Prep football: Favorites (mostly) fare well in Saturday playoff games

The Class 5A state football semifinals didn’t entirely go as planned, at least according to the seed lines.

While No. 1 Artesia cruised past Highland and No. 4 Lovington doubled up Goddard on Saturday, it was No. 6 Gadsden who crashed the semifinal party as the Panthers went up to No. 3 Los Alamos and handed the Hilltoppers (11-1) their first loss of the season in a 31-13 quarterfinal victory on Saturday afternoon.

Armando Ramirez caught two touchdown passes and rushed for a third in the victory for the Panthers (8-4), who are going to the 5A semifinals for the second straight year.

Senior quarterback Ethan Morales threw three touchdown passes for Gadsden.

The Panthers will play host to Roswell next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the semis.

The Bulldogs (10-1) routed No. 8 seed Highland 49-13 at Bulldog Bowl on Saturday. Bryce Parra returned a pair of kicks for touchdowns against the Hornets (7-5), who were making their first visit to Artesia in 59 years.

Artesia next faces rival Lovington, at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lovington.

The Wildcats beat No. 5 Goddard 28-14 in their Saturday quarterfinal. Jayden Gutierrez threw for two scores and rushed for a third to lead Lovington (7-4) over the Rockets (7-5). One of Lovington’s key players, senior linebacker Kyler Reaves, returned from injury to record 12 tackles and an interception.

No. 1 Bloomfield (10-1) joined St. Pius, Chaparral and Taos in next week’s Class 4A semifinals.

The Bobcats on Saturday dominated No. 8 seed Bernalillo (7-5) and posted a 49-0 home victory in the quarterfinals.

Senior Kaleb Hutchens scored four touchdowns for Bloomfield, which will visit No. 4 Taos (7-4) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals. Hutchens caught three TD passes, and also had a scoop-and-score on defense. The Bloomfield defense created six turnovers in the victory.

The Tigers, along with St. Pius and Chaparral, all posted quarterfinal victories on Friday night.

The Sartans will play host to the Lobos at 1 p.m. Saturday at Nusenda Community Stadium.

In Class 3A, No. 1 seed St. Michael’s (11-0) eliminated rival Robertson (7-5), the No. 8 seed, 28-7 on Saturday afternoon.

The Horsemen are back home next Saturday at 1 p.m., to play fifth-seeded New Mexico Military Institute which won Friday night at Pojoaque Valley.

No. 2 Dexter (9-1) also was in action Saturday, and the Demons put it to No. 10 Ruidoso in a 57-6 victory. The Demons are home in the semifinals to No. 3 Hope Christian (8-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

No. 1 Texico, No. 2 Legacy Academy, No. 3 Eunice and No. 4 Hozho Academy comprise an eclectic 2A batch of semifinals after each won quarterfinal games on Saturday.

At Bernalillo High, the Silverbacks (10-1) won their first-ever postseason football game, whipping No. 7 Loving 49-18.

Xander Chavez rushed for 117 yards and four touchdowns for Legacy, and quarterback Lorenzo Sedillo-Urban accounted for over 200 combined passing and rushing yards. Jay Lee returned a punt for a touchdown for the Silverbacks.

Texico (7-3), the defending 2A state champion, had no trouble with No. 8 Navajo Prep (9-3), winning 54-6 on Saturday. Cross Figg ran for three scores, two of them lengthy scores on runs of 86 and 59 yards, for the Wolverines. Maverick Hawkins caught a 34-yard touchdown pass and also had a 25-yard pick-6.

Texico will play host to Hozho Academy out of Gallup. The fourth-seeded Wolves (9-2) won a wild 49-47 decision Saturday over fifth-seeded Raton (7-5). Their semifinal is 1 p.m. Saturday in Texico.

Eunice visits Legacy Academy at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bernalillo in the other semifinals.

The Cardinals (8-2), playing at home, put on a dominant performance against sixth-seeded Santa Rosa (9-3), in a 49-14 victory.

Senior Dyson Lord scored three receiving touchdowns, and also intercepted pass for the Cardinals. Senior QB Elijah Melancon tossed for 200-plus yards and three TDs, and he added over 100 rushing yards. Greyson Meek was over 100 rushing yards, and scored twice.

Of the 11 playoff games around the state next week, there is only one other Friday night game besides La Cueva-Las Cruces. That is the 8-Man final between No. 1 Fort Sumner/House (10-0) and No. 2 Melrose (10-2). Those two old rivals meet at 7 p.m. Friday in Fort Sumner.