Prep football: Las Cruces finishes its perfect season, Eunice QB goes over 10,000 career yards

Las Cruces High School on Friday night clinched the District 3-6A championship outright and also finished off a 10-0 regular season.

Come Saturday night, the Class 6A playoff bracket will reveal the Bulldawgs as the team to beat in November’s playoffs.

Quarterback Gunnar Guardiola was 20-for-24 for 308 yards and two touchdowns, and tailback Danny Amaro rushed for 103 yards and two scores as No. 1 Las Cruces (6-0 in 3-6A) beat No. 4 Centennial 31-21 at the Field of Dreams.

“To go undefeated, I don’t know if that was necessarily a goal, but it sure felt good,” Las Cruces coach Mark Lopez said.

This was the Bulldogs’ second-closest victory of the season; they beat Cleveland 38-34 back in mid-September.

Centennial (7-3, 4-2) now waits to see if it will be the final seed to earn a first-round postseason bye.

This was the final Friday night of the regular season.

Hobbs (8-2 5-1 in 3-6A), ranked No. 3, closed out a strong 8-2 campaign with a 31-13 home win over Carlsbad.

Both quarterback Junior Medrano and tailback Shamus Wright rushed for two touchdowns for the Eagles, and their defense forced four Cavemen turnovers.

Piedra Vista, the fourth-place team in District 1-6A, got a field goal from Deagen Herrera with 6 seconds left, as the ninth-ranked Panthers (5-5, 2-3 in 1-6A) edged rival Farmington 17-14 at Hutchison Stadium.

The Panthers had tied the game at 14, then blocked a Scorpions punt moments later to set up the field goal.

In Clovis, at Leon Williams Stadium, the Wildcats (3-7, 2-4 in 3-6A) outscored Alamogordo (4-6, 1-5) 16-0 in the fourth quarter, and stunned the Tigers 48-43, ending Alamo’s playoff hopes and even giving Clovis a slight hope that it could sneak into the field when the 6A bracket is announced at about 10 p.m. Saturday.

Javier Jimenez’s 16-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter was the game-winner for the Wildcats, who earlier in the fourth quarter trailed 43-32. They scored to cut the deficit to 43-30, then recovered an onside kick.

In Class 5A, top-ranked Artesia and No. 2 Roswell both closed out their regular seasons with victories.

The Bulldogs (9-1, 7-0 in 2-5A) buried No. 8 Mayfield 50-0 at Bulldog Bowl. Jack Byers caught two passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Bryce Parra rushed for 103 yards and four scores. Corbyn Dominguez not only kicked a field goal but recorded a pick-6 for the Artesia defense.

At Wool Bowl, the Coyotes (8-2, 6-1 in 2-5A) beat rival Goddard 35-21. The fourth-ranked Rockets (6-4, 4-3) almost certainly are in a battle with No. 5 Los Alamos for the final first-round bye. The Hilltoppers (10-0, 6-0 in 1-5A) closed an unbeaten season, winning 42-10 against Miyamura in Gallup.

In the metro area, Bernalillo (6-4, 3-4 in 1-4A) fell at home Friday to Taos, 26-7. Moriarty (5-4, 4-3 in 1-4A) closed its regular season with a big 47-0 home victory over Kirtland Central. Mateo Griego-Manley rushed for 156 yards and a score for the Pintos, Mario Romero rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns, and Royce Dennisson added 118 yards with a TD.

Eunice senior quarterback Elijah Melancon surpassed 10,000 career passing yards for the Cardinals on Friday night, as Eunice, playing at home, routed rival Jal 62-13.

Melancon becomes just the fourth quarterback in New Mexico history to reach the magical 10,000-yard plateau, joining Brett Henson of Hatch Valley (12,124; 2002-04), Brycson King of Aztec (10,644; 2007-10) and Easton Bruere of Rio Rancho (10,204; 2012-14). Melancon’s updated total was not immediately available late Friday night.

There are a handful of games on Saturday around the state as the regular season comes to a close.