Las Cruces prep football teams look to bounce back in Week 4
Mark Rudi
Something very rare happened in Week 3 of the high school football season — all four Las Cruces Public Schools teams lost in the same week.
Since Centennial opened in 2012, all four LCPS teams had never lost in the same week. And prior to Centennial opening, it would be tough to find a week when Las Cruces High, Mayfield and Oñate all lost in the same week.
Centennial lost to La Cueva 42-14 on Friday, Mayfield lost to Eldorado 47-35 on Friday, Las Cruces fell to Cleveland 28-21 on Saturday and Oñate lost to Sandia 59-35.
Injuries were a story line in Week 3 as Las Cruces lost quarterback Payton Ball (hip) and wide receiver Ivan Molina (shoulder) on Saturday and Centennial lost quarterback and wide receiver Lance Frost and running back Adrian Gomez on Friday. We'll see if those players return to action this weekend, or at least when district play opens next week.
Give props to the Bulldawgs for coming back and almost beating the Storm, a state title contender, after a sloppy offensive first half and without their starting quarterback and one of their top receivers in the second half. LCHS just didn't get the big stop on defense that it needed on Cleveland's final drive.
Despite the loss, Las Cruces is still in the hunt for championship. The Bulldawgs should bounce back against Valley on Saturday at the Field of Dreams. LCHS was the same situation last season. After a 49-41 loss to Cleveland last year, the Bulldawgs rattled off nine straight wins and beat Cleveland 45-7 in the state semifinals to get to the Class 6A state title game.
Mayfield and Oñate, both young teams, showed improvement this week.
The Trojans got some offense going on Friday night and will look to keep that up against Volcano Vista on Friday night. The Trojans scored 35 points and were in the game in the first half after being shutout by El Paso Del Valle in Week 2.
The Knights are still adjusting to a new coaching staff with Scott Veliz at the helm, and a new offense. But, in Week 3, Oñate put up 35 points against Sandia a week after scoring just 7 points against Atrisco Heritage in a Week 2 loss. It will be a tough challenge for Oñate to get its first win this week as the Knights host defending state champion Rio Rancho Saturday night at the Field of Dreams.
And as Centennial head coach Aaron Ocampo said, a tough non-district schedule will help prepare them for District 3-6A play, which starts next week in Week 5. The Hawks have another though one this week as they head up to Rio Rancho to face Cleveland.
Mesilla Valley gets second straight shutout
We don't talk about 8-man football a lot, but Mesilla Valley Christian is a state title contender in that league.
After losing their opener 72-57 to Dora, the SonBlazers bounced back for 55-0 wins over both Magdalena and Logan the past two weeks.
MVCS hasn't played a game in Las Cruces yet and won't until Oct. 6 when they host Gateway Christian in their district opener. Gateway Christian beat Mesilla Valley in both the regular season and playoffs last season and the SonBlazers should be hyped for their home opener.
MVCS needs to take care of business against Navajo Pine on Saturday in a neutral site game in Albuquerque and a road game at Tatum on Sept. 29 before its first home game.
Two players to watch from MVCS are junior quarterback Josh Castillo and senior running back/linebacker Brock Maddox. Both are receiving Division I interest, which is very impressive coming from a small school like Mesilla Valley Christian.
Mark Rudi can be reached at 575-541-5455, mrudi@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @mrudi19.
Volcano Vista (2-1) at Mayfield (0-3) (Field of Dreams), Friday, 7 p.m.
Centennial (1-2) at Cleveland (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m.
Valley (1-2) at Las Cruces (2-1) (Field of Dreams), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Rio Rancho (3-0) at Oñate (0-3) (Field of Dreams), Saturday, 7 p.m.
Mesilla Valley Christian (2-1) vs. Navajo Pine (1-1) (at Menaul School in Albuquerque), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Benson (Arizona) (1-3) at Hatch Valley (0-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Chaparral (1-2) at Gadsden (1-2), Friday, Friday, 7 p.m.
Santa Teresa (2-1) at El Paso Cathedral (2-0) (at Coronado High School in El Paso), Friday, 7 p.m.