Lots of games to watch in final weekend of prep football regular season

The Week 11 Games to Watch is, as usual, a super sized list of games across all the 11-Man classifications.

Next week is also opening weekend for the 8-Man and 6-Man playoffs, with those brackets to be revealed on Sunday.

1. Rio Rancho at Cleveland, Thursday, 6 p.m.: The expanded list begins, as it must, with this matchup, which will determine the District 1-6A champion. Storm, it says here, are a certain top four seed win or lose; Rams likely will become one if they upset their rivals.

2. Centennial vs. Las Cruces, Field of Dreams, 7 p.m. Friday: Another 6A district, District 3, ends at the FOD with the Hawks looking to solve the undefeated, top-ranked Bulldawgs.

3. Roswell vs. Goddard, Wool Bowl, 7 p.m. Friday: Besides the nature of this wonderful rivalry, there is a larger thing in play: who finishes second to Artesia in 2-5A. Should the Rockets win this game, and if Lovington defeats Santa Teresa, we’ll have a three-way for second place and it just might be — if it comes to that — that all three of them will get a first-round bye.

4. Carlsbad at Hobbs, 7 p.m. Friday: The Eagles figure to have a good chance at having the first weekend of the playoffs off, but only if they close out their regular season with a victory against their rivals. Note: A Hobbs win in Week 11, combined with a Centennial win in Week 11, will create a three-way tie for first place. In that case, hello 13-point rule! The fun thing is, if Carlsbad wins, and if Las Cruces wins, we’ll have a three-way tie for second. Hello again, 13-point rule!

5. Santa Rosa at Legacy Academy, Bernalillo HS, 6 p.m. Thursday: Last year, the Silverbacks were undefeated going into their final game, which they lost at Santa Rosa for the District 2-2A title. The Lions are coming off their first loss of 2025, to Raton, and there is more potential three-way tie action in this district, if Santa Rosa beats Legacy and Raton defeats Estancia, then a tiebreak would settle how the top three finish.

6. Los Lunas at Sandia, Wilson Stadium, 11 a.m. Saturday: The Matadors have come back from the wilderness, from 0-4 to 4-5, and here, they have a chance to leapfrog Los Lunas, which is a game in front of Sandia, to finish second in District 2-6A. The Matador offense averaging about 43 points a game during this 4-1 stretch.

7. Manzano at St. Pius, Nusenda Community Stadium, 11 a.m. Saturday/Albuquerque Academy at Valencia, 7 p.m. Thursday: The Sartans have scored 45, 50 and 62 points in their last three games, and they need one more big output if they want to clinch the District 2-4A title. St. Pius leads Chaparral and Academy by one game; If the Sartans lose to the Monarchs, if Academy beats Valencia, and if the Lobos take care of Portales, there will be — yep, you guessed it — a three-way tie for first place. And that would force the district to go deeper into its tiebreaking handbook.

8. The Rest: Games of note include Volcano Vista-Cibola (a game both teams need), the always fun Jal-Eunice matchup, Los Alamos looking to finish a 10-0 regular season at Gallup against Miyamura, the all-Farmington showdown between the Scorpions and Piedra Vista, a renewal of the usually fantastic rivalry between Robertson and St. Michael’s, and a must-win scenario for Alamogordo as it visits Leon Williams Stadium in Clovis.