Deming gets tough test in semifinals
Wildcats visit defending state champ Roswell
Los Lunas is trying to reach its second consecutive state championship game. Hope Christian hopes to be in its first.
From Lovington to Bloomfield, from Eunice to Las Vegas, there are seven prep football playoff games on tap Friday and Saturday in Classes 2A-5A.
CLASS 5A: Roswell and Goddard are hosting semifinal games. The top-seeded Coyotes (11-0) are at the Wool Bowl at 6 p.m. Friday against No. 5 Deming (10-2), while the thirdseeded Rockets (9-2) play host to No. 2 Los Lunas (9-2) at the Wool Bowl at 1 p.m. Saturday. Goddard is hosting because the teams met in the semifinals last year in Los Lunas.
The Tigers beat Goddard 21-7 in Los Lunas in September; the game was scoreless at halftime, and defensive end Bryce Santana ran for two scores in the second half.
“One of the big things we need to do better is not turn the ball over,” Rockets coach Chris White said. His team committed four of them in the first meeting.
“They’re big and physical and they try to pound it down your throat,” Los Lunas coach Jeremy Maupin said. “We know what they bring. We’re a pretty physical team, we just have to make sure we show up and travel well. Our luck in the Wool Bowl has not been great.”
Tailback Derek Chavez (118 yards) and quarterback Kade Benavidez (13-of-15 for 268 yards) both had excellent outings in the Tigers’ 58-21 quarterfinal win over Artesia. Santana rushed for five touchdowns.
Defending state champion Roswell and Deming — the Wildcats are in their first football semi in 45 years — get things started on Friday night. The Coyotes have played well offensively and defensively, so the Wildcats will have their hands full.
“I’m telling you what,” Deming coach Greg Simmons said. “I’m probably never gonna get a chance to coach in a college game, but this is pretty dang close to what I imagine a college team would look like. Those guys are loaded.”
Deming, which hopes to utilize speedy tailback Ceazer Chavez to great effect on Friday night, met two other members of Roswell’s district in the regular season, losing 55-0 to Goddard and 55-6 to Artesia in consecutive weeks.
CLASS 4A: It figures to be a defensive-minded matchup in Bloomfield on Saturday when the top-seeded Bobcats (11-0) play host to No. 4 Grants (10-1). These are the top two scoring defenses in 4A — 13.2 points per game allowed by Bloomfield, just 7.4 for the Pirates.
Key for Grants is getting some heat on Bobcats senior QB Vincent Marquez, who has 37 touchdown passes and nearly 2,900 passing yards. He also is a running threat for Bloomfield, with a team-high 10 rushing scores.
But Bloomfield’s defense must contend with Grants senior running back Isaiah Johnson, who has scored 32 touchdowns and rushed for about 2,000 yards.
■ The other semifinal is in Lovington, also at 1 p.m. Saturday as the third-seeded Wildcats (7-4) welcome No. 2 seed and district rival Portales (10-1). These two met three weeks ago in Portales, with the Rams winning 35-13 as Lovington’s outstanding quarterback, Casey Perez (2,485 yards/28 TDs/one interception), was forced to throw a season-high 44 times. He also leads Lovington in rushing with 1,052 yards and 22 touchdowns. But he was held to minus-12 yards rushing on 14 carries in the first meeting.
CLASS 3A: No. 2 Hope Christian (9-2) and No. 3 Robertson (10-1) play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Las Vegas in a semifinal. No. 1 Socorro (101) is home to No. 5 Tularosa (9-2) in the other, also Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies hope their outstanding defense, which has yielded only 72 points in 11 games, will travel well for the biggest road game in the program’s short history.
“It’ll be a good, tough, physical football game,” Hope coach Gary Beck said.
The Huskies hope to make things uneasy for Robertson sophomore QB Matthew Gonzales, who has thrown for over 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns, but has also rushed for nearly 1,000 yards more, with eight scores. Senior running back Antonio Padilla has been a factor for the Cardinals on the ground and in the air. He has 16 touchdowns, 12 of them receiving.
Hope has its own dangerous QB/WR duo with Collin Evans (2,158 yards/27 TDs/four interceptions) and receiver Ryan Cosper (63 catches for 1,094 yards and 11 scores). Blaine Miller is the Huskies’ top running back, with 603 yards and 12 TDs.
■ The Socorro-Tularosa matchup is also highly intriguing. These two met in Week 2 in Tularosa. The Warriors, who average 45 points a game, lost 9-7 to the Wildcats that night with all the scoring in the fourth quarter and a safety being the difference.
Socorro will deploy multiple running backs and multiple wide receivers in their balanced attack. Tularosa’s offense is led by senior QB Traiton Griffin, who has actually run for more yards (910, with 16 TDs) than he’s passed for (900/nine TDs/nine picks).
CLASS 2A: The first of the 11-Man finals is set for Saturday at 1 p.m., as No. 1 seed Eunice (11-1) plays host to No. 3 Texico (8-4). The Cardinals beat the Wolverines 34-19 in Eunice on Sept. 27, but Eunice averages almost 48 points a game.
Eunice’s diverse offense is led by 6-1, 195-pound senior QB Mason Caperton, who has thrown for over 3,100 yards, 45 touchdowns and just five picks this season. Senior Avante Stevens caught 22 of those 45 TD throws.