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Week 1: New Mexico high school football scores and summaries
Organ Mountain's Romeo Jones attempts to dodge a tackle by Eldorado’s Matteo Quintana during their game at Wilson Stadium on Friday.
This story will be updated throughout the weekend.
Thursday (Aug. 21)
--> Volcano Vista 21, La Cueva 20
Generally speaking, it was a clean opening night at Wilson Stadium.
La Cueva and Volcano Vista combined for a relatively penalty-free, and completely turnover-free, matchup as the 2025 prep football season officially arrived on Thursday night.
That’s not to say there weren’t regrets on each sideline.
By the time the Hawks had secured an entertaining 21-20 victory, this proved to be true:
Volcano Vista was able to overcome its one humongous mistake.
La Cueva was not able to overcome its one glaring error.
“For us, being a young team … we knew we were gonna make some mistakes and have some growing pains,” Volcano Vista coach Chad Wallin said. “But for us, kind of handling the adversity and the chaos at the end of the game, I thought we did a good job.”
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La Cueva had the ball in its hand with just over a minute to go, but the Bears were at their own 16 with 65 seconds to go and had no timeouts left. The Hawks’ defense held firm.
--> Highland 20, Manzano 12
George Salzano threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jose Tapia with 17 seconds left, as the Hornets edged the Monarchs at Milne Stadium in a season opener.
The game was tied at 12. Highland added a 2-point conversion for the final score.
William Anchondo scored Highland’s first two touchdowns.
"You know, (we have) resilience. Our kids don't quit," Highland coach Philip Lovato said. "I think that's evident, and kind of where we turned our program all these years."
--> Bernalillo 16, Valley 14
At Nusenda Community Stadium, the Spartans, down 14-2 at halftime, rallied for a big second-half victory over the Vikings, who committed six turnovers in the loss.
With Valley driving deep into Bernalillo territory, Mario Molinar returned a fumble for a touchdown in the third quarter for the Spartans. Later, pressed into action as one of several back-up quarterbacks, Molinar scored on a touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation midway through the fourth quarter for the go-ahead, and ultimately game-winning, points.
"Our defense really stepped up in the second half," said Spartans coach John Cobos. Special teams also were crucial as Bernalillo blocked a fourth-quarter field-goal attempt by Valley in a 16-14 game.
"What I was proud of is, my kids never stopped battling, never stopped fighting," Cobos said. His uncle is Valley head coach Billy Cobos.
Mescalero Apache 60, Alamo Navajo 26
Santa Fe Indian 14, Cuba 8
Friday (Aug. 22)
-->Eldorado 56, Organ Mountain 28
Big picture, the night belonged to the Eldorado Eagles.
Zooming in, it was clear the night truly belonged to Jahari Morehead.
The Eldorado junior had an epic game, catching nine balls for 296 yards and four touchdowns — in just two quarters and one minute — and the Eagles scored early and often in their 56-28 victory Friday night over Organ Mountain at Wilson Stadium.
Morehead caught touchdown passes of 28 yards, 89 yards, 80 yards and a 53-yarder just over a minute into the third quarter.
He tweaked an ankle on a punt return midway through the third quarter and he wasn’t targeted again by Eldorado quarterback Giovanni Evans.
Morehead was not hit on the play when he got injured. He simply stepped wrong. He is also one of Class 6A’s premier kick returners. He had five scores on special teams last season.
But that was the only misstep Morehead made on Friday, as Eldorado several times took advantage of the Knights trying to guard him with a single defender.
-->Roswell 27, Los Lunas 8
The defending Class 5A state football champions got off to a rousing start Friday night.
Roswell High’s season opener was another statement game for the defense, as the Coyotes held visiting Los Lunas out of the end zone in a 27-8 victory at Wool Bowl.
In his first outing as Roswell’s new starting quarterback, Luke Lynn was extremely efficient, completing 10 of 11 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
Noah Estrada caught three passes for 95 yards and both of those TDs from Lynn.
Los Lunas doesn’t catch a scheduling break, as the Tigers turn around to play host to 6A champion Cleveland next Friday.
-->Albuquerque High 24, Cibola 21
At Nusenda Community Stadium, Andre Martin completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Ellis with 39 seconds remaining, and the Bulldogs beat the Cougars in a back-and-forth affair on opening night.
The second half featured many changes in momentum. After AHS took a 17-14 lead with just under eight minutes to go, Cibola’s passing game hit a 65-yard touchdown pass for a 21-17 lead.
Cibola had a chance to run out the clock but was unable to and punted back to AHS late, but a poor kick left the Bulldogs with a short field.
-->Rio Rancho 52, Atrisco Heritage 12
In Rio Rancho, the Rams put up 50 points against the Jaguars for the second consecutive season opener, and routed Atrisco Heritage in Week 1.
Senior running back Ethan Rolon scored multiple touchdowns for the Rams, and Quintenn McKinley intercepted a pair of passes to lead the Rio Rancho defense.
“Our big emphasis was effort this week and energy. And I thought our guys played hard,” Rams head coach Nate Pino said. “We've got to clean up some details with the penalties and stuff, but I thought our guys executed pretty well.”
Rio Rancho is home again next week for Clovis, which edged visiting Farmington on Friday night.
— Dan Allison, Rio Rancho Observer
-->Piedra Vista 26, Sandia 20 (OT)
At Hutchison Stadium in Farmington, Nick Halverson scored on a 10-yard run as the Panthers walked off the Matadors and spoiled the debut of Tylon Wilder as Sandia’s new head coach.
Piedra Vista intercepted Sandia, and scored quickly to end it.
Sandia had scored 20 straight points in this game, after trailing 9-0. The Matadors led 20-9 in the fourth quarter, but eventually the Panthers kicked a field goal to tie the game.
-->Valencia 48, Kirtland Central 6
In Kirtland, tailback Michael Storms III, who was coming off a monster season for the Jaguars last season, picked up where he left off.
Storms rushed for nearly 200 yards and scored four touchdowns in Valencia’s season-opening victory.
--> Artesia 48, Carlsbad 24
In Carlsbad, tailback Bryce Parra was terrific for the visiting Bulldogs, as he rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Artesia took this chapter of the Eddy County War against the Cavemen.
-->Bloomfield 63, Belen 12
In Bloomfield, the Bobcats opened up defense of their Class 4A state championship with a resounding win over Belen. Bloomfield scored 57 points in the first half alone. New quarterback Manuel Chavarria threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers for Bloomfield.
-->Las Cruces 61, Mayfield 6
At the Field of Dreams, the Bulldawgs ran over their rivals in a big way on opening night.
Stellar tailback Danny Amaro rushed for four touchdowns, and quarterback Gunnar Guardiola threw three TD passes.
Springfield, Colo. 50, Clayton 0
Tatum 30, Escalante 12
West Las Vegas 34, Hatch Valley 18
Pojoaque 54, Crownpoint 0
Hozho Academy 55, Zuni 0
Alamogordo 29, Deming 16
Dexter 52, Jal 0
Hagerman 36, Dulce 0
Robertson 34, Socorro 0
Loving 42, Estancia 0
Elida 62, Carrizozo 12
Hobbs 41, Lovington 13
Navajo Prep 42, Shiprock 9
Clovis 32, Farmington 27
Tucumcari 8, Thoreau 6
Mesilla Valley 70, Menaul 38
Santa Fe 32, Capital 0
Gateway Christian 58, Cloudcroft 6
St. Michael’s 26, Taos 0
Eunice 46, Ruidoso 39
Hot Springs 26, Tularosa 6
Santa Rosa 22, Texico 15
Silver 35, Santa Teresa 14
Raton 54, Tohatchi 0
Logan 47, Magdalena 32
Aztec 28, Rio Grande 20
Fort Sumner/House 54, Ramah 0
Wingate 24, Newcomb 20
Grants 36, Miyamura 14
Lordsburg 58, Duncan, Ariz. 16
Grady 59, Mountainair 19
Roy at Hondo Valley, no score reported
Saturday (Aug. 23)
Cleveland 55, Centennial 42
Take this for whatever it’s worth, but the Cleveland Storm traveled south to Las Cruces on Saturday, put up a double-nickel against one of Class 6A’s elite programs, and Cleveland wasn’t even altogether enthralled about its performance.
“Definitely we have a long ways to go,” Storm coach Robert Garza said. “We gave up 42 points. Even though we won the game, we’re not gonna be too happy about it.”
Cleveland, led by senior quarterback Jordan Hatch who spread the wealth among several speedy receivers, scored the first six times it touched the ball — one of them with the offense on the sideline — and the Storm opened defense of their 6A state title with a 55-42 win over Centennial at a toasty Field of Dreams.
-->St. Pius 47, West Mesa 29
While the offense was as advertised for St. Pius, in many ways it still felt very much like a season opener.
The Sartans relied on big plays to pull away from West Mesa for a 47-29 victory on Saturday afternoon at Nusenda Community Stadium. The Mustangs were one of only two teams to beat St. Pius during the regular season in a 2024 campaign that saw it reach the Class 4A final before falling to Bloomfield.
“There's a lot of work to do,” said Sartans head coach Curtis Flakes II. “We made some plays, but we're not even scratching the surface of where we should be. So as coaches, we've got to clean that up, make sure our kids focus on the fundamentals of the game, and once we get that right, we'll be OK.”
The Sartans’ collection of skill position players rivals any group in the state, and that was evident against West Mesa, as they had four scoring plays of 57 yards or more. St. Pius set the tone when junior running back Hershul Olloway Jr. took the game’s opening handoff 70 yards for a score to give the Sartans an immediate advantage.
-->Hope Christian 47, Del Norte 6
At Milne Stadium, quarterback RJ Montoya threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Darrien Williams, while Noah Carter rushed for two scores as the Huskies opened the 2025 season with a rout of the Knights.
The Hope defense forced three turnovers and limited Del Norte to under 100 yards of total offense.
-->Albuquerque Academy 42, Moriarty 21
At the Academy, William Braun threw four touchdown passes, the Chargers scored 21 straight points in the second quarter to take control and Academy opened with a victory over the Pintos.
Braun and Gage Conway connected on three of those TD passes, covering 46 yards, 34 yards and 51 yards. He also tossed a scoring pass to Logan Hague.
Zachary Waghorn added a 69-yard touchdown run for Academy.
-->Legacy Academy 47, Laguna-Acoma 8
At Bernalillo High, Silverbacks quarterback Lorenzo Sedillo-Urban threw for 251 yards (on just 10 completions) and a pair of touchdowns, and he also rushed for a score as Legacy beat the Hawks in a season opener at Bernalillo.
Jay Lee caught a touchdown pass and also scored on a punt return for Legacy. Cameron Maldonado intercepted two passes to lead the Silverbacks defense.
Los Alamos 54, Española Valley 6
Gadsden 50, Chaparral 20
Cobre 40, McCurdy 20
Questa 60, Navajo Pine 0
Goddard 41, Portales 6
Tuba City (Ariz.) 67, Gallup 17
Eldorado vs. Organ Mountain football: Photos
Volcano Vista defeats La Cueva: Photos
St. Pius vs. West Mesa football: Photos
Cleveland vs. Centennial football: Photos
