New Mexico high school football's toughest strength of schedule

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Rio Rancho's football team truly has dominated New Mexico this fall, according to the MaxPreps computer rankings.

The Rams are the No. 1-ranked team with a perfect 9-0 won-lost record, but also have played the toughest schedule with a 29.3 ranking. They have outscored their first nine opponents by a huge 409-103 margin. They have dealt No. 2-ranked Cleveland (Rio Rancho) its only loss, 42-28, and also have beaten No. 4, No. 7, No. 8 and No. 19 teams in this week's list.

Rio Rancho held its top positions despite struggling in the first half last week against Cibola (Albuquerque). The Rams were held scoreless during the initial quarter for the first time this year, but put a big second half together for an eventual 42-3 victory as running back Josh Foley scored on runs of one and 78 yards and a pass play of 47 yards.

Cleveland is No. 2 in the team rankings with an 8-1 record and also a close second in strength of schedule at an even 29.0.



As expected, Albuquerque, the state's largest city, has the most teams (3) with the strongest schedules among our top 10, but Las Cruces and Rio Rancho both have a pair.


The top 10 teams follow with names, won-lost records and strength of schedule:

1. Rio Rancho, 9-0, 29.3
2. Cleveland (Rio Rancho), 8-1, 29.0 3. Cibola (Albuquerque), 3-7, 28.7
4. Eldorado (Albuquerque), 4-5, 22.8
5. Carlsbad (Carlsbad), 3-6, 22.2
6. Mayfield (Las Cruces), 5-4, 22.1
7. Manzano (Albuquerque), 7-2, 21.8
8. Clovis, 6-3, 20.8
9. Piedra Vista (Farmington), 5-4, 20.7
10. Onate (Las Cruces), 6-3, 20.4