Yodice: Talking points from a memorable prep football weekend

Sep. 7—On the heels of an explosive and memorable weekend, there is much to get to in the world of New Mexico prep football.

HEART NOT FONDER WITH ABSENCE: We begin with what occurred on Friday in Pojoaque, where fans were prohibited from attending the Elks' home game against Los Alamos.

An image posted on social media in which a rifle's crosshairs were fixed on an Elk, with a reference to hunting season, was created by an individual (believed to be a student) in Los Alamos.

Three hours before the teams' scheduled kickoff, the decision came down to disallow fans for that game.

Although I would say that the post was not uncomfortably ominous, and was not created to serve as a predictor of a threat, I completely get why Pojoaque Valley officials reacted as they did. They acted correctly.

The school shooting in Georgia earlier in the week, plus a recent shooting by teenagers not far from Pojoaque Valley High School, pretty much forced the administrators' hand. They had to err on the side of caution.

It is the parents who suffered an undue penalty here, thanks to this one insensitive and boneheaded post. I suspect whoever created it was simply trying to be clever, but in the environment we currently live in, it was a humongous error in judgment.

SPARTAN ALLEY: I've spoken about this already this year, but it merits a revisit.

Bernalillo fancies itself as a program that is ready to contend for a state football championship. And it would appear the Spartans do have such a team this year. They are 3-0, and came into Week 3 ranked No. 3 in Class 4A.

A major priority for Bernalillo and coach John Cobos this fall was to author a signature victory over Bloomfield, Portales or Silver — considered Class 4A's top triumvirate — that would vault the Spartans to a higher strata.

And here we are, on a weekend in which Bernalillo beat Portales 14-7 on Friday night, and the Spartans, through no doing of their own, haven't achieved that bump. Not yet.

The Rams played without veteran quarterback Paxton Culpepper, who is one of New Mexico's elite QBs, regardless of class. Culpepper is to Portales what Cam Dyer is to La Cueva, what Amiri Mumba is to Highland. The Rams are a different, and lesser, team without Culpepper.

So this is going to stick around as an open-ended question about Bernalillo. There are some tough tests coming up, including games against Moriarty and Española Valley. And looking about six weeks ahead, a road game at Bloomfield.

MUMBA STATUS: Speaking of Mumba, his health is one of the big questions in Class 5A's District 1.

Mumba was in for a snap Thursday versus Taos, but the ankle he first hurt in the previous week's game at Bernalillo severely limited his time in the backfield. If you blinked, you missed him. He spent pretty much the entire night in uniform, on the sideline.

Highland coach Phillip Lovato said Mumba, who had a giant junior season running the ball for the Hornets and who is one of the state's most underappreciated overall athletes, has been working with medical staff to get a handle on his availability going forward.

This is an important question, because Highland has a district opener on Friday at Los Alamos, and this shapes up as a hugely influential matchup in a league that seems to be up for grabs with no one team even remotely having emerged (so far) as a favorite.

Highland could be that team — if Mumba plays.

Lovato on Saturday couldn't say for sure if Mumba would play against the Hilltoppers.

"I think he'll be able to play this game," Lovato said.

HIGH 5(A): Meanwhile, the state's other 5A district will also begin league play this coming week, with two titanic showdowns featuring the top four ranked teams in the division.

No. 1 Roswell visits No. 3 Lovington, and No. 2 Artesia is on the road at No. 4 Deming. Not sure how the rankings may or may not look different this coming week after Artesia surrendered 70 points to Centennial, but these are best four teams in District 2-5A.

The top seven ranked teams in 5A, in both the coaches' poll and the MaxPreps computer, hail from the southern district. Highland at 8 is the top team from the other league.

We have a clear top team in 6A in La Cueva. Do we have one in 5A? What have we gleaned so far?

The top three all have played Hobbs. Lovington beat the Eagles 31-22 in Week 1, Hobbs outscored Artesia 44-40 in Week 2 and Roswell edged Hobbs 37-35 in overtime on Friday night.

The Artesia defense has given up 114 points the last two weeks; the Bulldogs are not at current the team to beat in Class 5A.

Lovington is new to 5A, but the Wildcats already have announced themselves as a challenger. We shall see if their depth can withstand the gauntlet of this new, bigger, tougher district.

That leaves Roswell, which would appear to have the fewest question marks of the three at the moment.

The Coyotes are completely new on offense, but they've been productive on that side of the ball through two games. And they've still got an abundance of excellent playmakers on defense.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: We close today with a salute to Del Norte High School's 1974 state championship team.

Over a dozen members of that Knights squad were honored Saturday at Milne Stadium to mark the 50th anniversary of the school's lone football championship.

That was a brilliant season, as they outscored opponents 398-35, including nine straight shutouts at one point. The only other school (in the largest class) that put up those kind of dominating numbers on defense in the last half century — and who won state — were probably the 2004 La Cueva Bears.

That Del Norte squad was perhaps the best in the entire region that year, and they were also nationally ranked. The Knights coach, the late Howard Anderson, was the National High School Coach of the Year.

Players who helped mark the anniversary on Saturday were: Captain Tim Strosnider, Wayne Moss, Dave Van Doren, Marty Sullivan, Skip Vernon, Andy Wieczorek, Fred Romero (the former La Cueva coach), Eddie Grant, Doug Cotter, Dean Lowder, Art Morganti, Rick Tuller and Vince Polaco.

"It meant a lot (for us to be recognized)," Strosnider said. "Perfect as it could be."