The big school champions have been crowned, and here are the results from today's "Championship Saturday":
Class AAAAA
Las Cruces 26, Albuquerque Eldorado 21. The Bulldawgs get their first AAAAA title since 2002.
Class AAAA
Roswell Goddard 49, Aztec 45. The teams traded leads five times - including three times in the third quarter alone. Alas, the Tigers grab their 10th runner-up trophy since 1952. No one does second-best in football better.
Class AAA
Portales 48, Lovington 10. The Rams didn't just removed the monkey from their back. They stomped on it, threw it across the room and humiliated it. Portales earned its first win over Lovington in 12 seasons and its first AAA championship since 1988.
Dec 6, 2008
Dec 5, 2008
One last day of prep football
Just because St. Michael's and the rest of the Northern schools are done with football for 2008 doesn't mean the sport should take a backseat to basketball now. The big schools take the stage to determine their state champions and each game has plenty of intrigue.
This year will feature three new champions, as last year's titleholders- Las Cruces Mayfield (AAAAA), Artesia (AAAA) and St. Michael's (AAA) - were ousted in the semifinals. In fact, AAAAA will see a new champion for the first time in three years as the Trojans have own the blue trophy each of those seasons.
In AAA, District 2AAA's reign of champions also ends at three after the Horsemen, the 2007 champs, were ousted by Lovington. They were preceded by Las Vegas Robertson's back-to-back run in 2005 and 2006.
It's also the first time in six years a 2AAA team does not appear in the title game. That is nothing compared to the 21-year run District 4AAA had from 1984-2006. Oh, and it is an All-4AAA final between Portales and the Wildcats.
The plots don't end there:
Class AAAAA
No. 1 Las Cruces High (12-0) at No. 2 Albuquerque Eldorado (12-0).
Wilson Stadium
1 p.m.
For the first time in 12 years, the AAAAA state champion will be crowned in Albuquerque. The last time that happened, Mayfield won its first state championship in 25 years by shutting out Manzano 14-0. The Trojans have won five more since then.
Las Cruces makes its first trip to the AAAAA game since 2002, when it won the last of a string of three in four years.
It's been 28 years since Eldorado hoisted the blue trophy, when then-senior quarterback Jim Everett guided the Eagles to a 14-11 win over Clovis. Everett went on to Purdue and then the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, but never won another title in his career.
If you read today's Albuquerque Journal (Not the North section, though), reporter Will Webber writes about the legacy of Gentry family, one of the four storied families of New Mexico football.
Here's the link:
www.abqjournal.com/sports/preps/05920580820sportspreps12-05-08.htm
Class AAAA
No. 2 Aztec (12-0) at No. 1 Roswell Goddard (11-1)
Wool Bowl
1 p.m.
The Rockets finally get a chance to soak in the limelight that has belonged to Artesia the past two years as well as win their first championship since taking the AAAA crown in 1997. But the Tigers of Aztec have been waiting since 1952. The Tigers have played for the state title nine times since then, and they have been presented the red runner-up trophy nine times.
Aztec comes in with the fourth-most prolific offense in the state's history (at 589 points, or a 49.0 PPG clip) but needs just 23 points to surpass Albuquerque La Cueva's 2003 team that amassed 611 points on its way to the first of two AAAAA championships. A word of caution, however. The Bears managed just 24 points in the finale to barely beat Mayfield, 24-21.
Class AAA
No. 1 Lovington (9-3) at No. 3 Portales (10-2)
Greyhound Stadium, Blackwater Draw
2 p.m.
1996.
Never mind that the Wildcats beat Portales 17-14 in the District 4AAA opener, although that will be the motivation for the current edition of the Rams. It's just that the spell the Wildcats have over them supersedes that. It becomes magnified when Portales rolled into Wildcat Stadium at 5-2 and with the top rank in Class AAA (by virtue of the New Mexico High School Coaches Association) on Oct. 24. Lovington took a 17-14 lead with 6 minutes remaining, and escaped with the win when the Wildcats stopped the Rams at the Lovington 5-yard line on the game's final play.
The Wildcats are gunning for their 16th state title, the second most in the state. Portales, which is playing in its third AAA title game this decade, hasn't won a title since 1988.
This year will feature three new champions, as last year's titleholders- Las Cruces Mayfield (AAAAA), Artesia (AAAA) and St. Michael's (AAA) - were ousted in the semifinals. In fact, AAAAA will see a new champion for the first time in three years as the Trojans have own the blue trophy each of those seasons.
In AAA, District 2AAA's reign of champions also ends at three after the Horsemen, the 2007 champs, were ousted by Lovington. They were preceded by Las Vegas Robertson's back-to-back run in 2005 and 2006.
It's also the first time in six years a 2AAA team does not appear in the title game. That is nothing compared to the 21-year run District 4AAA had from 1984-2006. Oh, and it is an All-4AAA final between Portales and the Wildcats.
The plots don't end there:
Class AAAAA
No. 1 Las Cruces High (12-0) at No. 2 Albuquerque Eldorado (12-0).
Wilson Stadium
1 p.m.
For the first time in 12 years, the AAAAA state champion will be crowned in Albuquerque. The last time that happened, Mayfield won its first state championship in 25 years by shutting out Manzano 14-0. The Trojans have won five more since then.
Las Cruces makes its first trip to the AAAAA game since 2002, when it won the last of a string of three in four years.
It's been 28 years since Eldorado hoisted the blue trophy, when then-senior quarterback Jim Everett guided the Eagles to a 14-11 win over Clovis. Everett went on to Purdue and then the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, but never won another title in his career.
If you read today's Albuquerque Journal (Not the North section, though), reporter Will Webber writes about the legacy of Gentry family, one of the four storied families of New Mexico football.
Here's the link:
www.abqjournal.com/sports/preps/05920580820sportspreps12-05-08.htm
Class AAAA
No. 2 Aztec (12-0) at No. 1 Roswell Goddard (11-1)
Wool Bowl
1 p.m.
The Rockets finally get a chance to soak in the limelight that has belonged to Artesia the past two years as well as win their first championship since taking the AAAA crown in 1997. But the Tigers of Aztec have been waiting since 1952. The Tigers have played for the state title nine times since then, and they have been presented the red runner-up trophy nine times.
Aztec comes in with the fourth-most prolific offense in the state's history (at 589 points, or a 49.0 PPG clip) but needs just 23 points to surpass Albuquerque La Cueva's 2003 team that amassed 611 points on its way to the first of two AAAAA championships. A word of caution, however. The Bears managed just 24 points in the finale to barely beat Mayfield, 24-21.
Class AAA
No. 1 Lovington (9-3) at No. 3 Portales (10-2)
Greyhound Stadium, Blackwater Draw
2 p.m.
1996.
Never mind that the Wildcats beat Portales 17-14 in the District 4AAA opener, although that will be the motivation for the current edition of the Rams. It's just that the spell the Wildcats have over them supersedes that. It becomes magnified when Portales rolled into Wildcat Stadium at 5-2 and with the top rank in Class AAA (by virtue of the New Mexico High School Coaches Association) on Oct. 24. Lovington took a 17-14 lead with 6 minutes remaining, and escaped with the win when the Wildcats stopped the Rams at the Lovington 5-yard line on the game's final play.
The Wildcats are gunning for their 16th state title, the second most in the state. Portales, which is playing in its third AAA title game this decade, hasn't won a title since 1988.
Dec 4, 2008
The glut of preseason basketball tournaments
This was something I wrote about last year, and I was very circumspect about the number of regular season basketball tournaments in the state and the effect their abundance was having.
So after all was said and done ...
Welcome to The Lady Jaguars Tournament!
Just check out the following matchups:
First round
Bernalillo (a Class AAAA school) vs. Questa (AA)
Monte del Sol (AA) vs. Taos ( AAAA).
Don't those send a thrill down your spine! What purpose does this serve? And how does this help Bernalillo and Taos? If they find themselves battling for one of the last spots in the AAAA state tournament, how will those games affect their chances? They could dash the Lady Spartans' or the Lady Tigers' chances of making it into the 16-team bracket.
And what do we have here? The Brian Gallegos Shootout in Las Vegas, N.M., with ... six teams!
The number of tournaments that northern teams are competing in this week is eight. Also, 32 Albuquerque teams - 16 each for boys and girls - are taking part in the Albuquerque Metro Tournament, which used to be the APS Invitational. Such a monstrosity takes all of the city schools out of the equation for any other tournament this weekend, so you can eliminate about 22 percent of the big schools (AAA and above).
One casualty succumbed to the tournament frenzy, at least for this year. Moriarty's Bruce King Invite, which would have been next week, was suspended because the school could not find enough teams for it. The Alice King Invite will continue, as will 26 other boys and girls tournament next week.
Do you think that's enough?
So after all was said and done ...
Welcome to The Lady Jaguars Tournament!
Just check out the following matchups:
First round
Bernalillo (a Class AAAA school) vs. Questa (AA)
Monte del Sol (AA) vs. Taos ( AAAA).
Don't those send a thrill down your spine! What purpose does this serve? And how does this help Bernalillo and Taos? If they find themselves battling for one of the last spots in the AAAA state tournament, how will those games affect their chances? They could dash the Lady Spartans' or the Lady Tigers' chances of making it into the 16-team bracket.
And what do we have here? The Brian Gallegos Shootout in Las Vegas, N.M., with ... six teams!
The number of tournaments that northern teams are competing in this week is eight. Also, 32 Albuquerque teams - 16 each for boys and girls - are taking part in the Albuquerque Metro Tournament, which used to be the APS Invitational. Such a monstrosity takes all of the city schools out of the equation for any other tournament this weekend, so you can eliminate about 22 percent of the big schools (AAA and above).
One casualty succumbed to the tournament frenzy, at least for this year. Moriarty's Bruce King Invite, which would have been next week, was suspended because the school could not find enough teams for it. The Alice King Invite will continue, as will 26 other boys and girls tournament next week.
Do you think that's enough?
Greetings! (Again)
Welcome to my blog! I wanted to say this three weeks ago, but a few matters tied up the unveiling of this blog. But here it is, and I do look forward to using it as a means to inform and entertain you. Your feedback is especially important, so feel free to respond, or even to e-mail me at jbarron@sfnewmexican.com
I did leave a bit of an intro on my blog's initial post and I will link to that here to give you some background on me. Or you can look at my stats that I have along the railing on the right that will give you a quick snippet of myself.
I did leave a bit of an intro on my blog's initial post and I will link to that here to give you some background on me. Or you can look at my stats that I have along the railing on the right that will give you a quick snippet of myself.
Here's what I wrote roughly a month ago:
http://readbarron.blogspot.com/2008/11/welcome-to-my-home.html
Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to more of this!
Dec 3, 2008
Court room drama ... Oh, and a football game.
Seems like the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and one of its member schools were at an impasse regarding the eligibility of a fifth-year player at the school in question. Included is a link to the Boston Globe's story about a court injunction in favor of Mansfield High School, which had self-reported using the player but were doing so to determine his eligibility.
Read the rest at the Globe, and for further consumption, here is the link to its blog revealing this morning's aftermath. Sounds like the justice system moves more swiftly in Massachusetts than in New Mexico. But when is anything ever swift around here?
http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/extras/schools_blog/2008/12/miaa_no_appeal.html
Read the rest at the Globe, and for further consumption, here is the link to its blog revealing this morning's aftermath. Sounds like the justice system moves more swiftly in Massachusetts than in New Mexico. But when is anything ever swift around here?
http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/extras/schools_blog/2008/12/miaa_no_appeal.html
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