3A Preseason Rankings: District 2-3A Preview
NMPreps will continue to release our preseason team rankings for each classification in New Mexico high school football. We are less than a month away from the first game and we get you started.
In 3A, we will release the rankings by district previews followed by ranking all 21-teams in the classification.
Perhaps the best district in 3A football in terms of quality of programs. We could see potential four of the five schools earning a bid or arguing for a bid at the state tournament.
PROJECTED ORDER OF FINISH
1) St. Michael's Horsemen (2020 Record - 3-0 overall)
Scoop: The St. Michael's Horsemen went a perfect 3-0 during the short Spring season and most argue if they didn't have to sit out a game they could have played for the 3A Bowl Championship held at UNM. Regardless, the St. Michael's Horsemen are a contender to watch this season and in large part is because of quarterback Lucas Coriz (2022). For Coriz, he is wildly under the radar (mostly because of limited information out on him like other top recruited QBs in the state) but is one to watch not only in 3A but in the state. The Horsemen go as far as the star QB will take them and that could be far.
2) Robertson Cardinals (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: I've made the claim that programs that went silent in 2020/21 will have some major hurdles to climb and could take a major step back. The step back is small for the Cardinals, which have recently been the top dawg in this district, but it's a step back after going 10-2 during the 2019 season (4-0 in district). This is the thing with Robertson though, they have one of the top head coaches in New Mexico in Leroy Gonzalez. More good news for the Cardinals? They return a top-level athlete in Matthew Gonzalez (2022) who passed for 1,208-yards (18 TDs), and rushed for another 954-yards (8-TDs) as a sophomore back in 2019. Look for a battle for this DC - hopefully, they'll play the final game against each other.
3) Raton Tigers (2020 Record - 2-2 overall)
Scoop: The Tigers are hoping for a breakthrough during the 2021 season. After going 2-2 last season and making progress forward, the Tory Giacomo led Tigers, welcome back most of their production from the last two years. Expectations couldn't be higher for the Tigers. Senior quarterback Dylan Quartieri (2022) returns after tossing for nearly 500-yards and 7 touchdowns in the Spring. The other name most of becoming aware of is that of Cayden Walton (2023) a junior running back that rushed for 664-yards during the short 2021 spring season. The other name in a trio of top-ranked players is that of Matthew Quartieri (2022), a 6-foot-3 Middle Linebacker who is a next-level player. In just about any other district the Tigers would be a favorite to win the district, but here they have 2/3 teams that they must battle with that are yearly title contenders.
4) West Las Vegas Dons (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: The Dons, like their crosstown rival Robertson, haven't had football since 2019 and the re-start of their programs could come with a slower than normal pace. If you remember back in 2019 as well the Dons featured a top-ranked quarterback and featured 7-wins. The biggest storyline for the Dons could be in the form of running back Damian Gallegos (2022) who rushed for 773-yards (8TDs) and 215-receiving yards as a sophomore in 2019. His return would give them an option in the backfield as they get some experience to a completely new quarterback to varsity level football. The Dons are a bit of a mystery heading into this season and we won't know a lot about them until August 20th, their opener against Moriarty. The thing we know is (and contradicts our projected finish) don't sleep on a well-coached Adrian Gonzales program - regardless if they need to rebuild/restart.
5) Santa Fe Indian Braves (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: The Braves program and the entire school closed doors during the 2020/2021 school year. Now, they are off to a completely new start with a new head coach in Bill Moon, the longtime Capital head coach. The Braves would be a school that would benefit from a classification alignment based on competition level, as would the others they play in non-district. The Braves went 4-1 in non-district play but when they hit districts they continue to struggle against the bigger and more established football powers - above. They went 0-4 in 2019 and were outscored 214-22, the season before in 2018 they went 0-4 and were outscored 189-7. The Braves will battle and do well under HC Moon but it could be a long road ahead.
Related
6A Preseason Rankings
5A Preseason Rankings
4A Preseason Rankings: District 3-4A
4A Preseason Rankings: District 4-4A
3A Preseason Rankings: District 3-3A
NMPreps will continue to release our preseason team rankings for each classification in New Mexico high school football. We are less than a month away from the first game and we get you started.
In 3A, we will release the rankings by district previews followed by ranking all 21-teams in the classification.
Perhaps the best district in 3A football in terms of quality of programs. We could see potential four of the five schools earning a bid or arguing for a bid at the state tournament.
PROJECTED ORDER OF FINISH
1) St. Michael's Horsemen (2020 Record - 3-0 overall)
Scoop: The St. Michael's Horsemen went a perfect 3-0 during the short Spring season and most argue if they didn't have to sit out a game they could have played for the 3A Bowl Championship held at UNM. Regardless, the St. Michael's Horsemen are a contender to watch this season and in large part is because of quarterback Lucas Coriz (2022). For Coriz, he is wildly under the radar (mostly because of limited information out on him like other top recruited QBs in the state) but is one to watch not only in 3A but in the state. The Horsemen go as far as the star QB will take them and that could be far.
2) Robertson Cardinals (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: I've made the claim that programs that went silent in 2020/21 will have some major hurdles to climb and could take a major step back. The step back is small for the Cardinals, which have recently been the top dawg in this district, but it's a step back after going 10-2 during the 2019 season (4-0 in district). This is the thing with Robertson though, they have one of the top head coaches in New Mexico in Leroy Gonzalez. More good news for the Cardinals? They return a top-level athlete in Matthew Gonzalez (2022) who passed for 1,208-yards (18 TDs), and rushed for another 954-yards (8-TDs) as a sophomore back in 2019. Look for a battle for this DC - hopefully, they'll play the final game against each other.
3) Raton Tigers (2020 Record - 2-2 overall)
Scoop: The Tigers are hoping for a breakthrough during the 2021 season. After going 2-2 last season and making progress forward, the Tory Giacomo led Tigers, welcome back most of their production from the last two years. Expectations couldn't be higher for the Tigers. Senior quarterback Dylan Quartieri (2022) returns after tossing for nearly 500-yards and 7 touchdowns in the Spring. The other name most of becoming aware of is that of Cayden Walton (2023) a junior running back that rushed for 664-yards during the short 2021 spring season. The other name in a trio of top-ranked players is that of Matthew Quartieri (2022), a 6-foot-3 Middle Linebacker who is a next-level player. In just about any other district the Tigers would be a favorite to win the district, but here they have 2/3 teams that they must battle with that are yearly title contenders.
4) West Las Vegas Dons (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: The Dons, like their crosstown rival Robertson, haven't had football since 2019 and the re-start of their programs could come with a slower than normal pace. If you remember back in 2019 as well the Dons featured a top-ranked quarterback and featured 7-wins. The biggest storyline for the Dons could be in the form of running back Damian Gallegos (2022) who rushed for 773-yards (8TDs) and 215-receiving yards as a sophomore in 2019. His return would give them an option in the backfield as they get some experience to a completely new quarterback to varsity level football. The Dons are a bit of a mystery heading into this season and we won't know a lot about them until August 20th, their opener against Moriarty. The thing we know is (and contradicts our projected finish) don't sleep on a well-coached Adrian Gonzales program - regardless if they need to rebuild/restart.
5) Santa Fe Indian Braves (2020 Record - 0-0 overall)
Scoop: The Braves program and the entire school closed doors during the 2020/2021 school year. Now, they are off to a completely new start with a new head coach in Bill Moon, the longtime Capital head coach. The Braves would be a school that would benefit from a classification alignment based on competition level, as would the others they play in non-district. The Braves went 4-1 in non-district play but when they hit districts they continue to struggle against the bigger and more established football powers - above. They went 0-4 in 2019 and were outscored 214-22, the season before in 2018 they went 0-4 and were outscored 189-7. The Braves will battle and do well under HC Moon but it could be a long road ahead.
Related
6A Preseason Rankings
5A Preseason Rankings
4A Preseason Rankings: District 3-4A
4A Preseason Rankings: District 4-4A
3A Preseason Rankings: District 3-3A
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