Who are the best football players from Eddy County?
High school football action kicks off on Aug. 17 in Eddy County. Here are some of the players to watch at the start of the season for Carlsbad, Loving and Artesia.
Ulysses Mendoza leads Cavemen offensive team
The senior running back replaces Eli Asay who graduated in May. Asay was Carlsbad’s ground game in 2022 as he carried the football 200 times for 1,548 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Last year Mendoza was an understudy as he scored nine touchdowns on 172 carries for 684 yards. He also caught four passes for 40 yards.
Kason Perez takes over Carlsbad's quarterback spot fulltime
The junior started three games last year as a sophomore and completed one pass for six yards.
Perez replaces Dane Naylor, who as a senior in 2022 completed 26 passes for 463 yards and six touchdowns.
Naylor carried the football 127 times last season for 677 yards and seven touchdowns.
Diego Ramirez shows defensive potential
The junior middle linebacker played in eight games for Carlsbad as a sophomore with four solo tackles and seven assisted tackles. He also had one sack as an underclassman in 2022.
Nye Estrada poised to lead Artesia back to 5A state title game
The senior quarterback has shown no signs of slowing down during summer workouts.
As a junior Estrada helped guide the Bulldogs to a 5A state football title in 2022. He completed 243 passes for 3,245 yards for 42 touchdowns.
He also scored two touchdowns on the ground last year with 13 carries and 89 yards rushing.
More: Who are three Eddy County football players to watch Friday night?
Jesse Armendariz leads a solid Bulldog secondary
The senior free safety had six interceptions for the Bulldogs in 2022. Armendariz had 19 solo tackles and 41 assisted tackles in 12 games.
Josiah Rodriguez patrols corner spot in Artesia's secondary
The senior cornerback had two interceptions in 13 games last season. He recorded 22 solo tackles and 42 assisted tackles.
Kaleb Rodriguez leads Loving Falcon senior class
As a junior quarterback, he played 11 games and completed 112 passes for 1,601 yards. He also threw for 19 touchdowns.
As a rusher, Rodriguez had 50 carries for 126 for the Falcons in 2022.
Eduardo De La Cruz knows how to lineup
The senior can play guard, tackle or middle linebacker for the Falcons. In 11 games last year on defense he had 57 solo tackles and assisted on 13 tackles.
He also had two sacks and one interception in 2022 for Loving.
Edgar Zacarias provides dual offensive threat for Falcons
More: Loving Falcons roll past NMMI Colts 38-0 during homecoming Friday night
The senior running back scored two touchdowns for Loving in 2022 with 307 yards on 68 carries.
Zacarias had four catches for 27 yards as an extra receiver for Rodriguez last year.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Top Eddy County football players to watch at start of 2023 season
