Rio Rancho, Cleveland, St. Pius gear for football quarterfinals

The high school state football quarterfinals are this weekend, with three schools from the Rio West area still going.

In Class 6A, Rio Rancho played late Friday at Las Cruces High at the Field of Dreams.

Cleveland plays host to Hobbs at 1 p.m. today, while in 5A, St. Pius visits Artesia at 1 this afternoon in a rematch of last year’s state championship game.

West Mesa went out last weekend in the first round, 56-35 at Wilson Stadium against Eldorado.

Mustangs quarterback Gabe Ramirez threw for 240 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for a fifth TD in the loss. West Mesa was making its first playoff appearance since 2010.

No. 5 Rio Rancho ousted No. 12 Centennial 24-7 in the first round. Jaylen Morgan and Isaiah Chavez had rushing touchdowns for the Rams, and Austin Hise caught a 24-yard TD pass.

St. Pius, the 8 seed in 5A, rallied from 21-0 down to defeat ninth-seeded Lovington 42-35 at Nusenda Community Stadium. Sophomore quarterback Diego Pavia rushed for five touchdowns for the Sartans.

Volleyball

St. Pius finished as the Class 5A state runner-up to Los Lunas last Saturday at the Santa Ana Star Center.

The top-seeded Sartans won the first two sets against No. 3 Los Lunas, but the Tigers came roaring back to win in five sets.

Volcano Vista was the only other area school to get as far as the semifinals, where the Hawks fell in straight sets to Centennial.

Basketball

The Bosque School boys opened their season Thursday night with a 66-53 loss at Santa Fe Prep. Eli Davidson had 26 points to lead the Bobcats.

Cleveland’s boys are taking on Centennial this afternoon at 5. That game was pushed back because of the Storm’s football game being at 1 p.m.

Most of the other boys and girls teams in Rio West will open their 2017-18 seasons Monday or Tuesday.