it looks like Thomas Bui will get the start in awaiting the full return of Noah Hill. Hill is a 5-foot-9, 180 pound senior that suffered an injury last season and is near 100% recovery. Hill is likely their best on the field football player, their home run threat if you will.
At tight end, receiver, running back, even quarterback, just wherever on the field really will be Junior to be Jonathan Stroman, but he’s ineligible for the La Cueva to start the season. Up front watch for Ryan McClain who will be a sophomore and for Justin Hathoot.
The Bears defense will be led by Ty Jordan a 180 pound Junior defensive tackle at their linebacker is their strength of their team. Sophomore Derek Loidolt looks to be one of their top players already as just a sophomore at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, Brandon Murrillo is a new name to know as well as Jeremy Winter, and Junior to be Josh Woisin is 5-foot-9, 170 pound backer that really impressed us as well.
In the secondary, the Bears will be led by Senior Lucas Silver who was one of the top overall defensive backs at the NMPreps Elite Combine.
“Derrick Loidolt at middle linebacker, he is a phenomenal young man, and can fill a hole with the best of them. Ryan McClain is a sophomore offensive linemen to watch along with guys like Aidan Napier, Reece Wilkinson, Grant Giesler, and Tristan Roswold are among many sophomores that are going to play key positions this year as sophomores. They got some learning to do early, but I think they are ready for that task,” commented Back on his talented sophomore class.
Names To Know In 2015
Chris Campbell-QB
Ryan McClain-OL
Justin Hathoot-OL
Thomas Bui-RB
Noah Hill-RB
Brandon Murrillo -LB
Jeremy Winter-LB
Derek Loidolt-LB
Josh Woisin-LB
Lucas Silver-DB
Ty Jordan - DL
2015 Schedule
“We’re going to find out what we are made out of early. We won’t see a lot of our success on the scoreboard at times, but we will continue to grow as a team each week. We open with Atrisco Heritage, we then play Las Cruces here on a Saturday, then Rio Rancho, Cibola for homecoming, Valley, Del Norte, and then our district which is always tough and a dogfight all the way through,” Said Back on their schedule.
@ Atrisco Heritage 08/28/2015 8:00 pm
Las Cruces 09/05/2015 1:00 pm
@ Rio Rancho 09/11/2015 7:00 pm
Cibola 09/17/2015 7:00 pm
Valley 09/25/2015 7:00 pm
@ Del Norte 10/01/2015 7:00 pm
@ Eldorado 10/09/2015 7:00 pm
@ Sandia 10/23/2015 7:00 pm
@ Highland 10/29/2015 7:00 pm
Manzano 11/05/2015 7:00 pm
Quarterback Talk
We caught up with La Cueva Junior Chris Campbell at practice on Thursday. “We’re a young team, but I think we are up for it. We’re a great team, close knit, one big family. As for me I am trying to build that bond that we’ll have here forever and I bleed blue. You have to represent La Cueva and I think the school pride will pick up this year.”
Our Take
It’s going to be a different La Cueva team than you’ve seen in years past. They are super young and as stated they are going to start 6 sophomores this year and a junior at quarterback. They have a tough opening schedule which should provide for a more seasoned team come their back end district schedule which is very tough as it is every year. When guys like Noah Wade and Jonathan Stroman are back on the field, La Cueva is going to get a big boost, but for now a lot of these underclassmen are going to have to step up which they are capable of. It could be a long season at times for La Cueva, but it seems as though they are grooming some talented young pups to make a real run at it next year or the year after. Down year? Who knows, but you generally lose one game for every sophomore you start.
By Kyle Henderson of NMPreps.com
Overview
It’s La Cueva. The school no matter the enrollment number, the athletes, the sport, whatever, it’s the high school in the Northeast Heights that is supposed to win at pretty much everything. In the early 2000’s La Cueva produced some of the best football and baseball teams New Mexico had ever seen, the school is winning constant awards for academics and producing top tier student athletes on all fronts. However, while the school will continue to be among the top ranked academic public schools in New Mexico the neighborhood and the district are not growing compared to West Side schools, this is fact.
Homes of former La Cueva graduates are not turning over quickly enough and in the early 2000’s, La Cueva was sitting with an enrollment of 2,300-2,400 students. Today we’re told their enrollment just cleared the 1,800 mark. How does this relate to football? As you know football is a game of numbers and the more bodies you have, the higher chances you’re going to land better on the field personnel and senior leadership, two aspects where La Cueva is lacking heading into the 2015 season. The Bears have just 8 seniors on their roster and will start 6 sophomores.
“Being young is a fair observation of where we are at right now. We’ve got a young team, but it’s a hard working team, a team that has got to do a lot of learning, a team that has to go through some trail by fire, but we’re pretty proud of this year’s team.
We don’t have the seniors we had last year, but we have teammates that are willing to support each other and that means Freshmen on up to Seniors. We have some great upperclassmen that don’t have any egos, they just come out and work hard every day, and are helping out our younger guys,” Said Back now in his third year as Head Coach at La Cueva and coming off an impressive 9-3 season in 2014 just losing to Mayfield in the semifinals 24-20.
What To Expect
Leading the offense this year will be incoming Junior Quarterback Chris Campbell at 6-foot-0 and 170 pounds. Campbell had an older brother go through the program and speaking with him yesterday, he seems more like a senior than a junior and looks to be their offensive leader. Campbell looks to have good athleticism and playmaking skills. In the backfield it looks like Thomas Bui will get the start in awaiting the full return of Noah Hill. Hill is a 5-foot-9, 180 pound senior that suffered an injury last season and is near 100% recovery. Hill is likely their best on the field football player, their home run threat if you will.
At tight end, receiver, running back, even quarterback, just wherever on the field really will be Junior to be Jonathan Stroman, but he’s ineligible for the La Cueva to start the season. Up front watch for Ryan McClain who will be a sophomore and for Justin Hathoot.
The Bears defense will be led by Ty Jordan a 180 pound Junior defensive tackle at their linebacker is their strength of their team. Sophomore Derek Loidolt looks to be one of their top players already as just a sophomore at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, Brandon Murrillo is a new name to know as well as Jeremy Winter, and Junior to be Josh Woisin is 5-foot-9, 170 pound backer that really impressed us as well.
In the secondary, the Bears will be led by Senior Lucas Silver who was one of the top overall defensive backs at the NMPreps Elite Combine.
“Derrick Loidolt at middle linebacker, he is a phenomenal young man, and can fill a hole with the best of them. Ryan McClain is a sophomore offensive linemen to watch along with guys like Aidan Napier, Reece Wilkinson, Grant Giesler, and Tristan Roswold are among many sophomores that are going to play key positions this year as sophomores. They got some learning to do early, but I think they are ready for that task,” commented Back on his talented sophomore class.
Names To Know In 2015
Chris Campbell-QB
Ryan McClain-OL
Justin Hathoot-OL
Thomas Bui-RB
Noah Hill-RB
Brandon Murrillo -LB
Jeremy Winter-LB
Derek Loidolt-LB
Josh Woisin-LB
Lucas Silver-DB
Ty Jordan - DL
2015 Schedule
“We’re going to find out what we are made out of early. We won’t see a lot of our success on the scoreboard at times, but we will continue to grow as a team each week. We open with Atrisco Heritage, we then play Las Cruces here on a Saturday, then Rio Rancho, Cibola for homecoming, Valley, Del Norte, and then our district which is always tough and a dogfight all the way through,” Said Back on their schedule.
@ Atrisco Heritage 08/28/2015 8:00 pm
Las Cruces 09/05/2015 1:00 pm
@ Rio Rancho 09/11/2015 7:00 pm
Cibola 09/17/2015 7:00 pm
Valley 09/25/2015 7:00 pm
@ Del Norte 10/01/2015 7:00 pm
@ Eldorado 10/09/2015 7:00 pm
@ Sandia 10/23/2015 7:00 pm
@ Highland 10/29/2015 7:00 pm
Manzano 11/05/2015 7:00 pm
Quarterback Talk
We caught up with La Cueva Junior Chris Campbell at practice on Thursday. “We’re a young team, but I think we are up for it. We’re a great team, close knit, one big family. As for me I am trying to build that bond that we’ll have here forever and I bleed blue. You have to represent La Cueva and I think the school pride will pick up this year.”
Our Take
It’s going to be a different La Cueva team than you’ve seen in years past. They are super young and as stated they are going to start 6 sophomores this year and a junior at quarterback. They have a tough opening schedule which should provide for a more seasoned team come their back end district schedule which is very tough as it is every year. When guys like Noah Wade and Jonathan Stroman are back on the field, La Cueva is going to get a big boost, but for now a lot of these underclassmen are going to have to step up which they are capable of. It could be a long season at times for La Cueva, but it seems as though they are grooming some talented young pups to make a real run at it next year or the year after. Down year? Who knows, but you generally lose one game for every sophomore you start.
Ranking The Top 15 Teams In Albuquerque
- By kyle h
- New Mexico High School Football
- 0 Replies
Ranking The Top 15 Teams In Albuquerque
By: Kyle Henderson of NMPreps.com
Powered By
1. Sandia
Login to view embedded media The Sandia Matadors have remained one of Albuquerque’s top high school football programs over the years under Head Football Coach Kevin Barker who is entering his 23rd year as a Head Football Coach (Sandia/Manzano). In the past 10-seasons, the Matadors have reached the playoffs 8 out of 10 times, reaching the finals in 2012. “Our seniors are pretty darn good and have led all the way through our spring and summer workouts. We’re led by Seniors Jimmy Gallegos, Dominic Baca, Jeremiah Loya, and Isaiah Lowery. We return 11 starters overall and we’re excited about the 2015 season,” said Head Sandia Football Coach Kevin Barker. Continue Reading Our Exclusive Preview On Sandia Here
2. Eldorado
An always formidable opponent from Albuquerque is Eldorado who has reached the playoffs 7 out of the last 9 seasons. 2014 was a special team, finishing the regular season 9-1 led by Michigan Blue Chip Recruit Quarterback Zach Gentry. While the Eagles graduate their quarterback, 4 out of their 5 linemen, and a handful of defensive players the Eagles once again should remain a top tier high school football team, just with some lesser known names returning for 2015. “I think when you have a program with tradition, kids want to win. These seniors want to win, just like last year’s seniors, and hopefully they continue their bond this year,” said Head Eldorado Football Coach Charlie Dotson entering his 8th year at the helm. Continue Reading Our Exclusive Preview On Eldorado Here
3. Volcano Vista
Login to view embedded media Last year Volcano Vista missed the 2014 New Mexico High School Football Playoffs going 3-7 on the year after an impressive opening season 18-14 victory over Sandia. Volcano Vista then lost their first 4 out of 5 games, and finally finished 1-3 in district with their only victory coming against Santa Fe. Last year was last year and this year is this year, so with that said, Volcano Vista has been waiting for this group to be seniors for a while now. These current seniors are the young guns that have been brought up in the program, a few players have seen more than two years on varsity. Head Coach Chad Wallin enters his 9th season as Head Coach making the playoffs three times since the 2008 season. Volcano Vista is big up-front, has some very good skill position players, and it would be an absolute shocker if this team misses the playoffs in 2015. “It's been a good summer to start, the attitude is a lot better and the kids are just working hard. It’s a very senior dominate group and that is where the leadership starts for us," said Head Volcano Vista Coach Chad Wallin. Complete Team Preview of Volcano Vista Here
4. Manzano
Login to view embedded media The Manzano Monarchs have reached the big school classification playoffs in the last 6 of 7 seasons. Head Coach Chad Adcox has been with Manzano since 2003 and took over as Head Coach for Aaron Ocampo in 2012. Entering his 4th year as Head Coach at Manzano, Adcox has kept Manzano is the big school mix, but with declining numbers at Manzano getting past yearly bigs like Cleveland, Mayfield, and their district has been a continued struggle. In fact, since 2012 Manzano is 2-8 against district opponents. They graduate a good mix of linemen and skill guys, but their younger group coming up is very talented. “We got some new names like: Orlando Perez, Jordan Byrd, andAntonio Padilla, and skill wise overall I liked the way we competed at the UNM 7-On. It’s all about learning right now in the summer time, for right now I think we are where we need to be,” said Manzano Head Football Coach Chad Adcox. Full Manzano Monarch Preview Here
5. La Cueva
Pictured is La Cueva Defensive Back Lucas Silver
The Bears are a tough team to gage going into the season for many reason: One is they graduate a ton of seniors, but again it’s La Cueva they always seem to re-load and be a force to deal with from the Metro Area. The Bears won an impressive 8-games last year before losing to Mayfield in the quarterfinals. Returning this year is: Lucas Silver who should be a two-way star and one who impressed at the NMPreps Elite Combine recently, you also have Noah Hill and despite entering the season coming off a knee injury, he is regarded as one of their top players. Not sure if Athlete Jonathan Stroman is going to play this year, but he could be a next level guy in both football and in baseball, young guns include: Josh Woisin at backer as well as Derek Loidolt. They seem to be a team that is young heading in, it will be interesting to see how things unfold for the Bears.
6. Cibola
The Bears are now in year three of Head Coach Rod Williams system and it’s likely many forget that it was this program that took down the Mighty Cleveland Storm in the playoffs last year. While many of those seniors from Cibola have graduated, Cibola has a lot to continue to build on as a program. This team has made the playoffs in each of the last two-years and return some guys that can make big plays. The headliner is Jacob Smith who is one of the state’s top special teams players and receivers. Jeremiah Bell is a 5-11, 195 pound linebacker that will turn heads and make big plays as well Benny James another 200 pound backer. Brandon Cordova returns up front on the offensive line. They’ll be a district dark horse heading in, but they likely don’t mind one bit.
7. Valley
Entering his 4th year as Valley Head Football Coach Enrico Marcelli has a win/loss record of 23-10. After a slow start in 2014 going 0-4, the Vikings won 4 out of their last 5-games on the season and were one-game away from reaching the playoffs. For a school that has just over 1,100 students, the participation numbers for football are extremely high, in-fact Coach Marcelli told us that Valley has over 130 kids out in the entire program in grades 9-12. This season Valley returns 14 starters into the 2015 season, the headline in the spring/early summer has been the recruiting coverage regarding 6-foot-6, 250 pound returning defensive linemen Teton Saltes who has offers from CAL, Iowa State, New Mexico , Oregon, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Washington, and Washington State. While Saltes is a Blue Chip Senior, Valley only has a total of 12 seniors on the roster, one of their smallest groups in years. “Our senior class this year is really small this year, luckily they are all pretty good. We got guys like Teton Saltes, Noah Santistevan, Michael Barboa, and Elijah Naranjo who are all going to make plays. Last year was up and down a little bit, but I think we’ve learned from that, we lacked a little bit of senior leadership, over the summer we have worked on that,” Said Enrico Marcelli. Full Team Preview of the Valley Vikings Here
8. Atrisco Heritage
They Atrisco Heritage Jaguars finally graduate that loaded senior class. Last year the Jaguars won the district title and went 7-4 under Patrick Johnson losing to Las Cruces 36-15 in the 6A 1st round of the playoffs. While they graduate there year starters like: Ricci Alvidrez (RB) and James Romero (DL) they still have talent at one of the state’s largest schools enrollment wise. Quarterback Aaron Bean threw for 499-yards and ran for 1,294-yards and 15 touchdowns, he’s one of the top option quarterbacks in New Mexico and one who can just fly. They also return running back Darius Moore who ran for over 400-yards. Their offensive line has been pretty big over the last few years, but they graduate a ton including: Daniel Perez, Tupac Crum, and Cody Maldonado. Atrisco is trying to make it 4-straight years to the playoffs, something that is quite impressive no matter how you spin it.
9. St. Pius X
The Sartans are coming off an 8-4 season which was impressive as they were super young. That could only mean good things for the next few years right? Returning for the Sartans is Quarterback Drew Ortiz who threw for over 2,000-yards and 28 touchdowns as just a sophomore in 2014. They Sartans also return Miles Hilton who caught for 743-yards and 11 touchdowns. Also returning is Alex Sais a 200 pound linebacker and Jacob Carpenter who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds.
10. Albuquerque
The Albuquerque Bulldogs ended a 43-game losing streak during the 2014 season under then first year Head Coach Curtis Flakes. The Bulldogs went on to win 4 games in 2014 and finished district with a record of 3-2, really the Bulldogs were one game away being playoff eligible. That fact in itself is pretty much unbelievable considering Albuquerque had not won since August 28th of 2010. Under Flakes a former Defensive Back at the University of New Mexico and former assistant at Manzano, the practice was crisp, disciplined, and organized. “The first thing we did during the semester after the football season was hit the books. We didn’t lift weights, run plays during our football period, we (the coaches) sat with the kids and used football period as study hour to bring up G.P.A’s. We wanted to make sure their grades were in line before we took the next step in our program,” Said Flakes on Tuesday Morning. The Bulldogs return 18 starters from last season, a lot of these current varsity players have seen time since their sophomore season being pulled up do to lack of numbers. Fast forward to July of 2015, the Bulldogs had well over 60 players out at summer work outs. “There has been a significant amount of change in these young men, now they are very much accountable and up for the challenge to take care of their responsibilities. We are still building a foundation, it’s an every day commitment, it’s a process, it’s going to take some time, but as from a coaching perspective and from the players we are all excited about it,” Commented Flakes. Complete Team Preview on the Albuquerque Bulldogs Linked Here
Best of the Rest
11. West Mesa
Speaking with both Albuquerque Head Coach Curtis Flakes and Valley Head Coach Enrico Marcelli during the 2nd week of July, both commented that West Mesa should be solid this year. Though the Mustangs were just 2-8 in 2014, They return quite a few marquee players including quarterback Marcos Gonzales, Athlete Domonic Fischer, and 215 pound Defensive End Idan Urrutia who will likely be on our Preseason All-State list. The Mustangs also return one of the state's top field goal kickers in Sabino Morales.
12. Del Norte
Del Norte is certainly on the come up under Head Coach Bruce Binkley and while they graduate some very good talent, they could be even better in 2015. Last year with Dual Threat Quarterback Standout Tyrelle Pryor at the helm they went 5-6 losing to Aztec in the playoffs. This year they return 6-foot-0, 238 pound Running Back/Fullback/Linebacker Avery See and Offensive Linemen Gabe Desoto at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds.
13. Academy
The Chargers had just 25 players on their roster during the 2014 season as they went independent. They won three games on the season beating Santa Rosa, Taos, and Bernalillo. It's always tough to gage their incoming talent, but they due return Clay Crosby at running back. Don't judge a book by their cover, these guys will beat you on any given day.
14. Hope Christian
The Huskies Football Program has never really taken off. They have had three different head coaches in the last three years and went 2-8 last year going 0-4 in district play. The good news is that Caleb Meyer Hagen returns at quarterback, he'll be a three year starter.
15. Rio Grande
The Ravens will enter the 2015 season with another Head Football Coach. Sam Mascarenas takes over following Pat Quillen who went 1-9 in 2014. Last year the Ravens were outscored 119-429 on the season, their only win came against Highland winning 38-20.
Not Ranked
Highland
The last time Highland won a football game was on October 10th of 2013. Over the last two years the Hornets are 1-19 and went 0-10 during the 2014 season under first year Head Coach Stacy Washington. 6-foot-4, 190 pond Dominic Johnson returns at quarterback.
By: Kyle Henderson of NMPreps.com
Powered By
1. Sandia
Login to view embedded media The Sandia Matadors have remained one of Albuquerque’s top high school football programs over the years under Head Football Coach Kevin Barker who is entering his 23rd year as a Head Football Coach (Sandia/Manzano). In the past 10-seasons, the Matadors have reached the playoffs 8 out of 10 times, reaching the finals in 2012. “Our seniors are pretty darn good and have led all the way through our spring and summer workouts. We’re led by Seniors Jimmy Gallegos, Dominic Baca, Jeremiah Loya, and Isaiah Lowery. We return 11 starters overall and we’re excited about the 2015 season,” said Head Sandia Football Coach Kevin Barker. Continue Reading Our Exclusive Preview On Sandia Here
2. Eldorado
An always formidable opponent from Albuquerque is Eldorado who has reached the playoffs 7 out of the last 9 seasons. 2014 was a special team, finishing the regular season 9-1 led by Michigan Blue Chip Recruit Quarterback Zach Gentry. While the Eagles graduate their quarterback, 4 out of their 5 linemen, and a handful of defensive players the Eagles once again should remain a top tier high school football team, just with some lesser known names returning for 2015. “I think when you have a program with tradition, kids want to win. These seniors want to win, just like last year’s seniors, and hopefully they continue their bond this year,” said Head Eldorado Football Coach Charlie Dotson entering his 8th year at the helm. Continue Reading Our Exclusive Preview On Eldorado Here
3. Volcano Vista
Login to view embedded media Last year Volcano Vista missed the 2014 New Mexico High School Football Playoffs going 3-7 on the year after an impressive opening season 18-14 victory over Sandia. Volcano Vista then lost their first 4 out of 5 games, and finally finished 1-3 in district with their only victory coming against Santa Fe. Last year was last year and this year is this year, so with that said, Volcano Vista has been waiting for this group to be seniors for a while now. These current seniors are the young guns that have been brought up in the program, a few players have seen more than two years on varsity. Head Coach Chad Wallin enters his 9th season as Head Coach making the playoffs three times since the 2008 season. Volcano Vista is big up-front, has some very good skill position players, and it would be an absolute shocker if this team misses the playoffs in 2015. “It's been a good summer to start, the attitude is a lot better and the kids are just working hard. It’s a very senior dominate group and that is where the leadership starts for us," said Head Volcano Vista Coach Chad Wallin. Complete Team Preview of Volcano Vista Here
4. Manzano
Login to view embedded media The Manzano Monarchs have reached the big school classification playoffs in the last 6 of 7 seasons. Head Coach Chad Adcox has been with Manzano since 2003 and took over as Head Coach for Aaron Ocampo in 2012. Entering his 4th year as Head Coach at Manzano, Adcox has kept Manzano is the big school mix, but with declining numbers at Manzano getting past yearly bigs like Cleveland, Mayfield, and their district has been a continued struggle. In fact, since 2012 Manzano is 2-8 against district opponents. They graduate a good mix of linemen and skill guys, but their younger group coming up is very talented. “We got some new names like: Orlando Perez, Jordan Byrd, andAntonio Padilla, and skill wise overall I liked the way we competed at the UNM 7-On. It’s all about learning right now in the summer time, for right now I think we are where we need to be,” said Manzano Head Football Coach Chad Adcox. Full Manzano Monarch Preview Here
5. La Cueva
Pictured is La Cueva Defensive Back Lucas Silver
The Bears are a tough team to gage going into the season for many reason: One is they graduate a ton of seniors, but again it’s La Cueva they always seem to re-load and be a force to deal with from the Metro Area. The Bears won an impressive 8-games last year before losing to Mayfield in the quarterfinals. Returning this year is: Lucas Silver who should be a two-way star and one who impressed at the NMPreps Elite Combine recently, you also have Noah Hill and despite entering the season coming off a knee injury, he is regarded as one of their top players. Not sure if Athlete Jonathan Stroman is going to play this year, but he could be a next level guy in both football and in baseball, young guns include: Josh Woisin at backer as well as Derek Loidolt. They seem to be a team that is young heading in, it will be interesting to see how things unfold for the Bears.
6. Cibola
The Bears are now in year three of Head Coach Rod Williams system and it’s likely many forget that it was this program that took down the Mighty Cleveland Storm in the playoffs last year. While many of those seniors from Cibola have graduated, Cibola has a lot to continue to build on as a program. This team has made the playoffs in each of the last two-years and return some guys that can make big plays. The headliner is Jacob Smith who is one of the state’s top special teams players and receivers. Jeremiah Bell is a 5-11, 195 pound linebacker that will turn heads and make big plays as well Benny James another 200 pound backer. Brandon Cordova returns up front on the offensive line. They’ll be a district dark horse heading in, but they likely don’t mind one bit.
7. Valley
Entering his 4th year as Valley Head Football Coach Enrico Marcelli has a win/loss record of 23-10. After a slow start in 2014 going 0-4, the Vikings won 4 out of their last 5-games on the season and were one-game away from reaching the playoffs. For a school that has just over 1,100 students, the participation numbers for football are extremely high, in-fact Coach Marcelli told us that Valley has over 130 kids out in the entire program in grades 9-12. This season Valley returns 14 starters into the 2015 season, the headline in the spring/early summer has been the recruiting coverage regarding 6-foot-6, 250 pound returning defensive linemen Teton Saltes who has offers from CAL, Iowa State, New Mexico , Oregon, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Washington, and Washington State. While Saltes is a Blue Chip Senior, Valley only has a total of 12 seniors on the roster, one of their smallest groups in years. “Our senior class this year is really small this year, luckily they are all pretty good. We got guys like Teton Saltes, Noah Santistevan, Michael Barboa, and Elijah Naranjo who are all going to make plays. Last year was up and down a little bit, but I think we’ve learned from that, we lacked a little bit of senior leadership, over the summer we have worked on that,” Said Enrico Marcelli. Full Team Preview of the Valley Vikings Here
8. Atrisco Heritage
They Atrisco Heritage Jaguars finally graduate that loaded senior class. Last year the Jaguars won the district title and went 7-4 under Patrick Johnson losing to Las Cruces 36-15 in the 6A 1st round of the playoffs. While they graduate there year starters like: Ricci Alvidrez (RB) and James Romero (DL) they still have talent at one of the state’s largest schools enrollment wise. Quarterback Aaron Bean threw for 499-yards and ran for 1,294-yards and 15 touchdowns, he’s one of the top option quarterbacks in New Mexico and one who can just fly. They also return running back Darius Moore who ran for over 400-yards. Their offensive line has been pretty big over the last few years, but they graduate a ton including: Daniel Perez, Tupac Crum, and Cody Maldonado. Atrisco is trying to make it 4-straight years to the playoffs, something that is quite impressive no matter how you spin it.
9. St. Pius X
The Sartans are coming off an 8-4 season which was impressive as they were super young. That could only mean good things for the next few years right? Returning for the Sartans is Quarterback Drew Ortiz who threw for over 2,000-yards and 28 touchdowns as just a sophomore in 2014. They Sartans also return Miles Hilton who caught for 743-yards and 11 touchdowns. Also returning is Alex Sais a 200 pound linebacker and Jacob Carpenter who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 317 pounds.
10. Albuquerque
The Albuquerque Bulldogs ended a 43-game losing streak during the 2014 season under then first year Head Coach Curtis Flakes. The Bulldogs went on to win 4 games in 2014 and finished district with a record of 3-2, really the Bulldogs were one game away being playoff eligible. That fact in itself is pretty much unbelievable considering Albuquerque had not won since August 28th of 2010. Under Flakes a former Defensive Back at the University of New Mexico and former assistant at Manzano, the practice was crisp, disciplined, and organized. “The first thing we did during the semester after the football season was hit the books. We didn’t lift weights, run plays during our football period, we (the coaches) sat with the kids and used football period as study hour to bring up G.P.A’s. We wanted to make sure their grades were in line before we took the next step in our program,” Said Flakes on Tuesday Morning. The Bulldogs return 18 starters from last season, a lot of these current varsity players have seen time since their sophomore season being pulled up do to lack of numbers. Fast forward to July of 2015, the Bulldogs had well over 60 players out at summer work outs. “There has been a significant amount of change in these young men, now they are very much accountable and up for the challenge to take care of their responsibilities. We are still building a foundation, it’s an every day commitment, it’s a process, it’s going to take some time, but as from a coaching perspective and from the players we are all excited about it,” Commented Flakes. Complete Team Preview on the Albuquerque Bulldogs Linked Here
Best of the Rest
11. West Mesa
Speaking with both Albuquerque Head Coach Curtis Flakes and Valley Head Coach Enrico Marcelli during the 2nd week of July, both commented that West Mesa should be solid this year. Though the Mustangs were just 2-8 in 2014, They return quite a few marquee players including quarterback Marcos Gonzales, Athlete Domonic Fischer, and 215 pound Defensive End Idan Urrutia who will likely be on our Preseason All-State list. The Mustangs also return one of the state's top field goal kickers in Sabino Morales.
12. Del Norte
Del Norte is certainly on the come up under Head Coach Bruce Binkley and while they graduate some very good talent, they could be even better in 2015. Last year with Dual Threat Quarterback Standout Tyrelle Pryor at the helm they went 5-6 losing to Aztec in the playoffs. This year they return 6-foot-0, 238 pound Running Back/Fullback/Linebacker Avery See and Offensive Linemen Gabe Desoto at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds.
13. Academy
The Chargers had just 25 players on their roster during the 2014 season as they went independent. They won three games on the season beating Santa Rosa, Taos, and Bernalillo. It's always tough to gage their incoming talent, but they due return Clay Crosby at running back. Don't judge a book by their cover, these guys will beat you on any given day.
14. Hope Christian
The Huskies Football Program has never really taken off. They have had three different head coaches in the last three years and went 2-8 last year going 0-4 in district play. The good news is that Caleb Meyer Hagen returns at quarterback, he'll be a three year starter.
15. Rio Grande
The Ravens will enter the 2015 season with another Head Football Coach. Sam Mascarenas takes over following Pat Quillen who went 1-9 in 2014. Last year the Ravens were outscored 119-429 on the season, their only win came against Highland winning 38-20.
Not Ranked
Highland
The last time Highland won a football game was on October 10th of 2013. Over the last two years the Hornets are 1-19 and went 0-10 during the 2014 season under first year Head Coach Stacy Washington. 6-foot-4, 190 pond Dominic Johnson returns at quarterback.
Player Rankings Class of 2016 Top Prospects To Watch
- By kyle h
- New Mexico High School Basketball - Boys
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