PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP
Week 1: High school football scores and summaries
Sandia routed Cibola and Highland beat Rio Grande as weather delayed several opening-week New Mexico high school football games.
Thursday
Featured games
鈥�&驳迟; Highland 35, Rio Grande 6
At Milne, junior running back William Anchondo gained nearly 200 yards with three touchdowns, and the Hornets opened with a solid victory over the Ravens.
Jasper Groves and Andres Acosta also reached the end zone for Highland, and Acosta added two, 2-point conversions.
鈥�&驳迟; St. Pius vs. West Mesa, at Community, postponed
The game at Community Stadium between the Sartans and the Mustangs was postponed to Saturday at 11 a.m. due to inclement weather.
鈥�&驳迟; Sandia 49, Cibola 6
It was a fitting way for George Smith to celebrate his 17th birthday. The Sandia Matadors celebrated, too.
Smith scored two touchdowns in the game鈥檚 opening 3陆 minutes, and the Matadors never looked back as Sandia routed Cibola 49-6 on Thursday night as the 2026 prep football season kicked off at Wilson Stadium.
鈥淲e were kind of humming,鈥� Sandia coach Tylon Wilder said.
However, as if almost right on cue, Mother Nature stepped in to announce her presence before opening kickoff.
The game did not begin until 8:45 p.m. (and ended at 11 p.m.) due to repeated lightning strikes in the area.
Other games
Chaparral 27, Hatch Valley 14
Gadsden 57, Santa Teresa 7
Hot Springs 35, Tularosa 6
Organ Mountain 46, Deming 14
Friday
Featured games
鈥�&驳迟; Las Cruces 14, Rio Rancho 7
After losing a number of key skill position players to graduation from last year鈥檚 Class 6A runner-up, Las Cruces head coach Mark Lopez knew his team was going to have to lean on its defense early in 2026.
That played out exactly as expected on Friday night, as the Bulldawgs forced three turnovers and got a pair of rushing touchdowns from new starting quarterback Aldo Gallegos to edge Rio Rancho 14-7 on the Rams鈥� home field.
鈥�&驳迟; La Cueva 59, Eldorado 21
Devyn Williams might have laughed and shook his head, but the La Cueva junior was confident in his answer.
He is, after all, a receiver.
His dad, Martinez Williams, might have to have something to say, though. Especially when it comes to the matter of who the better athlete is. Past vs. present.
鈥淗e鈥檒l say it鈥檚 him,鈥� the younger Williams said with a grin. 鈥淚 gotta say me.鈥�
鈥�&驳迟; Cleveland 34, Centennial 7
It was a solid debut for Michael Denison, and a pertinent reminder of the brilliance of Evan Nanez.
Denison, Cleveland High School鈥檚 new starting quarterback, threw five touchdown passes 鈥� two each to Nanez and Kaeleb Escudero, and two of them on fourth downs 鈥� and the Storm opened their Class 6A prep football title defense with a definitive 34-7 victory over visiting Centennial on Friday night.
Cleveland led 27-0 at halftime.
鈥淚 like the way we distributed the ball,鈥� Storm coach Robert Garza said. 鈥淟ots of good things. Our O-line gave him time and really got after it a little bit.鈥�
The Storm scored on all four of their full first-half drives, and their defense was stellar throughout against the Hawks.
Cleveland went 65 yards on the opening drive, which ended with Denison, a 6-foot-2 junior, throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Nanez, a 6-1 junior and one of the most lethal receiving threats in Class 6A. Denison climbed the pocket when he felt some pressure, and then fired a dart to Nanez near the back of the end zone.
鈥�&驳迟; Albuquerque High 37, Valley 27
At Milne Stadium, Liam Smartt-Saunders had 150 receiving yards and a touchdown, and the Bulldogs won a marathon game over the Vikings in the opener.
鈥�&驳迟; 近距离内射合集 Vista 51, Atrisco Heritage 0
At Nusenda Community Stadium, Jude Herrera threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns, and the Hawks scored a mercy-rule victory over the Jaguars on opening night.
Aurelius Wiley had a pair of scores for 近距离内射合集, one receiving and one rushing. Isaiah McCary rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
鈥�&驳迟; Roswell 64, Hobbs 60
At Wool Bowl, junior quarterback Andrew Fuentez鈥檚 rushing touchdown late in the game was the 12th lead change of the night, and the Coyotes pulled out an epic win over the Eagles.
All but one of those lead changes occurred in a wild second half that saw the teams trade scores and go up and down the field.
Fuentez had a huge night, passing for 380 yards and rushing for 80 more.
The teams combined for 48 points in the fourth quarter alone.
鈥�&驳迟; Moriarty 52, Thoreau 0
In Thoreau, the Fighting Pintos鈥� ground game got off to a fine start, Mario Romero rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and Mateo Manley-Griego added 122 yards and two rushing scores as Moriarty rolled the Hawks.
Manley-Griego also returned two punts for touchdowns in the victory.
鈥�&驳迟; Los Lunas 23, Mayfield 13
At the Field of Dreams in Las Cruces, Tayson Gaxiola had all three touchdowns for the Tigers in their return to 5A 鈥� two receiving, and another on a kick return as Los Lunas won its opener for new coach Stephen Johnston.
鈥�&驳迟; Belen 26, Bernalillo 14
In Belen, in a game that was played almost exclusively on the ground, the Eagles rode a more balanced attack to a win over the Spartans.
The second TD by Belen quarterback Gonzalo Cano, who rushed for over 100 yards, gave the Eagles a 19-7 edge late in the first half.
Ulisses Castro鈥檚 short TD run for Bernalillo made it 19-14 by halftime.
Jeremiah Lord added the insurance points for Belen, with a short touchdown run after halftime.
鈥�&驳迟; Hope Christian 37, Gallup 0
In Gallup, Kane Otero rushed for two touchdowns, Darrien Williams ran and caught a TD, and quarterback Nick Miller tossed for three TDs in an impressive season-opening victory for the Huskies over the Bengals.
鈥�&驳迟; Carlsbad 20, Artesia 13
At Bulldog Bowl, Brock Wright ran for a pair of first-half touchdowns, and the Cavemen scored all their points before halftime as they handed the defending Class 5A state champions an opening night defeat.
The Bulldogs pulled within seven with two minutes to go but Carlsbad held Artesia off at the end.
鈥�&驳迟; Silver 34, Legacy Academy 0
At Bernalillo High School, Colts sophomore quarterback Kingston Lee had a huge night, accounting for just over 300 combined yards, and coach Kelley Lee鈥檚 debut with Silver was a resounding success as they blanked the Silverbacks.
Unofficially, Lee passed for 158 yards and rushed for another 143 in the victory for the Colts.
The game was called due to lightning early in the fourth quarter.
Other games
Alamogordo 41, Santa Fe 33
Grady 51, El Paso Da Vinci 0
Tatum 50, Escalante 0
Valencia 54, Del Norte 0
Pojoaque Valley 41, Taos 17
Melrose 32, Magdalena 6
Espa帽ola Valley 30, Los Alamos 25
Questa 26, Cloudcroft 0
Bayfield, Colo. 32, Aztec 0
Kirtland Central 53, Shiprock 0
Mescalero Apache 50, Alamo Navajo 0
Dexter 53, Hozho Academy 7
Raton 35, Navajo Prep 0
Piedra Vista 56, Farmington 20
Robertson 50, Socorro 6
Loving 46, Estancia 33
Fort Sumner/House 50, Gateway Christian 0
Cobre 53, McCurdy 0
Capitan 25, Laguna-Acoma 7
Mesilla Valley 48, Menaul 42
St. Michael鈥檚 48, Capital 6
Texico 25, Santa Rosa 12
Ganado, Ariz., 46, Tohatchi 12
Bloomfield 45, Clovis 36
Lovington 20, Goddard 14
Tucumcari 47, Jal 16
Eunice 47, Ruidoso 26
Hagerman/Lake Arthur 27, Ramah 18
Crownpoint 14, Cuba 6
Mountainair 48, Logan 0
Lordsburg 48, Duncan, Ariz. 20
Saturday
Featured games
鈥�&驳迟; St. Pius 44, West Mesa 14
The St. Pius Sartans didn鈥檛 put the ball into the hands of Hershul Olloway Jr. a whole lot on Saturday.
Which ought to be a warning alarm for future teams who line up against St. Pius, considering the damage he鈥檚 able to inflict even with limited opportunities.
St. Pius X鈥檚 Ezra Ocampo celebrates after scoring a touchdown against West Mesa at Nusenda Community Stadium in Albuquerque NM on August 22, 2026. Mike Sandoval/Journal
The plan, Sartans coach Curtis Flakes II said in the preseason, was to limit Olloway鈥檚 touches over the first half of the season, and to make sure he鈥檒l be plenty fresh into late October and November.
鈥�&驳迟; Albuquerque Academy 40, Manzano 0
At the Academy, senior quarterback William Braun had a huge day for the Chargers, throwing for 371 yards and five touchdowns, and rushing for a sixth as Academy beat the Monarchs in coach Michael Holguin鈥檚 debut for Manzano.
The first three of Braun鈥檚 five scoring passes all went to Logan Hague, who was already coming off a monster junior season.
That duo connected on a 90-yarder 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the game. Braun threw TD passes of 4 and 27 yards to Hague 鈥� the latter coming on the first play of the second quarter 鈥� for a 19-0 lead.
Other games
Santa Fe Indian 42, Zuni 32
Clayton 50, Dulce 0
West Las Vegas 25, Portales 23
Grants at Miyamura, no score reported
Midland, Texas Leadership Charter Academy at Clovis Christian, late
This story will be updated throughout the weekend.
