District 2/5-4A battles are clashes for class supremacy
The football coaches of New Mexico have spoken, and their rankings make this plainly clear: District 2/5-4A (because 5-4A schools Bernalillo and Santa Fe Indian School are in it) is the best in Class 4A. For now. With apologies to District 4-4A — with Albuquerque Hope Christian, Moriarty, Portales and Ruidoso in its fold — 2/5-4A can stake this claim as easily as 1-2-3.
Actually, it is that easy because you will find Las Vegas Robertson (No. 1), Taos (No. 2) and St. Michael’s (No. 3) atop this week’s New Mexico Overtime SportsCenter coaches poll. Add No. 7 West Las Vegas to the fold and you have four of the top seven teams in 4A from the same district. The dominance of 2/5-4A is not by a wide margin, mind you, because Moriarty (No. 4), Portales (No. 5), Ruidoso (No. 6) and Hope Christian (No. 8) are right on its heels.
The top four from both districts split six nondistrict games this season, but consider this: the top four are 1-3 against the top three teams in the state.
Of course, it should be noted that Taos needed two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat the Huskies 27-14, St. Michael’s used a goal-line stand and a 2-point conversion stop to beat the Rams 21-20 and Robertson was only up 35-28 on the Warriors in the fourth quarter before winning 42-28.
Oh, and you know Moriarty mauled the Horsemen 41-15, right?
So, 2/5-4A’s dominance is not so cut and dry.
However, what is tried and true about a district’s strength is that it tests its teams through the regular season. The payoff comes once the playoffs begin, as those teams are accustomed to the glare and intensity of the postseason.
District 4-4A is the perfect example of that. In its previous iteration as District 4-3A (before the six-class monstrosity), it produced a state finalist from 1985 until 2007. What happened in 2007? Why, District 2-3A.
St. Michael’s, Robertson, Albuquerque Academy and Raton created the first all-district state semifinal that year, and it happened because those four teams battled each other almost mercilessly during October. They were battle tested and battle ready for November and playoff football.
There is no question the 2/5-4A will get one team to the state championship game. But will it be an all-district affair come Dec. 2?
That’s not as easy to predict, thanks to 4-4A. Portales looks perfectly capable of repeating as state champion. The Pintos might also make a deep run, if they can overcome the loss of fullback/linebacker Matt Smith for the season to a torn ACL. Ruidoso has a balanced offensive attack that makes opponents’ game plan challenging. But that’s for November. Starting on Friday with the Taos-Robertson game at Cardinal Field, fans in 2/5-4A will be entertained by the drama of 4A’s best beating up on each other. To the victor, goes the spoils — and a top seed for the playoffs.
That much you can take to the bank.