Yodice: It's time for No. 1 Storm vs. No. 2 Bulldawgs

There is a University of New Mexico football game in Los Angeles on Friday. And that may only be the second most interesting game for metro area football fans to focus on that night.

We’ve arrived at Week 4 of the prep regular season, and the long anticipated showdown between No. 1 Cleveland and No. 2 Las Cruces. They meet at 7 p.m. Friday in Rio Rancho.

There’s nothing I’ve seen so far that suggests these aren’t the state’s two best teams, and here is that rare chance in a non-postseason game to see a 1-2 matchup that involves Class 6A’s northern power against its top southern entry.

“We’re excited,” Bulldawgs running back Danny Amaro said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game since the season started. It’s gonna be a great game.”

We can only hope.

Las Cruces is coming off back-to-back wins against the two teams in Cleveland’s district, Volcano Vista and Rio Rancho, most equipped to challenge the Storm. The Bulldawgs won by 18 and 25, respectively.

Of course, one of the highlights Friday is that we have what are probably the state’s two best, most diverse offensive weapons sharing a field — Amaro for Las Cruces, sophomore Evan Nañez for Cleveland.

Amaro has scored 13 combined touchdowns (run/pass) for Las Cruces, Nañez has 10 scores and he’s a threat in the run game, the pass game and on kick returns.

“Tremendous athlete,” Amaro said of Nañez. “He’s doing great things up there with Cleveland.”

Nañez and Amaro actually grew up together for a few years in Las Cruces and were classmates long ago; long before Nañez moved north. They played on the same basketball teams, although not football, Amaro said.

Amaro on Friday earned a scholarship offer from Eastern New Mexico, a day after he put up five touchdowns in a victory over Rio Rancho.

For Nañez, football may not even be his best sport. For example, he has multiple Division I offers in basketball, the latest one from New Mexico State.

Both the Storm and Bulldawg defenses are going to be fully engaged and occupied trying to deal with Nañez and Amaro. But that’s just one aspect of the hype machine that’ll be humming along nicely all week, leading up to 7 o’clock Friday night.

We know, for example, that Las Cruces looks every bit like a serious challenger to Cleveland come November.

What we don’t know is how serious. Friday will offer some illumination. To that end, the Bulldawgs need a great showing in this showdown game more than the Storm does.

“Cleveland is a great team,” Las Cruces quarterback Gunnar Guardiola said. “We’re looking forward to some great competition.”

One of the additional elements to Week 4 is that we have another game in the metro area, on Thursday night, in which you could argue New Mexico’s two most elite defensive players are butting heads inside the same stadium. And, in the case of Colton McKibben of Carlsbad and Hayes Baum of Cibola, this is practically a literal thing.

The Cavemen are at Nusenda Community Stadium to face Baum and the Cougars on Thursday, and with these two, you’re talking about future Division I athletes. Baum already has given his verbal commitment to the Lobos, while McKibben, a junior who is a year behind Baum, is being courted and recruited by reputable programs all over the country. He’s got about 15 D1 offers to date.

And if you’re talking about one of the most fascinating individual matchups of the entire season, this game has it, with Baum, who is now also playing quarterback, killing it at that position so far this year for Cibola.

He just rushed for four scores in a win over Eldorado on Friday, and you have to imagine McKibben will be eyeballing and chasing Baum in a big way on Thursday. It should make for extremely compelling theater.

THEY JUST WIN: Has anyone’s 3-0 start been more interesting, or perhaps unlikely, than the one authored by the Bernalillo Spartans?

This team does not fail to entertain.

Think about opening night, and a first half that saw Bernalillo with 2 points and trailing Valley by 12. The Spartans rallied for a 16-14 victory.

Think about Week 2. The score at the end of three quarters vs. Highland was Bernalillo 2, Highland 0.

Late in the game, the Spartans needed a long touchdown pass to tie the game 8-8 with barely a minute to go in regulation (missed the PAT), and Bernalillo went on to win 14-8 in overtime.

Now think about Friday, and a Week 3 road game at Portales. The Spartans again scored relatively late to tie the Rams at 13. In OT, Bernalillo intercepted a pass, had a potential game-winning field goal attempt blocked, and still got on the bus with a 19-13 win.

Bernalillo is ranked No. 3 in Class 4A behind St. Pius and Bloomfield. No team ranked No. 3 in any other class has endured such a dramatic, high-tension first three weeks as Bernalillo.

ST. PIUS POSTSCRIPT: It was unfortunate that the St. Pius-Moriarty game went down as a no contest on Friday night. The Pintos were up 14-0 in the first quarter before the weather and the elements interfered, and the teams ended up playing only about half of that opening period.

This is unfortunate for 4A’s No. 1-ranked team, St. Pius, which misses out on a potential victory. But this is maybe more unfortunate for Moriarty, since a win over the Sartans would do wonders for their computer ranking and could have proved to be welcome currency late in the season.

And remember, Moriarty led St. Pius 22-0 last year early before the Sartans staged a huge rally. The Moriraty holdovers undoubtedly wanted to take care of some unfinished business, yes?

THIS AND THAT: Los Lunas had a 34-point fourth quarter on Friday on the road as the Tigers won their first game of the year, 54-18 at Farmington in a spread-the-wealth type of performance from the Los Lunas offense. … The St. Michael’s defense is picking up right where it left off last November; the Horsemen have surrendered just seven points total in three victories, and they again proved their supremacy in theCity Different as they have wins over both Capital and Santa Fe.