The Las Cruces Bulldawgs are off to a dominant start in New Mexico. Tough line play has been the ticket to a 5-0 record thus far.
Photo by Lou Novick
At the season's halfway point, the
Las Cruces (N.M.) football team has proven to be head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in New Mexico.
In five games — all wins — the defending 5A state champions have outscored opponents by a combined margin of 203-40. The Bulldawgs' closest contest came in a 20-0 shutout of La Cueva (Albuquerque) last week.
Kameron Miller
Photo by Lou Novick
"We go into every game with the expectation to win, but if you look at the margin in which we've been doing it, that's surprising," 16th-year Las Cruces coach Jim Miller said. "The kids are playing well, but like we told them, it's not how you start, it's how you finish."
And no one finished stronger than the Bulldawgs did last season, when they reeled off nine consecutive wins to cap a superb 12-1 season. Las Cruces,
the top-ranked team in New Mexico and 163rd nationally in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings, hosts Artesia (3-3) at 7 p.m. Friday.
It's been a magnificent start for the Bulldawgs, who are dominating foes with punishing line play from both sides of the ball.
The offensive line of
Connor Stringam,
Laz Gomez,
Adrian Campos,
Carlos Campos and
David Mulheron have paved the way for the dynamic running back tandem of
J.J. Granados (770 yards on 100 carries) and
Austin Salas (239 yards on 29 carries) to get loose, while also providing plenty of protection for quarterback
Kameron Miller — the coach's son — to pick apart defenses through the air.
Miller has completed 36 of 60 passes for 674 yards while rushing for 341 more.
"It doesn't matter how good your players at the skill positions are if the guys up front aren't doing their job," Jim Miller said. "And our offensive and defensive lines are playing some physical football."
Just ask Rio Rancho, which suffered a 42-6 beatdown courtesy of Las Cruces on Sept. 20. Rio Rancho was the last team to beat the Bulldawgs, in Week 3 of the 2012 season. Ever since that loss, Las Cruces has played at a level no squad has been able to match.
J.J. Granados
Photo by Lou Novick
"It would be an understatement to say we're playing well," Miller said. "Even though we have some returning starters back from last year's team, this year's team doesn't want to live off of last year. They want to do their own thing, and that was relevant early on after they won the state championship. They got back to work and haven't stopped working."
It's that nose-to-the-grindstone, working-class mentality that has allowed the program to thrive and win five state titles under Miller, a no-nonsense coach who demands excellence but also teaches life lessons in the process.
As if the Bulldawgs weren't already stacked with talent, they'll be buoyed by the return of two-way lineman
Jesse Olson, a standout senior who can play every position on the offensive line and defensive tackle.
Olson was the lone returning starter on the offensive line, but he's been out for the entire season due to injury. However, Miller said Olson could be back in two to three weeks, which will only strengthen Las Cruces' greatest asset — its line play.
With a deep 68-man roster, the Bulldawgs can afford to play the majority of their linemen one way. Among the healthy starters, only Carlos Campos plays both ways, and even then he's only in on 15 to 20 snaps at defensive tackle.
"Having guys play one way the entire time helps to keep them fresh," Miller said. "It gets tiring for a player to be banging heads the whole time, so it's nice to have two sets of linemen who we can rely on. And it definitely helps in the fourth quarter, when fatigue plays a factor."
The defensive line of
Ricky Garcia,
Alejandro Jose Gomez and
Stefano Hernandez have punished opponents and allowed linebackers such as
Sam Denmark to roam free and make plays.
Denmark is one of the top linebackers in the state, a physical specimen who has an uncanny instinct for the ball. Amazingly enough, the Bulldawgs don't have a single player who currently has an offer from a Division I FBS program.
Denmark had an offer from New Mexico State earlier in the year, but the Las Cruces university wanted an early verbal commitment from Denmark and when he didn't give one, it took its offer off the table, Miller said.
Sam Denmark
File photo by Richard Chavez
"We've had four kids in my 16 years here who've landed D-I scholarships," Miller said. "We've won five championships and numerous games, and I'll tell you, it's not like it's all coaching. We've had some great players, and it's mind-boggling to me that we haven't had more guys go D-I. Hopefully, we can get a couple of more guys to that level this year."
Only a sophomore, Kameron Miller has displayed a precociousness belying his youth in leading Las Cruces to a 5-0 record. He has shouldered a huge responsibility taking over for the graduated Jonathan Joy, a 2012 all-state selection.
Miller's performance has been even more impressive when you consider the fact that he only started playing quarterback in his freshman year.
But what a year it was. Miller, who was one of the few JV players who traveled with the varsity squad, gained valuable experience by simply watching Joy and how he led the team.
"I learned a lot from Jonathan," Miller said. "How to be a good leader by picking people up when they're down, and making others believe in themselves. It's every quarterback's dream to lead a team to a state championship, and I want to see how that feels."
