Grine: 2022 New Mexico High School Football Playoffs
5-12 Seed Most Likely to Make Semifinals: (6) Raton. 3A Bracket. This is the favorable pick with the first game between the district opponents being a narrow, 12-7 loss in favor of Robertson. The road would be a first round win over Hatch Valley (11-seed) and then upsetting district opponent Robertson (3-seed) in the semifinals.
Most Likely Too Upset in the 1st Round: (11) Bernalillo Spartans at (6) Albuquerque Academy Chargers. 4A Bracket. Playing back-to-back weeks could seem tough for the Chargers who escaped with an overtime week on Friday night. The Chargers struck by injuries will need to contain a Bernalillo defense behind senior Michael Ash who had 8 total tackles (4 TFL) and 2 sacks this weekend.
Obvious Upset in 6A: (9) Los Lunas over (8) Cibola. Two teams that have been headed in different directions as of late. The Los Lunas Tigers went 4-0 winning their district and looking healthy and hitting on all cylinders. Cibola is coming off an upset loss to Sandia in the final week of the season and without star quarterback Aden Chavez will likely struggle.
Most Likely 3-Seed: Taos Tigers. The Tigers are 9-1 and entering the post season on a 9-game win streak. The road to a state championship will put the Tigers against the winner of the 6-11 game (Academy-Bernalillo) and then a likely match-up with 2-seed Bloomfield. Taos is 9-1 on the season and playing solid football over the last month allowing only 13-points. The 1, 4, and 5, seeds will beat each other up on the top half. I really like Silver (had to plug).
Unmatched. The 1-seed in the eight team 2A bracket is the 10-0 Jal Panthers. Behind the duo of Alexavier Carreon and Jacob Lujan, the Panthers should move along easy to a 2A State Championship.
Picks
6A Final Four: 1) Cleveland, 2) La Cueva, 3) Centennial, 4) Hobbs
5A Final Four: 1) Artesia, 2) Roswell, 3) Piedra Vista, 5) Deming
4A Final Four: 1) Silver, 2) Bloomfield, 3) Taos, 4) Lovington
3A Final Four: 1) Socorro, 2) Ruidoso, 3) Robertson, 4) St. Michael's
--No excitement this season. There has been a clear divide but to make it fun we went with Deming. Almost went with Volcano Vista (5 in 6A).
5-12 Seed Most Likely to Make Semifinals: (6) Raton. 3A Bracket. This is the favorable pick with the first game between the district opponents being a narrow, 12-7 loss in favor of Robertson. The road would be a first round win over Hatch Valley (11-seed) and then upsetting district opponent Robertson (3-seed) in the semifinals.
Most Likely Too Upset in the 1st Round: (11) Bernalillo Spartans at (6) Albuquerque Academy Chargers. 4A Bracket. Playing back-to-back weeks could seem tough for the Chargers who escaped with an overtime week on Friday night. The Chargers struck by injuries will need to contain a Bernalillo defense behind senior Michael Ash who had 8 total tackles (4 TFL) and 2 sacks this weekend.
Obvious Upset in 6A: (9) Los Lunas over (8) Cibola. Two teams that have been headed in different directions as of late. The Los Lunas Tigers went 4-0 winning their district and looking healthy and hitting on all cylinders. Cibola is coming off an upset loss to Sandia in the final week of the season and without star quarterback Aden Chavez will likely struggle.
Most Likely 3-Seed: Taos Tigers. The Tigers are 9-1 and entering the post season on a 9-game win streak. The road to a state championship will put the Tigers against the winner of the 6-11 game (Academy-Bernalillo) and then a likely match-up with 2-seed Bloomfield. Taos is 9-1 on the season and playing solid football over the last month allowing only 13-points. The 1, 4, and 5, seeds will beat each other up on the top half. I really like Silver (had to plug).
Unmatched. The 1-seed in the eight team 2A bracket is the 10-0 Jal Panthers. Behind the duo of Alexavier Carreon and Jacob Lujan, the Panthers should move along easy to a 2A State Championship.
Picks
6A Final Four: 1) Cleveland, 2) La Cueva, 3) Centennial, 4) Hobbs
5A Final Four: 1) Artesia, 2) Roswell, 3) Piedra Vista, 5) Deming
4A Final Four: 1) Silver, 2) Bloomfield, 3) Taos, 4) Lovington
3A Final Four: 1) Socorro, 2) Ruidoso, 3) Robertson, 4) St. Michael's
--No excitement this season. There has been a clear divide but to make it fun we went with Deming. Almost went with Volcano Vista (5 in 6A).
