New Mexico 5A state football semifinals should provide spectacular finish

Now the real tournament begins.

After a bevy of blowouts in the quarterfinal round of the New Mexico 5A state football playoffs, things should — should being the operative word here — start getting a lot more exciting as Saturday's semifinals approach.

In one semifinal, top seed Valley (Albuquerque) plays at No. 4 seed and defending state champion Las Cruces. Kickoff is 1 p.m. The other semifinal pits No. 2 Mayfield (Las Cruces) at No. 3 Cleveland (Rio Rancho), with kickoff at 7 p.m.

All four teams breezed through the quarterfinals. Valley (11-0) whipped Clovis, 55-28; Las Cruces (10-1) ripped Sandia, 56-8; Cleveland (10-1) destroyed Hobbs, 54-0, and Mayfield (10-1) pulled away from Rio Rancho, 45-24.

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All four teams looked like juggernauts that were more than capable of winning the championship, so it'll be interesting to see which team can come out on top. Will it be Valley, which is the lone undefeated team in the field, yet by most accounts the underdog entering Saturday's action?

Or will it be Las Cruces, which got back on track in a huge way after suffering its only loss of the season, a 28-20 decision to intracity rival Mayfield three weeks ago in the regular-season finale?

Or could it be Mayfield, which somehow didn't miss a beat even after star quarterback Kavika Johnson suffered an injury and basically missed the entire second half in last Saturday's win?

Or will it be Cleveland, which has already overcome some adversity after inclement weather forced its quarterfinal game to be postponed for two days to this past Monday?

This much is certain: The final four has the makings of a spectacular finish. Mayfield received one of the finest performances from a backup quarterback you'll ever see as Ben Tingen threw touchdown passes of 55 and 43 yards to key the Storm's second-half uprising.

Mayfield was deadlocked in a 17-17 tie at halftime before outscoring Rio Rancho 28-7 in the second half to win going away. A 5-foot-8, 145-pound junior, Tingen surprised plenty of folks, including Rio Rancho coach David Howes.

"I don't even know who that kid is," Howes told the Albuquerque Journal. "Unbelievable."

Said Tingen, in the same story: "Everyone was probably a little worried (when Kavika went out), but I knew my coaches were confident in me."

Cleveland had nine different ballcarriers combine to tally up 340 yards rushing and had seven different players score in bouncing Hobbs. Due to the postponement of its quarterfinal game, Cleveland was playing for the first time in 16 days.

It didn't matter.

Las Cruces returned to the form that made it everyone's overwhelming favorite to repeat as state champion for most of the season. In crushing Sandia, the Bulldawgs sent a message to the rest of the teams left in the postseason that they were back and better than ever.

Up until the loss to Mayfield, Las Cruces had outscored nine opponents by a combined margin of 417-65. The loss to its bitter rival only served as a wakeup call to the Bulldawgs, who played with a tempo and fury reminiscent in their previous 10 victories.

Against a quality team in Sandia, Las Cruces scored 28 unanswered points in the second quarter on just five plays en route to a statement-making victory. Talk about making statements, Valley is playing with a chip on its shoulder as it has had to overcome all the talk of playing in a weak district and being the only team left in the field without a storied football tradition.

However, the program has risen to new heights this season under brash second-year coach Enrico Marcelli. The Vikings, who are looking to make the state title game for the first time in school history, are powered by the arm of quarterback Bo Coleman leading a high-octane offense featuring playmaking receivers Aaron Molina and Rob Armijo.