Jason Farmer/News-Sun
And then there were two.
After four weeks, only two teams remain undefeated in Class 6A, Hobbs and Cibola. Of course, neither team is ranked in the Top 3 of the most recent New Mexico High School Coaches poll. In fact, while the top three teams have flip-flopped around following losses, it’s been the same three teams in the Top 3 spots all season.
Cleveland is the No. 1 team for the second straight week. The Storm are 3-1 and brought in 184 points, including 14 first-place votes. La Cueva is No. 2 with 172 points and three first-place votes while Centennial is No. 3 with two first-place votes and 153 points.
The teams at 4 and 5 swapped places this week.
Hobbs moved up one spot to No. 4 while Volcano Vista fell one spot, down to No. 5.
The Eagles, who entered Week 4 at No. 5 parlayed another convincing win, as well as a Volcano Vista loss, into the fourth spot in the latest coaches poll. The Eagles are 4-0 for the first time since 2013 and gained five points in the poll from last week while Volcano Vista lost 27 points.
This week will feature another battle of Top 10 teams as Hobbs will face No. 6 Rio Rancho at Watson Memorial Stadium, Friday beginning at 7 p.m. The Rams picked up 17 points and climbed one spot this week, jumping over undefeated Cibola. The Cougars, the only other 4-0 team in Class 6A, lost seven points and dropped to seventh.
Sandia also moved a spot to No. 8 while Carlsbad returned to the poll for the first time since Week 3. Two weeks ago the Cavemen were No. 10 with 15 points; this week Carlsbad is No. 9 with 29 points. With its second straight loss, Los Lunas fell for the second straight week; the Tigers are down to No. 10 with 24 points. As for Las Cruces, the winless Bulldawgs are no longer in the top 10, falling out for the first time this season.
The top four in Class 4A all remained the same. Bloomfield is No. 1 for the second straight week with 133 points. Portales is No. 2 with 111 points while Silver is No. 3 with 104 points. All three teams are undefeated. The No. 4 team in 4A is Albuquerque Academy with 95 points.
Lovington lost again, falling to 0-4. With that, the Wildcats are ranked No. 5 in the Class 4A poll for the second straight week. That said, the Wildcats did lose 29 poll points. However, as rough as a season the Wildcats are having, they have yet to play a single Class 4A team, instead playing all Class 5A, 6A, and Texas teams.
As for the rest of the Class 4A top 10, Moriarty (57) is sixth, Taos (54) is seventh, Bernalillo (45) is eighth, Valencia (35) is ninth, and Aztec (29) is 10th.
Class 2A had a small change in the top five this week. While Jal is still No. 1, it isn’t so clear-cut anymore. The Panthers dropped from 108 points to 87. Eunice moved up to No. 2 with 79 points while Texico, which suffered its first loss, slipped to No. 3 with 73 points. Santa Rosa (67) remained at No. 4 while Loving (46) climbed one spot to No. 5.
Tularosa, Hagerman, and Escalante all fell a spot this week.
Tularosa (39) slipped to No. 6 while Hagerman (33) fell from No. 7 to No. 8. Escalante (19) went down to No. 9 after its second loss. Estancia (34) jumped two spots, climbing from No. 9 to No. 7 with its first win of the year. Capitan, which has yet to win a game this year, is still sitting at No. 10, though it did lose four points in the polls, getting just 13 this week.
Fort Sumner/House is still atop the rankings in 8-man football. The Foxes, who have played just two games, gained 22 points on a week where they had a bye. Lordsburg gained 19 points as it jumped up to No. 2 in the rankings. As for Melrose, the Buffaloes lost their second game of the season and fell to No. 3 with 73 points. Clayton (56) remains at No. 4 while Magdalena moved up a spot to No. 5.
It’s not often a bye week can help a team, but that was the case for Tatum, as the Coyotes gained 25 points and moved up a spot this week, climbing from No. 7 to No. 6 with 47 points.
Logan fell two spots, dropping to No. 7 with 46 points after its first loss.
The bottom three teams, Mesilla Valley, Menaul, and Legacy, all remained in their same spots. Mesilla Valley got 21 points while Menaul picked up 18, and Legacy has 14.
