Three things to watch for Week 2 of New Mexico high school football
LAS CRUCES – Three of the Las Cruces city high schools are looking for their first win of the high school football season this week.
Las Cruces High looks for its first win on Thursday at the Field of Dreams and Mayfield plays host to Santa Teresa at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Field of Dreams. Organ Mountain plays host to Deming at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Field of Dreams.
Here are three things to watch among the Week 2 games:
More: Three takeaways from Week 1 of high school football in New Mexico
Mayfield, Santa Teresa meet in a playoff rematch
Mayfield opened the Gary Bradley era with a 55-0 victory at Manzano in Albuquerque.
Bradley is still learning about a young Mayfield roster as the Trojans host Santa Teresa in the third meeting between the teams in the past two years.
"They are tough kids and they play hard," said Bradley, who was the offensive coordinator for Mayfield's 21-10 victory over Santa Teresa in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs last year. "We played them twice last year and that playoff game, the only thing that showed that we won was the scoreboard because it was a defensive game. I had never played against them before, but they played hard."
The Trojans also beat Santa Teresa 24-7 in Week 2 last season, but both teams are relatively new.
"This year we are looking more at how to improve our own team, only return two players from last year, and only start three seniors on offense," said Shae Vierra, who is in his 15th season as the Santa Teresa head coach. "We are just trying to get better each week as we try to rebuild because we have graduated so many last two years."
Both teams feature sophomore quarterbacks.
More: Three takeaways from Week 1 of high school football in New Mexico
Mayfield quarterback Luke Linnan was 10 for 18 against Manzano with 124 yards and two touchdowns.
"That was his first start at quarterback," Bradley said. "He had very little varsity experience but I was happy with how he led our offense.
"He's a really coachable kid and he loves the game of football."
Santa Teresa sophomore quarterback and head coach's son Nicholas Vierra passed for 113 yards in a Week 1 loss to Roswell Goddard.
"Our biggest message is don't beat ourselves," Bradley said. "We had a lot of penalties against Manzano in Albuquerque. We have to play more disciplined and not do those silly things that kind of just weigh you down against a good team."
Organ Mountain/Deming game time changed due to heat
While recent rain storms have cooled the area off, the forecast for the weekend remains in the high 90s after reaching triple digits during the Saturday games across New Mexico.
The Organ Mountain and Deming football teams agreed to move Saturday's game at the Field of Dreams from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m.
"Both teams wanted to play a little bit earlier, probably because of the heat and Deming is only one hour away," Las Cruces Public Schools Athletic Director Earnie Viramontes said.
The Knights are coming off a 34-17 loss at Albuquerque last week and Deming beat Del Norte 56-6. Organ Mountain beat Deming last year in Week 2.
Centennial looks to avoid 0-2 start
The Hawks have a brutal three-game stretch to open the season. Centennial lost at home to defending champion Rio Rancho Cleveland last week and will host La Cueva, likely the best team this season, next week.
El Paso's Franklin is playing its first game of the season. Centennial won last year's meeting 49-21.
Centennial's defense kept the Hawks within two scores against Cleveland until late in the game in Week 1. The Hawks defense will have its hands full again against Franklin quarterback Shay Smith, who has offers from Houston, SMU, North Texas and UTEP.
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Three things to watch for Week 2 of New Mexico high school football
