Ranking The Top 15 Teams In Albuquerque
By: Kyle Henderson of NMPreps.com
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1. Sandia
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
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
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
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
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
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.
