July 19, 2011

Dallas Jackson
Senior Analyst

Dallas Jackson is the Senior Analyst for RivalsHigh. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to DallasJ@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow him on Twitter.

The state of New Mexico is not a national player in high school football. The Land of Enchantment often gets labeled as The Land West of El Paso in many high school football circles.

So it's no surprise that New Mexico will not have a team included when the RivalsHigh 100 preseason rankings are released July 25. But that is not an indictment of the level of play in the state. In fact, it may be an indication that there is more parity (and more teams) at the top of the talent pool.

"Right now in Class 5A, there is no clear-cut favorite," New Mexico football expert Kyle Henderson said. "Traditional powers like Mayfield and Las Cruces are going to be there in the end, and watch for start up program Cleveland to make a run under a legendary coach in Kirk Potter. I don't feel it's a down year for the state, it just has more well rounded teams entering this season."

The state has been on the rise not only with team rankings but in recruiting circles.

In 2010, the state sent several players to major Division I programs.

Matthew Hegarty signed with Notre Dame; Matthew Ramondo headed to Michigan State; Ronnie Daniels is now at Texas Tech; Tyler McCulloch went to Colorado.

"Last year New Mexico had 10 D-1 signees," Henderson said. "That was something that had not happened in a very long time."

Henderson has been covering the state for NMPreps.com since 2006 and thinks that this year could be as exciting as any in the recent history.

New Mexico Preseason Top 5

The state of New Mexico has had a team begin the season inside the RivalsHigh 100 in three of the last four seasons. This year could be a better year for overall quality and if there is an undefeated team out of this group it could work its way in as the year goes on.

No. 1 Las Cruces Mayfield

No. 2 Rio Rancho Cleveland

No. 3 Las Cruces High

No. 4 Roswell Goddard

No. 5 Albuquergue Manzano

"Mayfield, Las Cruces, and Goddard are some of the most dangerous Southern New Mexico teams to play this year. They have won a combined nine state titles since 2000," he said. "Cleveland is just entering their third varsity season and went 9-2 losing to Mayfield down the stretch in last year's playoff games. They return 13 starters and seemed poised to make a real run at perfection."

New Mexico did not have a team in the final Top 100 last season, though La Cueva was ranked during the year. (Las Cruces, at No. 100 in 2008, is the last New Mexico school to make the final 100.)

With five teams so closely lumped at the top, New Mexico may not get a team on the list all season. Henderson feels the interplay among the five will cause losses, knocking them out of the picture.

But make for a very competitive postseason.

"Those teams play such tough non-conference schedules that it's likely all have a few losses before the playoffs, which will take them out of the national spotlight," he said. "Last year, Mayfield was 6-4 entering the playoffs and ended the year as state champs."

Mayfield has owned the state of New Mexico over the last decade. The team has played in eight of the last 10 state finals, winning four of them. It also won 30 games in a row against in-state opponents from 2005-2007.

The Green Machine, as they are called locally, figures to start the season on the top line of the state rankings.

"They are the returning champ and although they lose two D-1 players to graduation they keep reloading," Henderson said. "They return quarterback Axten Franzoy and running back Ricky Milks, which will make for a deadly combination in their wishbone offense."

While Mayfield may own the state, it is its neighbor and rival, Las Cruces, that owns the city. Las Cruces has defeated Mayfield in the Battle for Las Cruces in four consecutive years.

Las Cruces will begin the season as the No. 3 spot in the state and behind new program, and potential threat to the power structure, Cleveland.

"The thing about Cleveland is they have never won a playoff game, but it's clear that a storm is rising in Rio Rancho," Henderson said.

If that storm can reach its full potential, there could be more seasons with more New Mexico teams in the discussion for national recognition.

PRESEASON RIVALSHIGH 100 COUNTDOWN: The official schedule of release dates