Las Cruces High vs. Centennial is battle of District 3-6A football powers
The Field of Dreams will be the place to be on Friday night for high school football when Las Cruces High and Centennial play for the District 3-6A championship in the regular season finale.
Both teams are 4-0 in district. The Hawks cold secure a top-four seed and first-round playoff bye with a victory. The Bulldawgs probably can’t jump into the top four if they win here, but they are in the hunt for a first-round home game.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
How they got here
The Bulldawgs have played well and are on a five-game win streak.
Las Cruces High defeated Mayfield (44-7), Hobbs (42-27), Alamogordo (48-21), Organ Mountain (42-0) and Carlsbad (43-14).
Las Cruces High played a tough non-district schedule, which featured Eastwood, the No. 1-ranked team in El Paso and perennial New Mexico power, Rio Rancho Cleveland.
The Hawks are riding a six-game win streak into Friday's game. Centennial lost to Rio Rancho Cleveland and El Paso Franklin to start the season but have since beaten La Cueva (35-28), Mayfield (42-0), Organ Mountain (42-0), Hobbs (28-7), Carlsbad (42-14) and Alamogordo (42-21).
Centennial won last year's matchup, 35-14, and defeated Rio Rancho High in the state playoffs before losing to La Cueva. Las Cruces High did not make the playoffs last season.
Las Cruces High last played for a state championship in 2016 and Centennial last reached a state championship game in 2015.
Centennial is ranked No. 3 in the state by MaxPreps and in the New Mexico Coaches Poll and Las Cruces High is ranked No. 6 by MaxPreps and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll.
Gadsden, Deming face off
Gadsden will play at home on Friday against Deming for the District 3-5A title.
Gadsden is 7-2 overall and 2-0 in district. Deming is 6-3 overall and 2-0 in district.
Playoff pairings
The pairings for this year's high school football playoffs will be announced on Sunday at 7:30 a.m.
More: Prep football news Las Cruces High football falls to Volcano Vista in season opener
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X (Formerly Twitter)
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Bulldawgs, Hawks face off in battle of unbeaten teams in District 3-6A
