NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The 2024 New Mexico high school football season has come to a close as championships for classes 2A-6A were held on Saturday. Here is a breakdown of how things went down.
6A
For the third year in a row, the class 6A final featured La Cueva and Cleveland. The Storm defense was able to shut down the high flying Bears offense until the fourth quarter and Cleveland’s lead was slowly able to build. In the end, the Storm gave La Cueva its first loss of the season. With a 26-8 win, Cleveland has now won four state championships over the last five years.
“Going into the season, this was the one were weren’t supposed to have,” said Cleveland head coach Robert Garza. “We knew we had an uphill battle all year and I am going to remember these seniors for the way they came together. This group of football players was super fun to be around and awesome year.”
5A
No. 1 Roswell and No. 2 Artesia met again for the 5A championship. This year, the game was held at the Wool Bowl and the Coyotes were able to make the most of the home field advantage. Roswell got its revenge with a 41-22 win. This is now the 8th title for Roswell.
“We talked all week that we couldn’t give up big plays and they had to earn it on us, and that’s what it comes down to against Artesia is you got to make them earn it,” Roswell head coach Jeff Lynn said. “You know, to get those turnovers on downs, that’s making them earn it so, we just executed the game plan like we wanted to. So, just super proud of these kids.”
4A
Bloomfield hosted St. Pius for the 4A championship. The Bobcats took down the Sartans 62-28 to complete a perfect 13-0 season. This is the third time that Bloomfield has won the state championship.
3A
Two undefeated teams, St. Michael’s and Dexter, met for the 3A crown in Santa Fe. The game featured, three touchdowns over 50 yards, a kickoff returned for a touchdown, four interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), a forced fumble/recovery, two fourth quarter lead changes and a game winning touchdown with 35 seconds remaining. In the end, the Horsemen came out on top 28-26. This is now consecutive titles for the St. Mike’s and the program’s win streak now sits at 20.
“This one feel’s great because Dexter is a quality program,” said St. Michael’s head coach Joey Fernandez. “They came out and they gave it their best. Our kids found a way to win it at the end and I’m so proud of how when they were facing adversity, they stepped up to the challenge and they made the plays that they needed to.”
2A
The class 2A title game featured unbeaten Texico against Santa Rosa. The Wolverines were able to cruise to a 50-0 mercy rule victory. The win gives Texico its eighth state title.
