Prep notes: AFA gets La Cueva long snapper

Mickey Widner excels at what is probably football’s most niche position. And it has gotten him to the next level.

The La Cueva High junior has committed to join the Air Force Academy, on scholarship — as a long snapper.

Air Force was the first Division I offer for Widner, who said he was talking to some other schools (UTEP, Texas Tech and Dartmouth among them), but the Falcons had a built-in advantage and not just because they were first to offer Widner.

“The academics are unbeatable,” said Widner. “I’ll graduate debt free and have an immediate job in the military after that as an officer. I like that part a lot. And as a specialist, it’s hard to get a scholarship.”

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Widner also played safety and linebacker last fall for the Bears; he said he is likely to transition more heavily to linebacker next fall at La Cueva, which is graduating multiple outstanding senior linebackers like Mason Posa and Nick Mertz.

Widner will have the ball in his hands when the La Cueva punt and field-goal teams are on the field.

Widner’s father is a former center, and Widner is a former center, too; La Cueva coach Brandon Back two years ago was shopping for a new long snapper.

“I was just working at it every single day,” he said, “watching a bunch of YouTube videos. … Coach Back told me if I kept working at it, I can go to college for it.”

He attended multiple specialists camps, he said.

“It’s a weird little niche group,” Widner said. But he said he has found a comfort zone.

“When you break it down, there are so many little things you can break down,” he said of long snapping. “It’s almost like a baseball swing. There are so many little parts that have to be perfect.”

EAGLES TURN TO HUFF: Following a decade of serving as an assistant coach for the Eldorado boys, the Eagles have named Adam Huff as the new head girls basketball coach.

Huff, 39, had two different stints with Sanchez; in between, he went to the Four Corners and spent seven years coaching boys at Piedra Vista, including four as head coach.

The Kirtland Central graduate takes over from Gary Ellis; the Eldorado program has been in flux the last calendar year, starting with Bella Hines, one of the country’s top guards leaving Eldorado to join a new elite girls club team at ABC Prep.

Huff will inherit a young program, with just a couple of players who will have varsity experience.

“Super young,” he said. “A lot of freshmen and sophomores, which is nice when you’re trying to … rebuild. It kind of does feel like that.”

Huff was a teammate of current Kirtland Central girls coach Devon Manning when both played for the Broncos.

Kirtland Central is the only school with more state championships than Eldorado.

“Second most,” Huff said. “That appealed to me also, getting back into it.”

HARPER TIME: Outside of the state meet, there is probably no individual regular-season track and field meet that brings together more talent in one location for one event than the Richard A. Harper Memorial meet at Albuquerque Academy.

The 2025 event runs all day Friday and ends early Saturday afternoon.

Most of the field events — 12 of the 14 — will be contested on Friday morning, with start times varying between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

The running portion of the program starts at noon with the 3,200-meter finals in both genders. The rest of the afternoon will be spent with prelims in the other, non-distance events, with the exception of the finals in the 800-meter run, which occur in the middle of the program.

The remainder of the running finals, individual events and relays, will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The boys and girls discus also are Saturday morning.

The scheduled list of competing teams (besides the host Chargers):

Albuquerque High, Atrisco Heritage, Belen, Capital, Cibola, Cleveland, Del Norte, Eldorado, Farmington, Highland, Hobbs, Hope Christian, La Cueva, Los Alamos, Los Lunas, Manzano, Piedra Vista, Rio Grande, Rio Rancho, Sandia, Sandia Prep, Santa Fe, Valencia, Valley, Volcano Vista and West Mesa.

METRO ACTIVITY: The Albuquerque Metro Tennis Championships are ongoing this week at Albuquerque Academy. They will close at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Academy with finals in boys and girls singles, and boys and girls doubles.

The semifinals are Friday afternoon at the Academy.

Meanwhile, the metro golf tournaments are Monday and Tuesday. The girls are Monday at Ladera Golf Course, the boys Tuesday at Arroyo del Oso Golf Course. There is a shotgun start at 8 a.m. each day.

The 13 Albuquerque Public Schools programs are entered, and also Cleveland, Rio Rancho, St. Pius, Albuquerque Academy, Bosque School, Hope Christian and Sandia Prep.

The last of the metro events for the spring, track and field, comes up next week.