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It was not a surprise when the Las Cruces High School football team learned Nov. 1 that it was the top seed in the upcoming state championship tournament. The Bulldawgs will begin the process of finishing what they started at the Field of Dreams the weekend of Nov. 14-15.
The top four seeds in the field earn opening-round byes in the playoffs, so Las Cruces will await the winner of this week’s contest between No. 8 Los Lunas and ninth-seeded Piedra Vista.
“The top seed is nice, but it doesn't really affect anything,” said Las Cruces head coach Mark Lopez. “We get no points for being the top seed, only an opportunity in the postseason. We're heavily focused right now on trying to improve after the Centennial game, because we realize that if we don't improve from that game, our chances at reaching our final goal gets smaller. Our leadership is driven right now to be the best we can be.”
The Bulldawgs closed out the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record (6-0 in District 3-6A play) after clinching the district title with a 31-21 win over Centennial (7-3, 4-2) on Halloween night at the Field of Dreams. It was the first outright district championship for Las Cruces since 2019.
The Hawks scored on their first drive of the game Friday night, but Las Cruces settled in and took care of business in the win. The 31-21 win was uncharacteristically close for the Bulldawgs, likely providing them good preparation for the playoffs.
Las Cruces quarterback Gunnar Guardiola threw a pair of touchdown passes and running back Daniel Amaro ran for two, including a TD dash that covered 57 yards in the third quarter. A big key to the victory was the three turnovers delivered by the Las Cruces defense along the way.
“It feels great to go 10-0 and win a district championship,” Lopez said. “It was a goal of our team to be city, district and state champs, so we've achieved two out of three, but the job is not done yet.”
The quest to finish the job starts next weekend.
The loss didn’t drop Centennial too far in the postseason bracket, as the Hawks earned the No. 4 seed in the state tournament. That set them up with an opening-round bye of their own.
Centennial will face the winner of a first-round clash between fifth-seeded La Cueva and No. 12 Eldorado. The Hawks will host that quarterfinal Nov. 14 or 15 as well. The Field of Dreams will be the place to be that weekend to get a full dose of playoff football.
Cleveland (9-1) is the No. 2 seed in the 6A bracket, and Hobbs (8-2) is seeded third.
5A football
Despite a rough 51-0 loss to Artesia Oct. 31 and a difficult 2-8 campaign, Mayfield is in the 5A playoffs as the No. 9 seed. The Trojans open the postseason Nov. 7 at No. 8 Highland (6-4).
