New Mexico High School Football Week 1 Winners and Losers: QBs Shine, Hobbs Stumbles

Week 1 of New Mexico high school football is in the books. Favorites handled business, new-look offenses took the field and, most of all, plenty of points were scored.

From explosive quarterback performances to Roswell's wild 64-60 victory over Hobbs, opening weekend provided plenty to digest.

Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 1:

WINNERS

Quarterback Play

Whether it was some familiar faces or some unproven talents, the quarterbacks came to play in Week 1.

Top teams Cleveland and La Cueva both had their quarterbacks toss five touchdowns. For the Storm, junior Michael Denison impressed in his first start, while La Cueva’s Monty Melendez shook off a lingering elbow injury with a five-score night.

Volcano Vista’s Jude Herrera tossed six scores in a 51-0 rout of Atrisco Heritage Academy, going 12-for-14 with 272 passing yards, as the junior outscored the Jaguars by himself.

On Thursday, Sandia’s Jahleel Lewis backed up the offseason hype, going 12-for-13 with two touchdowns and 193 passing yards in the new-look Matador offense against Cibola.

Of course, quarterbacks were at the forefront of the Roswell-Hobbs shootout, with the two teams combining for over 600 yards of passing. Hobbs' Junior Medrano completed 14 of 18 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns while adding 141 yards on the ground.

Roswell

Not only were the Coyotes able to defeat Medrano and the 6A Eagles, but they did it in a fashion that will go down in Week 1 history.

The final blow came from Roswell quarterback Andruw Fuentez, who took a quarterback keeper past multiple Eagles defenders and into the end zone with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Coyotes a 64-60 lead they would not relinquish.

Running back Luis Rodriguez was the bellcow for the Coyotes in the scoring frenzy, posting 17 carries for 146 yards.

Sophomore receiver Danny Castro caught five passes for 146 yards and took three of them to the end zone.

Looking to avenge last year's championship loss, the Coyotes are off to an impressive start.

Luke Boatman

In NM’s eight-man division, one man stood above the rest.

Albuquerque’s Menaul School had a shootout of their own with Mesilla Valley Christian, falling 48-42. Despite the loss, it was a night to remember for one Panther.

Luke Boatman, Menaul's QB/S/WR — in true eight-man fashion — rushed for 393 yards and five touchdowns while accounting for more than 500 all-purpose yards.

Boatman averaged 17.3 yards per carry, including a 78-yard run, and kept the Panthers within striking distance of the SonBlazers until the final whistle.

LOSERS

Running Back Play

While passing games flourished across the state, many of New Mexico's top running backs had relatively quiet openers.

Top names like Nolan Romero-Williams and Dailen Ramirez were kept mostly quiet in their season openers.

La Cueva kept Romero-Williams largely in check, holding him to one touchdown as Eldorado struggled to find running room against the Bears. Centennial's Dailen Ramirez recorded 100 receiving yards but was held to 49 yards rushing without a touchdown.

Even for the victors, the running game was an afterthought. Cleveland’s D’Angelo Mitchell took a backseat to the Storm receivers in his first game since transferring. Las Cruces is still searching for someone to emerge in Danny Amaro's former role, with Chris Gomez leading the running backs with 51 yards in Week 1.

With many of these programs preaching run-heavy gameplans, which team will get back to ground success in Week 2?

Rio Rancho

After a deflating finish to 2025, a 14-7 home loss to open the season is not what the doctor ordered for the Rio Rancho Rams.

Quarterback Micah Takahashi found the end zone in this one, but there was little success outside of the quarterback run game. Rio turned the ball over three times.

The Rams are now on a three-game skid, dating back to last season.

They will host 5A’s Los Lunas in Week 2, as the Tigers are coming off a Week 1 win over Mayfield, in what feels like a must-win at home for the green and navy.

Hobbs

Allowing 28 fourth-quarter points was not in the game plan for the Hobbs Eagles, but it is the reason why the southeast crew sits at 0-1.

Hobbs allowed over 600 yards of offense to Roswell, including a last-minute score to give up the lead with under a minute to go.

The biggest backbreaker of the night? A fumble on the ensuing kickoff that effectively ended the game.

Not only is losing a 64-60 battle tough, but it could sting even more with Hobbs’ road ahead.

The Eagles will run into another 5A power in Artesia, hosting the Bulldogs as they look for their first win after a competitive bout with Carlsbad. After the home opener, Hobbs will be off to Texas to face El Paso’s Parkland before returning to face a top-ranked Las Cruces team.

At 0-1, it will be important to stay afloat in what is not an easy start to their 2026 schedule.

Dan Allison is a freelance high school and college sports writer. You can reach him at @danlallison on X.

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