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Team Rankings 5A Football: Preseason Team Rankings for 2021

J Grine

NMPreps Hall Of Fame
Staff
Oct 31, 2010
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5A Football: Way-too-early rankings

NMPreps will rank every team in each class and then each weekend during the season. The New Mexico high school football season schedule is to start in August but it's always time to start thinking rankings and predicting the season.

No. 1 Farmington Scorpions (last season: 5-0 overall)
The Farmington Scorpions return after a successful 5-0 Spring season in which they won the 5A Elite Bowl game held at the University of New Mexico. The Scorpions will have some reloading to do in order to keep things rolling but have found their replacement at quarterback in Grants transfer Brandon Furbee (2022). Jakeem Reed (2023), Patrick Shay (2022), and Caleb Carrillo (2022) are three key contributors from last season that will play big roles this season.

No. 2 Goddard Rockets (last season: 2-2 overall)
The Goddard Rockets enter the 2021 season as an early favorite to contend for the state championship. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that they feature top-ranked running back Javyn Morales (2023) an early preseason candidate for New Mexico Mr. Football. The Rockets, unfortunately, had to shut down their program for two weeks and will miss their opening games.

No. 3 Los Lunas Tigers (last season: 3-0 overall)
The Tigers will once again usher in a new head coach, this time Eldorado assistant and former Belen head coach Rex Hennington takes over. The Tigers are coming off a 3-0 Spring season with wins over La Cueva, Capital, and Belen. This Tigers team has some serious talent return that includes must-see quarterback Paul Cieremans (2023). Mikkel Beltran (2022/DE), Darryn Romero (2022/DB), Christian Gonzalez (2022/DB), and Devin Gallegos (2022/RB) are three other top-ranked positional players for the Tigers.

No. 4 Artesia Bulldogs (last season: 2-3 overall)
Enter the Jeremy Maupin era at Artesia High School. Maupin left Los Lunas to return home as the Bulldogs headman and inherits a team that went 2-3 during the spring. The Bulldogs will have some replacing to do at the receiver position but look for 2023 prospect Devyn Fierro to build off a 135-yard Spring season. One of the top-ranked running backs in Jake Barrera (2022) also returns after going for nearly 500-yards this Spring. The Bulldogs open up with Carlsbad followed by Hobbs.

No. 5 Roswell Coyotes (last season: 2-2 overall)
The Roswell Coyotes return after going 2-2 overall last season. The 2018 and 2019 state champion program will be going through a mini-reload with a younger roster. Seniors Joseph Renteria and Juan Carlos Alvarez look to anchor the team as two top-ranked offensive linemen in the state. The Coyotes open the season with Farmington in Roswell giving us an early indication of what both teams have this season.

No. 6 Mayfield Trojans (last season: 2-2 overall)
The Mayfield Trojans went 2-1 during the regular portion of their schedule and earned a bid in the 5A elite bowl where they fell to Farmington (48-28). The Trojans will enter their first full season in 5A football, down from 6A. They return a very experienced and talented group led by running back duo Calvin Cook (2022) and Jose Montoya (2022). Also, add in second-year QB Cesar Daniel Granados (2022) who tossed for over 300-yards.

No. 7 Deming Wildcats (3-1 overall)
If a surprise contender emerges from the group, Deming could be the pick. The Wildcats rushed to a nice 3-1 season during the spring despite not being considered a top-10 type team. Well, now they are considered and could be on the rise with a stud running back like Joey Reza (2022) out of the backfield. The senior is a top ten ranked back to watch this season and could have the Wildcats looking at a potential semifinal run. They open the season with Gadsden, followed by Organ Mountain before a contender/pretender showdown with Goddard on September 3rd.

No. 8 Piedra Vista Panthers (3-2 overall)
The Panthers had a successful Spring season going 3-2. The Panthers a young team during the Spring could be a sleeper. Look for junior quarterback Logan Howell to emerge this coming Fall for the Panthers. Another stud to watch that could have a very impactful season is 6-foot-2 running back Jacob Ramsted (2023). The Panthers have the making to be a very tough squad when things officially kick-off this Fall. They will do battle with crosstown rival Farmington but don't be shocked if the Panthers come out hot. After their opener with Los Lunas they have a chance of pulling off a 7-win season.

No. 9 Alamogordo Tigers (3-2 overall, 2021 Spring)
The Tigers jumped out to a solid 3-0 start last season and looked as projected. Head coach AJ Cisco has done a great job building the football program back up and doing it well. The Tigers will start about where they finished during the spring and that is saying a lot as they will have to do it without stud RB Sean Hays who has since graduated. Quarterback Anthony Mello (2022) returns after a nice showing during the spring season going for 590 passing yards. Amarius Wedlow (2023) will look to get the call out of the backfield after rushing for 127-yards as a sophomore. Damon Mayberry (2023) and Ryan Stovall (2023) will take the reigns on defense as the two will lead a new group after graduating some key pieces on defense. Tigers could be a sneaky squad and they have some 2023 talent. I would lean on a playoff spot and don't get caught sleeping.

No. 10 Del Norte Knights (3-0 overall, 2021 Spring)
Second-year head coach Bruce Langston has Del Norte trending in the right direction as we head into the 2021 season. The Knights finished the 2021 Spring season playing some of their best football, winning by a combined score of 139 to 40, going 3-0 with two wins over district opponents. The outlook for the Knights offense will be ATH Cruz Garcia (2022). The bad news for the Knights is having to replace the nice duo of Adrian Marquez (QB) and Isaiah Ortiz (RB). The battle for district placement will be a battle as Del Norte, Valley, and Belen all with similar roster issues, some coaching changes, will all fight for what could be the other playoff at-large bid. Also, Highland will do its best to join this group of three.

No. 11 Valley Vikings (2-1 overall, 2021 Spring)
The Vikings got things back on track during the Spring winning 2 of 3 games and looking like they could be a threat. Head coach Judge Chavez returns his quarterback Caden Jojola (2023), running back Ricky Henderson (2023), and a pair of ATH in Ezekiel Ramos (2024) and Charles Lopez-Burton (2024). The bad news for the Vikings is the O-line did graduate three but welcomes back 2023 Tobias Troncoso and 2024 Nate Barela. The defense struggled in the lone loss against the run, they return plenty and I'm assured they will be ready this season.

No. 12 Belen Eagles (2-1 overall, 2021 Spring)
The Belen Eagles enter the 2021 season after an interesting summer that seen former head coach Ty House resign, hired Phillip Lopez which then resigned a month into the job which led to the exciting hire of Andrew McCraw. McCraw comes to Belen after 5-years as an assistant head coach at Eastern New Mexico University. The building process could be a long one for the Eagles as they look to also replace their QB, RB, and much of their experience. Emmanual Aragon (2022), Elijah Romero (2023), Aiden Padilla (2022), and Sam Tibbs (2022) each provide some immediate help at the skill positions.

No. 13 Santa Teresa Desert Warriors (2-1 overall, 2021 Spring)
The Desert Warriors have found some recent success in football winning 9 of their last 13 games, looking back to the 2019 season. That also includes a 1-point playoff loss. What hurts? They lose much of their production from the spring and need a replacement for two-year primetime player Matthew Lopez. The good news. Isidro Talavera (2022) returns for his senior season; Talavera had a good showing as a sophomore.

No. 14 Highland Hornets (0-3 overall, 2021 Spring)
Minor step back last season but what wasn't a step back the last year. The Hornets fell to 0-3 during the spring season but have high hopes for a return to the playoffs in 2021. On defense, the name to know here is Abraham Lopez a 5-foot-11 linebacker that has been all-district in consecutive seasons. The offense for the Hornets should be much improved and experienced this coming season with the return of QB Eliab Lopez (2023) and stud running back Xhane Williams (2024). This duo could be dangerous for a couple of seasons. Luke Jaramillo (2022/RB) is another returning player in the backfield for the Hornets.

No. 15 Capital Jaguars (2-2 overall, 2021 Spring)
Welcome the Joaquin "Wax" Garica era at Capital High School. The Jaguars are back to a respectable level after departed head coach Bill Moon gave life back to a program that was in critical condition. Now, looking forward the Jaguars could be in for a major rebuild and could take time to get back to the .500 days and battling for District Championships. Stud running back Luke Padilla has graduated and now the team moves into a new look. Anthony Anaya (2023/ATH) is one to help carry the program forward but not much behind him as it appears from here.

No. 16 Miyamura Patriots (1-4 overall, 2021 Spring)
There's no way the Patriots stay at the bottom of the class and last season they went winless against 5A teams with the solo win against crosstown rival Gallup (4A). There is good news for the Patriots however and that comes with a returning quarterback in Blas Saucedo (2023), running back Chris Chavez (2023), and an experienced defense that includes LB Jeremiah Paredes (2022). The Patriots were young in head coach Sean Reeves 'first' season (Spring 2021) but they now have experience and could be one of the most improved teams in 2021. Don't be shocked if they pull off 5 or 6 wins.

No. 17 Los Alamos Hilltoppers (0-3 overall, 2021 Spring)
The Hilltoppers were one of two teams that didn't earn a win this Spring in 5A football. The Hilltoppers struggled on both sides of the ball only reaching the end zone once while giving up 137 points in three games. Head coach Garrett Wiliams understands how difficult this job is and could hope to return to a .500 level team, which they reached in 2018. Some good news moving forward is the return of Jakob Green (RB-LB/2022), Caden Thorton (RB-FS/2022), and appears to be Luke Gonzales (2023) under center for the Hilltoppers this coming season. Early prediction is 1 or 2 wins on the season but could be under the radar getting to 4 or 5.

No. 18 Chaparral Lobos (0-9 overall, 2019 season)
After missing the 2021 spring season, the program remains in the cellar of New Mexico high school football. Riego Rodriguez (2022) and Peter Castro (2022) return for their senior season after being the go-to backs during the 2019 season. After back-to-back seasons losing nine games, 2018 they went 1-9 overall, the Lobos are hoping to relive the 2017 season when they reached a high of 6-wins. That season they played well on both ends of the ball, especially on defense where they have appeared to struggle as of late. The team will likely struggle again with some youth and inexperience but could return to 4/5 wins by 2022. For the 2021 season, I will say 1 or 2 wins is the most likely situation.

Related
2021 Rankings
Way-too-early: Top-20 Power Rankings
Way-too-early: 6A Football
Way-too-early:
5A Football

2021 District Rankings
District 4-4A

District 3-3A
 
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