Football Preview: New Mexico Military Institute Colts vs. Ruidoso Warriors
The New Mexico Military Institute Colts will square off against the Ruidoso Warriors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. New Mexico Military Institute is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 37.9 points per game this season.
New Mexico Military Institute will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they didn't score any points last Friday, then bounced right back against Cathedral on Thursday. New Mexico Military Institute walked away with a 33-21 victory over Cathedral. Given the Colts' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 33rd in New Mexico, while the Fighting Irish are ranked 1076th in Texas), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
New Mexico Military Institute had a senior duo take command as Cohen Tomasits rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries and Cole Seidenberger rushed for 31 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Tomasits a new career-high in rushing yards. Marcus Kannady did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 82 receiving yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, New Mexico Military Institute was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 290 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 217 rushing yards in seven consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Ruidoso was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Friday as they fell 32-27 to Hatch Valley.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Mason Fikany, who rushed for 44 yards and a touchdown, and also picked up 39 receiving yards. Another pass catcher making a difference was Joel Ortega, who picked up 94 receiving yards and a touchdown.
New Mexico Military Institute pushed their record up to 5-2 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. As for Ruidoso, their loss dropped their record down to 1-6.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. New Mexico Military Institute has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 282 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Ruidoso, though, as they've been averaging only 87.1. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for New Mexico Military Institute against Ruidoso in their previous meeting back in October of 2023, as the team secured a 55-14 victory. In that match, New Mexico Military Institute amassed a halftime lead of 48-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
