The weekend that will be Sept. 17-18

I'm trying a new idea for my blog by giving you the heads up on what is coming this weekend around the area. I might - or might not - provide my predictions (if it strikes me, so sue me. Seriously, I'd like to know the grounds so that I know where I can and can't tread. It's not a threat. just a challenge.)
The next two days has plenty for a high school sports fan to chew on - and get heartburn. And just about every sport will be represented (but shouldn't they always?). So without further ado, let's go to the highlights:

Football
St. Michael's at Las Vegas Robertson, Friday, 7 p.m.
The skinny: The former district rivals meet for the first .... blah, blah, blah. You've read enough about that. This game really will determine who is the best in the North. Thanks to Socorro's win over Raton, the margin between the Ponies, the Cards and the Tigers is paper thin. Maybe even smaller.
This game features two teams that love to do two things: run and play defense. If this game is over in an hour, I wouldn't be shocked. What I will be shocked about is if either quarterback Robertson's Daniel Martinez or St. Michael's Michael Wiegel pass for more than 100 yards. If they do, it's not a good sign.
So I will say the winner will be the team that passes for the least amount of yards.
The loser? West Las Vegas, which plays Ruidoso at home - the newly renovated Frank Herrera Complex. I hear it's a nice place. But just like a tree in a forest, if nobody is around to look at it, does any one care?
Bold prediction: St. Michael's 24, Robertson 20. (To avoid last-second field goal drama for newbie Will Webber).

Note to the Santa Fe High and Capital football fans. Yes your teams play Friday, but it's ROBERTSON-ST. MICHAEL'S!!!! Just like next week it will be ST. MICHAEL'S-SANTA FE HIGH!!!!


Fort Sumner at McCurdy School, Saturday, 1 p.m.
The skinny: Remember the whole Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football comic strips? Well, Lucy (Fort Sumner) insists that this time she won't pull the ball away. Good luck with that, Charlie (Bobcats.)

Volleyball
Tournament of Champions, Friday and Saturday
The skinny: Are you bored of watching Pojoaque Valley dominate? I'm sure the rest of the North is, too. So here's your chance (Santa Fe High, Robertson, Capital, St. Michael's, West Las Vegas, Española Valley, Santa Fe Indian School, this means you!) to stop the carousel. Chances are you won't. Wait, make that you won't.

Boys soccer
Santa Fe Preparatory at Albuquerque Hope Christian, Friday, 3 p.m.
The skinny: Read the following statements on Saturday:
- The Blue Griffins are 7-0.
- They are Class A-AAA contenders.
- They avenged themselves against the Huskies, who beat them in a monsoon-soaked shootout 3-2 last year.
- They just beat the No. 3 team in A-AAA.
You know what you want to read, Santa Fe Prep.
So do it.

Monte del Sol at St. Michael's, Saturday, 1 p.m.
The skinny: Desert Academy is a distance fourth - maybe fifth? - in District 2A-AAA. Monte del Sol has a chance to make this a three-team race. The Horsemen, on the other hand, can turn this into what this district has been prior to 2009: An exclusive club that only Santa Fe Prep is a member of. Besides, the new guy usually fumbles his way around the room at your parties any way. Why bother of letting him in?

Cross country
Valdez Memorial Invitational, Pecos High School, Saturday, 9 a.m.
The skinny: Watch Antonio Varela run. Nothing more needs to be said.

Live blog: Atrisco Heritage-Santa Fe High

I am using coveritlive.com to live blog tonight's football game. Go to coveritlive.com and look for "Atrisco Heritage-Santa Fe High football" under live events.

Soccer rankings, as of Friday

Here are this week's soccer rankings, thanks to the coaches poll with www.nmsoccer.com. First place votes are in parentheses.
Forgive the uncoordinated fonts (stupid cut-and-paste!).
Still, enjoy.


Boys
Class AAAAA
1. La Cueva (7) 89
2. Las Cruces Mayfield (3) 84
3. Eldorado 66
4. Las Cruces 62
5. Cibola 41
6. Gadsden 31
7. Sandia 34
8. Rio Rancho Cleveland 28
9. West Mesa 25
10. Volcano Vista 23

Class AAAA
1. St. Pius X (8) 79
2. Belen 59
3. Los Alamos 58
4. Roswell 56
5. Alb. Academy (1) 55
6. Los Lunas 29
7. Roswell Goddard 25
8. Farmington 22
9. Piedra Vista 20
10. Santa Teresa 17

Class A-AAA
1. Bosque School (7) 70
2. Sandia Prep 63
3. Rehoboth 51
4. St. Michael's 44
5. Hope Christian 43
6. Santa Fe Prep 36
7. Taos 22
8. Ruidoso 15
9. Monte del Sol 11
10. Desert Academy 9

Girls
Class AAAAA
1. Sandia (4) 66
2. Cleveland (2) 58
3. Eldorado 47
4. (tie) Volcano Vista (1) 46
4. (tie) La Cueva 46
6. Las Cruces 35
7. Cibola 24
8. Rio Rancho 22
9. Mayfield 13
10. Carlsbad 8

Class AAAA
1. Alb. Academy (4) 40
2. St. Pius X 32
3. Farmington 30
4. Del Norte 29
5. Los Alamos 27
6. Piedra Vista 20
7. Aztec 18
8. Los Lunas 8
9. Moriarty 5
10. Belen 4

Class A-AAA
1. Sandia Prep (4) 40
2. Hope Christian 33
3. St. Michael's 32
4. Bosque School 25
5. Portales 20
6. Socorro 19
7. Robertson 14
8. Santa Fe Prep 10
9. East Mountain 8
10. Rehoboth 7

ESPN: The World Wide Leader just might invade your town like this ...

ESPN certainly loves to hype sports, and its love - or should I say, its need - to expand its vast empire has reached the high school levels. What's also extended to the prep scene is the WWL's obsessive-compulsive disorder. The network tried to shove its square pegs into the round hole that is the Folsom-Grant rivalry in Northern California. Think the coaches enjoyed the experience?
Check it out right here.

Prep scores for Friday night

Here are scores for tonight's action, as provided by the Rival's New Mexico Preps site. Thanks to Kyle Henderson for all that he does. We wouldn't know a tenth of goings-on around the state without his passion and commitment. If you have a chance, visit his site. Even better if you sign up for it. It's a great way to keep in touch with the prep scene. Now that I am done shilling for a good man, one with the scores:

Artesia 63, Lovington 49
Aztec 42, Los Lunas 0
Blanding, Utah 19, Kirtland Central 7
Cibola 28, Highland 25
Cleveland 47, Bel Air 10
Clovis 40, Alamogordo 0
Eunice 50, Jal 6
Farmington 53, Gallup 13
Goddard 35, Rio Rancho 3
Hatch 35, Tucumcari 18
Hobbs 53, Gadsden 3
Las Cruces 23, EP El Dorado 20
La Cueva 42, Volcano Vista 0
Manzano 61, Rio Grade 13
Mayfield 51, Chapin 8
Moriarty 33, Bernalillo 8
Piedra Vista 28, Santa Fe 27
Raton 46, Clayton 20
Robertson 41, Portales 6
Santa Rosa 56, Estancia 22
Silver 32, Santa Teresa 22
Socorro 41, West Las Vegas 0
Tularosa 47, Hot Springs 19

And the complaints keep coming ...

Albuquerque Public Schools is fixing its soccer complex, adjusting the field width and length on the supposedly "small" fields that many APS coaches whined (and whined ... and whined ... and whined) about the small dimensions of the field (it was 100-by-57 and within the minimum standards for a field).
The fields are being redone to the size of 110-by-68 (which will make the ABQ teams much happier, since play will be more spread out and favorable to faster, quicker teams) but those coaches are now upset because two of the fields will not be ready for the Metro Championships, which start in early September. The two western fields are not done yet, and so coaches ... Well, just read the Journal story and see what they have to say.

Handicapping the city football teams.

OK, so maybe a little bit of Geoff Grammer, our dearly departed sports reporter (only to news, though. He lives, if you haven't been reading our paper), is rubbing off on me. But for some reason, I'm liking these two subjects:
Santa Fe High.
State playoffs.
Now that you've picked yourself off the ground and FINALLY stopped laughing, hear me out.
Yes, the Demons just completed an 0-10 season - but in Class AAAAA. The move to AAAA no doubt will help. In fact, I venture to say if Santa Fe High was in AAAAA, it would win three games and position itself as a contender in (likely) 2AAAAA.
But the powers that be at the New Mexico Activities Association saw fit to put the school in AAAA, and the football team will benefit.
How much so? I'm calling them the co-favorites with Bernalillo for the district title. I say this because head coach Ray Holladay is in his second year, and he has 70 kids out for the team. He has plenty of skill players returning, even with the departure of Bobby Chavez to Las Cruces Mayfield (allegedly).
Jason Fitzpatrick looks like an All-District quarterback. But one thing Holladay said after Monday's first practice is that he doesn't know if his junior can make the reads and the throws when it matters the most. Why? Well, last year, he was running for his life behind a pourous offensive line that was no match for the likes of Albuquerque La Cueva, Sandia and Valley.
It's hard to tell what kind of a quarterback you have when he's trying to simply survive.
But Fitzpatrick can move (as last year's test proved) and he's got a good arm - good enough to make almost any throw he needs to.
The other thing is that 2AAAA has no giants. No La Cuevas, no Sandias. Heck, maybe not even an Albuquerque High.
Add to that the departure of coaches at Los Alamos (Hello, Garrett Williams), Capital (welcome to New Mexico, Josh Wallace) and Española Valley (Does Joe Jiron really look good in red and gold as opposed to Capital's turquoise and black?), the Demons are in a ripe position to reverse two trends:
No playoff appearances since 1986.
A second winning record in the same span.
They have experience, they have depth (something sorely lacking from last year's team), and they have an offense that could be potent.
As far Capital, measuring this team will be better in October than in August or September. Wallace has a lot of work to do to get the program where he needs it, but he can and probably will if he's given time. The numbers for the first day of practice are not much lower than when Steve Castille was there. The question is will those players stay as they struggle through the first half of the season (and make no doubts, they will struggle because they are learning a new offensive and defensive game plan on the fly)?
If Wallace keeps his nose to the grindstone, he will. Another piece of advice (which I am sure he already knows): If the upperclassmen show any kind of resistance, go young. Holladay had to do it last year at Santa Fe High. Castille had to do it his first year at Capital.
It might mean those sophomores and freshmen will take their lumps, but what they will do is listen and work hard. Upperclassmen - and especially seniors - seem to shirk at the idea of slugging their way through a season, especially as the losses mount. However, this group is accustomed to success and might try to fight it out to the end. Besides, talent-wise, there is no real difference between Capital and Santa Fe High.
The measuring stick is in where the Jaguars are under Wallace in Year 1 as opposed to the Demons under Holladay in Year 2. Patience is the word.
St. Michael's will be ... Well, St. Michael's. Russell Disch is a potent 1,000-yard rusher with George Dominguez as a capable - and speedy - No. 2 guy. Michael Lamb, who is getting looks at some Division I schools, is a beast of a linebacker and faster than he looks. The key is in the hands of Michael Weigel and the receivers. Fernandez likes his receivers and he feels that Weigel  can inject some oomph into a passing game that has been sorely lacking for the last two years. If they can make opponents pay for stacking up the line of scrimmage, the Horsemen will go far.
Like state championship game far.
They're that good.