Nov. 27—It's Thanksgiving Saturday, which means the curtain comes down on the 2025 prep football season. Following is a preview of the Class 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A title games (the Journal will preview the 6A final on Saturday):
Class 5A
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNo. 2 ROSWELL (9-3) at No. 1 ARTESIA (11-1), 1 p.m. Saturday: There's not a single combination of day and place more special on New Mexico's prep football landscape than Bulldog Bowl on a championship Saturday, and here we are again, with the district rivals squaring off in the final for the third year in a row.
Roswell is the defending champion; Artesia won the regular-season district battle 42-28 after jumping out to a 21-0 lead with running back Bryce Parra and receiver Jack Byers both doing early damage for the Bulldogs.
Coyotes coach Jeff Lynn already is on record saying this is the most talented Artesia team he has faced, so the onus falls to his group to bridge the gap in this rematch.
"We can't get down like we did in the first game," Lynn said. "We've got to be able to control the ball and keep our defense off the field."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat means getting the Bulldogs' offensive assets under control. Artesia quarterback Derrick Warren (2,605 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 64% completions) has provided Artesia the same great QB play the program has come to expect. Parra (1,217 yards, 17 TDs) sparks the ground attack. Senior Trent Egeland (15 of his 47 receptions have gone for touchdowns) and Byers (38 catches, nine TDs).
For Roswell, QB Luke Lynn is coming off a 315-yard, three-TD game at Gadsden. He's thrown for almost 2,000 yards this season with 17 scores and just three interceptions. He also has rushed for more touchdowns (13) than anyone else on the team.
Sophomore Luis Rodriguez rushed for 272 yards in the semifinals for Roswell, and has gained 950 yards for the season in just eight games.
"(In our district) you play multiple teams multiple times, so it's make sure we give them our best every opportunity we play them," Bulldogs coach Jeremy Maupin said of Saturday's showdown. "I think it's harder when you win that first game."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementArtesia and its huge senior class of nearly 40 (nearly every starter is a senior), Maupin said, must remain the pacesetter.
"Our message in the playoffs, instead of being the hunted, we want to be the hunter," he said. "We want to be the aggressor; the aggressiveness is what has got us here."
Artesia is coming off a close 35-30 semifinal win over Lovington, a game in which the Wildcats forced the Bulldogs into a few turnovers.
But Lynn didn't hint that anything outrageously new was in the works for Saturday.
"Minor tweaks," he said. "Don't get away from what you do."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementClass 4A
No. 1 BLOOMFIELD (11-1) at No. 2 ST. PIUS (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday, Nusenda Community Stadium: Of the five championship games this weekend, it is possible none of them may prove as tight as this one, as 4A's top two teams, who have been on a collision course since this season kicked off, settle the 4A postseason bracket on Albuquerque's West Side.
And this one practically screams shootout, as these are 4A's two highest-scoring teams. Bloomfield averages 55.4 points, St. Pius averages 43.1 points.
"It's gonna be exciting on both sides of the ball," Bloomfield coach Mike Kovacs said. "I have a feeling this is gonna go all four quarters."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThese teams were tied at halftime in the final a year ago, but the Bobcats dominated the second half en route to a 62-28 victory in the Four Corners.
"To come back and see them again this year, it's like a get-back game," St. Pius junior quarterback Isaiah Carpenter said. "They're a great team, they've been dominating all season. It's good to see them again, the two best teams in 4A, being able to dawg it out one more time."
Where will the difference come Saturday? A late turnover? A clutch defensive stop? Both defenses are sure to be under consistent duress. Could be the team with the ball last wins.
There is firepower aplenty. Bloomfield quarterback Manual "Peanut" Chavarria has enjoyed a brilliant season, throwing for more than 3,250 yards with 48 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementChavarria and senior Peyton Duncan both have rushed for a dozen scores and lead the team in rushing yards. Duncan's rushing total (755), in particular, is about 600 yards less than his junior season, but that is partly because of the Bobcats' increasing his presence in the passing game.
Kaleb Hutchens (51/1,125/16 TDs) is the alpha among the Bloomfield receiving corps.
The volume of St. Pius weapons has been well documented, and for good reason.
Carpenter has tossed for nearly 2,200 yards with 27 TDs and nine picks. Junior tailback Hershul Olloway Jr., not just 4A's top back, but one of the top five running backs in any class, has gained 1,786 yards and scored 27 touchdowns through 11 games.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCayl Cox-Liggins, a junior who had three scores in a semifinal win over Chaparral, is the top receiver with 55 catches for 986 yards and 11 TDs. Curtis Flakes III — who also is the team's shutdown cornerback on what has been an opportunistic defense — has 20 grabs for over 500 yards and six scores.
The Sartans last won state in 2016.
"We wanted to not just make it to the state championship game, we want to win a title," said St. Pius coach Curtis Flakes. "We switched the way we talked about it (after last season's championship game)."
St. Pius' only defeat came to Albuquerque Academy. Piedra Vista, a 6A team, handed Bloomfield its only setback.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We're super excited for the opportunity to play against Bloomfield," coach Flakes said. "They've been a dominant 4A powerhouse the last few years, and we really want that spot."
Class 3A
No. 1 ST. MICHAEL'S (12-0) at No. 2 DEXTER (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday: Every one of 3A's best teams have shot their shot this fall against this vaunted Horsemen defense — everyone but the Demons, who square off with St. Mike's in the 3A final for the second consecutive Thanksgiving weekend — and none of them had any success.
St. Michael's has won 32 games in a row and is going after a third championship in as many seasons, and has two dozen players returning from the team that beat Dexter 28-26 in Santa Fe 12 months ago.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis matchup offers some pure mano-a-mano action: a physical and power running team like Dexter, which averages nearly 280 rush yards per game, led by senior Garet Gonzalez (1,148 yards, 20 TDs), against a physical and relentless defense like the Horsemen which is constructed to stop the run and led by end Ryan Hunt and middle linebacker Pete Johnson.
"This is one of the best defenses we've played," Dexter coach Sonny Duran said. So what is the solution? "The biggest thing is, do what we're good at, and we're good at running the ball. Our O-line will have to handle them up front."
In Dexter's one loss, to 4A Grants, Dexter threw it over 30 times and that does not play to the Demons' strength, Duran said.
But St. Michael's presents an especially complex challenge. The Horsemen have only given up 71 points in 12 games (not even six per game), and only one team — 4A Albuquerque Academy — scored more than 8 points. Nobody has played St. Michael's closer than 22 points.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Our job is to make sure we dominate the time of possession and limit their possessions," Duran said.
St. Mike's coach Joey Fernandez is all too aware.
"They do have a physical line and some real physical backs," he said. "It takes two, three people to bring them down."
Defense is not all St. Michael's does well. The Horsemen's offense has been stellar, averaging over 44 points. St. Mike's gained close to 700 yards, a school record, in last week's semifinal win over New Mexico Military Institute.
Senior running back Isaiah Dominguez ran for 272 yards (a season high) on just eight carries last week, and is close to 1,100 yards for the season with 21 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Kamal Stith has been one of the state's top dual-threat QBs, throwing for 34 scores while rushing for an additional 15, and he's active in the Horsemen ground attack.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We know there's a lot riding on (Saturday)," Fernandez said. "Our main goal is not winning the blue trophy, it's playing the best 48 minutes we can. They have nothing to lose and we have a lot to lose."
Class 2A
No. 3 EUNICE (8-3) at No. 1 TEXICO (9-2), 1 p.m. Saturday: If there is a major new wrinkle to be found in any of these four games Saturday, it can be found here, with the top-seeded Wolverines, who are chasing a third straight blue trophy.
When Texico came from behind in the second half to beat Eunice 42-34 in October, outscoring the Cardinals 21-6 after halftime, sophomore Cross Figg was quarterbacking the team. He rushed for 174 yards and threw for 194 yards (and four TDs) in the win.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut the season starter, and the 2024 starter, 6-foot-4 senior Bennett Wahlen, who went down early in the opener against Santa Rosa with a separated shoulder injury, returned in the regular season finale against Tularosa and has QB'd the Wolverines through their first two playoff games.
And now Texico can have them both on the field, complicating things for the Eunice defense.
"We can run any play with either one of them," Texico coach Bob Gilbreath said. And these two combined can fill multiple positions: QB, tight end, running back or wide receiver.
Figg remains a most dangerous weapon, with 1,668 rushing yards (averaging over 150 yards a game) and 19 touchdowns, and this is a run-first offense that will throw in selective spots.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAnd when they throw, there is a definite advantage on the perimeter with Texico's big pair of 6-2 receivers, senior Maverick Hawkins and sophomore Nate Autrey. Figg will also play some receiver, as will Jett Curtis and Jaheim Moses.
On the other side is Eunice's prolific senior QB, Elijah Melancon (2,648 pass yards, 38 touchdowns, six interceptions), who did throw two of his picks in the regular-season game versus Texico.
Greyson Meek (811 yards, 11 scores) and Melancon (684/10) lead the ground game for the Cardinals.
"I think they will be ready," Eunice coach Greg Jackson said. "I told them, and it's true, that it's a really impressive accomplishment to make to the state championship game. So they have to be focused, they have to be prepared."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKey for the Cardinals, Jackson said, is limiting Texico's big plays on offense and trying to force a couple of turnovers, both of which were factors, he said, in the 42-34 setback. Eunice averages 51 points a game; Texico only gives up, on average, about 17 per game.
"We didn't execute with enough physicality," Jackson said. "(This game), it's just about being the better version of ourselves. And we weren't the first time."
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