Cleveland dominates Journal's 2025 All-Metro football teams

We put an early Christmas bow on our fall sports All-Metro teams with the presentation of our choices in football.

It is the largest of all our All-Metro squads, 52 top players from the 2025 season. As always, there are no third teams, no honorable mentions, no ties. And our All-Metro team pools from every classification.

To that end, 19 of the 25 metro-playing football programs are represented with at least one player this year.

Offense

There were half a dozen (at least) quality starting quarterbacks in the metro area this year, but only one of them, Cleveland senior Jordan Hatch, separated himself from the pack.

He threw for a shade under 2,900 yards, completed three out of every four passes, and tossed 40 touchdowns versus just five interceptions. This was one of the easiest choices on the first-team board this year.

Junior Hershul Olloway Jr. of St. Pius was the metro’s most dynamic running back, and he occupies one of the two slots in the backfield next to Hatch. Olloway ran for 1,930 yards and 28 touchdowns for the Sartans, and his workload was even missing a few quarters due to St. Pius blowouts.

Albuquerque High senior running back Alberto Landeros joins the first team, after his terrific 1,400-yard campaign for the Bulldogs.

We’ve got an outstanding trio of receivers on the first team, led by Rio Rancho senior Parker Miller, who caught 80 passes for 1,200 yards and 15 scores for the Rams.

St. Pius junior Cayl Cox-Liggins, a talent his coach Curtis Flakes called generational, caught 65 balls for 1,161 yards and a dozen touchdowns. The third member of the first-team receiving corps is Cleveland senior Jacob Maldonado (53/800/9).

The other half of that magnificent Storm receiving tandem, sophomore Evan Nañez, who caught 16 touchdown passes, but also proved to be valuable with some well-designed runs in that explosive Cleveland offense, is our first-team athlete. He’s freakishly athletic.

Cleveland, which earned 10 first-team spots out of the 26 available, dominates our first-team O-Line, led by senior center Damion Lopez, plus guard Wyatt Lohr and Utah-bound tackle Moses Sparks.

Recent University of New Mexico commit, Eldorado’s Matheu Alderman, and La Cueva guard Kai Morales, round out the line.

Jay Lee from Class 2A Legacy Academy gets the nod as first-team kick returner; he brought back eight kicks — six of them punts, and three of them in a single game, against Laguna-Acoma — for touchdowns this fall for the Silverbacks.

This was, I thought, a strong season for placekickers in the metro area beyond our two selections. Chance Whitmire of La Cueva edged Albuquerque High’s Gabriel Fernandez this year — Whitmire was 13-of-14 on field goals, 43-for-45 on PATs.

Defense

We shall start at linebacker, which is usually the position stacked with the most quality athletes on either side of the ball.

But we’ve come up with four stellar choices, led by Cibola senior and UNM signee Hayes Baum. He recorded 116 tackles, 12 of them for loss, and sacked the quarterback seven times.

Senior Brody Clark of La Cueva was a fiend for action, with three interceptions and four defensive touchdowns for the Bears. Troy Logan was Cleveland’s top tackler, and he had 10 TFLs and 4½ sacks for the Storm. The fourth member of the linebacking group is Los Lunas junior Brad Mallory, who had a whopping 150 tackles, 16 of them for loss. 

Up front it’s nearly all Cleveland, with seniors Riley Haussler and Elijah Richards as the ends, plus big senior Eli Powell on the interior. The fourth member of the D-Line is Eldorado senior Finn Dolinski.

In the secondary, Quintenn McKinley was a pure playmaker for Rio Rancho, and finished the year with six interceptions. Back there with him are St. Pius junior Curtis Flakes III, an elite cover corner, and also one of my favorite players of the fall, La Cueva senior safety Jhett Kinghorn, who picked off eight passes and had four defensive TDs.

Jose Tapia of Highland is our first-team punter after averaging over 43 yards a kick for the Hornets. Tapia was invaluable to Highland at multiple other positions, including running back, and was probably that team’s best all-around player.

Journal All-Metro Football Teams 2025

First team offense

Quarterback

• Jordan Hatch, sr., Cleveland

Running back

• Hershul Olloway Jr., jr., St. Pius
• Alberto Landeros, sr., Albuquerque High

Receiver

• Parker Miller, sr., Rio Rancho
• Cayl Cox-Liggins, jr., St. Pius
• Jacob Maldonado, sr., Cleveland

Athlete

• Evan Nañez, soph., Cleveland

Center

• Damion Lopez, sr., Cleveland

Guard

• Wyatt Lohr, jr., Cleveland
• Kai Morales, sr., La Cueva

Tackle

• Moses Sparks, sr., Cleveland
• Matheu Alderman, sr., Eldorado

Kick returner

• Jay Lee, sr., Legacy Academy

Placekicker

• Chance Whitmire, sr., La Cueva

First-team defense

Line

• Riley Haussler, sr., Cleveland
• Finn Dolinski, sr., Eldorado
• Elijah Richards, sr., Cleveland
• Eli Powell, sr., Cleveland

Linebacker

• Hayes Baum, sr., Cibola
• Brody Clark, sr., La Cueva
• Brad Mallory, jr., Los Lunas 
• Troy Logan, sr., Cleveland

Secondary

• Curtis Flakes III, jr., St. Pius
• Quintenn McKinley, sr., Rio Rancho
• Jhett Kinghorn, sr., La Cueva

Punter

• Jose Tapia, sr., Highland

Second-team offense

Quarterback

• Monty Melendez, jr., La Cueva

Running back

• Mario Romero, jr., Moriarty
• Victor Aguilar, sr., West Mesa

Receiver

• Chris Lopez, soph., La Cueva
• Aiden Erickson, sr., Manzano
• Logan Hague, jr., Albuquerque Academy

Athlete

• Gonzalo Cano, jr., Belen

Center

• Skyler Sargent, sr., La Cueva

Guard

• Diego Baeza, sr., Valencia
•  Antonio Fisher, jr., Highland

Tackle

• Lance Volk, sr., Moriarty
• Brayden Davidson, sr., Rio Rancho

Kick returner

• Jahari Morehead, jr., Eldorado

Placekicker

• Gabe Fernandez, sr., Albuquerque High

Second-team defense

Line

• Kaleb Vander Wilt, sr., Volcano Vista
• Cooper Cecil, jr., Hope Christian
• Chase Nelson, jr., St. Pius
• Jacari Smith, jr., Rio Rancho

Linebacker

• Aiden Gonzales, soph., Volcano Vista
• Mario Molinar, sr., Bernalillo
• Noah Lovato, jr., Rio Rancho
• Logan Gonzalez, sr., Belen

Secondary

• Jordan Henry, sr., Valencia
• Julio Gutierrez, sr., Cibola
• Karson Weddle, sr., Cleveland

Punter

• Jonah Lorimer, sr., Rio Rancho