Rivals clash with district title at stake

It’s almost as if the schedule makers set it up just as it was meant to be. Two football teams, same city, facing off in the regular season finale with a district championship on the line.

For Centennial (7-2 overall, 4-1 in region play), it’s a chance to take down the state’s top-ranked team. The Hawks, currently ranked No. 4 in the state, relish the opportunity to showcase themselves on the big stage.

Las Cruces (9-0, 5-0) has its perfect regular season on the line, as well as a chance to enter the postseason as the top seed. The Bulldawgs have been working on this all year.

Las Cruces head coach Mark Lopez is used to the last-game-of-the-year rivalry battle, but he knows it comes with challenges as both teams are also looking ahead to the real prize, a state title.

“I'm probably conditioned to it,” Lopez said. We had Mayfield at the end of the year, all those years when we were typically playing them for a district championship for whatever it was, 18 years in a row, and it was always the last game of the year, at Aggie Memorial Stadium and the packed house. It’s a great environment. This week's going to be a great environment also.”

He believes his team is focused on finishing the regular season strong before turning its attention to the playoffs.

“There's a challenge of kind of regrouping and getting ready and getting your mind right, but it's a fun challenge to have. I think that if anything we've kind of learned how to manage that and we're going to have to do it again this year, no matter what the outcome is.”

Las Cruces is paced by the talented running of Daniel Amaro, who averages 11 yards per carry and has amassed 1,417 rushing yards and an unbelievable 31 touchdowns on the ground. Quarterback Gunnar Guardiola completes 70% of his aerials so the Dawgs gain another 205 yards per game by air. He also has 19 passing TDs, nine of them going to wideout Francisco Winnikoff, who goes for nearly 20 yards every time he touches the ball.

This is a big-play offense, but it might be tougher sledding against the Centennial defense.

“We've had a lot of explosive plays this year, and so we've got to be willing to kind of put together drives,” Lopez said. “We can't just rely on the big play when you're playing a good team like this. You’ve got to be willing to take the tough yards, to put together, hopefully, eight and 10-play drives then finish them.”

It could be distracting to get bogged down in the amazing offensive numbers Centennial has been posting, and its depth. The Hawks have been without star running back Dailen Ramirez, who has 1,151 yards rushing for the season, for a couple of weeks now, but Jesus Chavez has been a revelation in relief.

The sophomore back is averaging the same eight yards per carry Ramirez delivers and has scored five rushing TDs in each of the last two Centennial contests. Yes, that’s 10 trips to the house in two weeks.

The Bulldawg defense, led by Denton Walter and Carlos Gamboa will have its hands full. According to Lopez, this game will be won or lost at the line of scrimmage.

“With Centennial, their offensive line as good as anybody that we've seen this year,” Lopez said. “They’re doing a great job in the backfield and they have a great scheme. We’ve got to do a lot of things right and be really focused on our assignments.”

It’s that assignment-sound thing that Lopez knows will play a big role Friday night.

“We can’t get caught up in the moment,” he said. “If you get caught up in these moments, you do things that are uncharacteristic of you and it creates big plays for the other team. I think their offensive line versus our defensive line and, and vice versa, those are going to be key battles. And aside from that, I think it's execution.”

Lopez loves his team, and looks forward to this crosstown matchup, but also is excited to see what the Bulldawgs can do after this week.

“It’s been a great season so far,” he said. We’ve got a great group of guys, and when you have talent, they make coaches look smart and that's been the case this year. We’ve got a really high character group. I think, for me, that's the biggest thing, these guys really care about each other on and off the field. That’s kind of where it started for us and then you sprinkle the talent that they have on top of that, and it's, it's made it really enjoyable to be around.”

Centennial and Las Cruces face off Friday night in a Halloween clash, at 7 p.m.