New Mexico state football playoffs ready to kick off

The New Mexico state football tournament brackets are in, and let's just say there are plenty of subplots as the postseason gets underway this Friday.

We'll focus on the 12-team Class 5A field, the large school division. Valley (Albuquerque), which sports a perfect 10-0 record, is the No. 1 seed. The Vikings are followed by No. 2 Mayfield (Las Cruces), No. 3 Cleveland (Rio Rancho) and No. 4 Las Cruces. The top four seeds all have first-round byes.

Friday's first-round games include No. 8 Clovis vs. No. 9 Volcano Vista (Albuquerque), No. 5 Sandia (Albuquerque) vs. No. 12 Atrisco Heritage Academy (Albuquerque) and No. 7 Rio Rancho vs. No. 10 Carlsbad. The final opening-round game matches up No. 6 Cibola (Albuquerque) vs. No. 11 Hobbs.

On the following weekend, Valley plays the Clovis-Volcano Vista winner; Las Cruces plays the Sandia-Atrisco Heritage winner; Cleveland plays the Cibola-Hobbs winner; and Mayfield plays the Rio Rancho-Carlsbad winner.

See all the New Mexico football playoff brackets

Valley got the toughest draw imaginable, as it would play Las Cruces in the semifinals if seeds hold form. Despite being a No. 4 seed, Las Cruces proved from the opening week of the season it had the goods to repeat as state champions.

Cibola is one of the feel-good stories of the year, improving from 1-9 last year to 7-3 under first-year coach Rod Williams.
The lone notable absence from the field is Eldorado (Albuquerque), which, despite finishing 4-6, beat Atrisco Heritage, which got the last at-large bid.

"I was surprised to see Eldordao left out of the playoffs," Rio Rancho coach David Howes said. "Every year there seems to be a team with a losing record get in because of quality wins. I think you have to take into account quality wins and strength of schedule. Both Hobbs and Atrisco had weaker schedules (compared to Eldorado's). There's a heavy argument for Eldorado to be in there, and I'm sorry to see them lose out. The committee had a tough job, and I don't envy what they had to do because there were so many ranking changes on the final week of the season."

Las Cruces (9-1), which was in line for the top seed until dropping a 28-20 decision to rival Mayfield last week, has to be one of the strongest fourth seeds in the history of the state playoffs.

"I look at Mayfield and Las Cruces as the favorites, and Valley after that," Howes said. "But really, none of that matters when it's all said and done. There are seven teams on paper that can make a run at this thing, easily."

One of those teams is Rio Rancho (6-4), which has played exactly half of the teams in the 5A playoff field, going 3-3. Winning a state championship always comes down to a team peaking at the right time, and Howes is hoping his squad can do just that.

The Rams have experienced more peaks and valleys this season than anyone, but there's no question they're talented and well coached.

"We're an up-and-down football team," Howes said. "When we're up, I think we can beat anybody. When we're down, I know we can lose to anybody. We're going to find out who can separate themselves, and hopefully we're going to start peaking. I think the vibe (in practice) has been different this week, the tempo has been good and the energy level high."

See New Mexico 5A state football bracket

A day to remember
Last Saturday, Eldorado (Albuquerque) standout Jessie Hix accomplished one of the most impressive athletic feats in state history.

In the morning, the super sophomore finished eighth in the 5A Girls State Cross-Country Championships at Rio Rancho High School. Upon finishing, Hix had to make her way to the Albuquerque Public Schools Soccer Complex for Eldorado's 5A state soccer final against Cibola.

Despite being weary, Hix played all 120 minutes of Eldorado's four-overtime win, as the Eagles prevailed 1-0 on penalty kicks. Making Hix's performances all the more remarkable was the fact the soccer team had to play an overtime game against Volcano Vista on Friday.