Three for three: BHS, LLHS & VHS reach football postseason

It has the promise to be a Friday of football fun, with Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia set for the New Mexico pigskin playoffs.

BHS and LLHS will host night games, while VHS travels, but not too far, to face Albuquerque Academy in a rare Friday afternoon contest.

Eagles face rematch against Valley

There might not be a better football story in New Mexico than the Belen Eagles (6-4), who will host Valley (4-6) at 7 p.m., Friday in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

Between 2022 and 2024, BHS won a total of seven games, just one more than this year’s team.

“It’s pretty shocking,” said Kevin Peña of the turnaround. “It’s exciting.”

When the New Mexico Activities Association revealed the brackets at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Belen was awarded a seventh seed, Valley a No. 10.

“We had a big screen on the football field,” Peña said. “A lot of parents were out there, the team, with coffee and hot chocolate. It was kind of a fun night.”

Now the attention turns to district rival Valley, which defeated BHS 25-22 in September at Eagles Stadium. Peña said the Eagles were shorthanded during the first meeting, but the Vikings are talented.

“They’ve got some good kids over there. We’re going to have to play Belen football,” which is hard-nosed, according to Peña. “They know us and we know them.”

Another factor that can’t be ignored is the scuffle during the game between the schools in 2023. Both programs received sanctions from the NMAA.

“The past is in the past. The kids have kind of gotten over it,” Peña believes. “If we want to continue to play (in the playoffs), that stuff has to be put to the side.”

If the Eagles are to advance, they will likely have to play better than last Thursday’s 22-14 victory over Santa Fe Capital. BHS had five first half turnovers, but found a way to win.

“It was crazy,” Chalito Cano, Belen quarterback, said of the first half miscues. “We haven’t quit all season so we’re not going to quit now.”

At halftime of what was billed at the Hall of Fame Game, the inaugural class of the Belen High School Athletic Hall of Fame was announced. VCNB will have more on the first HOF honorees, including 11 individuals and two teams, in next week’s edition.

Cano, Logan Gonzalez and Elijah Schaffino-Vallejo scored second half touchdowns to lift the Eagles. Belen will now entertain Valley Friday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

Los Lunas faces Piedra Vista, again

The Los Lunas Tigers (7-3) will have to do it again, facing Piedra Vista (5-5) in the 6A playoffs for a second straight year.

“We expected it,” said Greg Henington, LLHS coach, about the seeding and opponent.

LLHS is seeded eighth and the Panthers ninth, making this meeting a virtual tossup on paper.

“They’re extremely physical. They run the ball for three to four yards a pop,” Henington said, adding that the pedestrian record of PVHS is misleading because of their difficult schedule which included several out-of-state powers. “They play sound, disciplined defense. They’re a tough team.”

The Tigers have won three straight games, including a 57-7 romp over Sandia to end the regular season.

“We’re very proud about how physical our kids played on both sides of the ball,” Henington said of the victory. “They make my job very easy when they play like that.”

The Tigers hope to have quarterback Kaiden Reese available after he sat out the Sandia game with a lingering injury. With Reese sidelined, Luke Cieremans had a phenomenal game at QB, tossing five touchdown passes in the rout, including a pair to Robert Pino.

Jagger Casillas added two rushing touchdowns, while Brad Mallory scored on a 76-yard fumble return.

The showdown against Piedra Vista is Friday with a 6 p.m. kickoff.

“We’re happy about the home field,” said Henington. “We hope to get a huge turnout, a lot of support.”

Valencia’s opponent looks familiar

It may have felt something like a trick and a treat for Valencia (4-6) when the brackets were revealed the night following Halloween.

Squarely on the bubble to make the 4A playoffs, VHS was thrilled to receive the 12th seed, the last berth in the field. At the same time came the trick, with the Jaguars tasked with meeting No. 5 Albuquerque Academy (6-4), just eight days after the Chargers defeated VHS 34-0.

“We’re fortunate to be in,” the playoffs, said LeDarrius Cage, VHS head coach, after the Jaguars lost four of their last five games.

Another oddity about the rematch is that kickoff is 1:30 p.m., Friday at Academy. That’s because the Academy field does not have lights and the school hosts the New Mexico Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

“It’s bizarre for both teams to play at this time, on a school day,” Cage said. “Hopefully, we can get some fan support to show up, give us an extra bump for some momentum.”

Cage believes that replaying the Chargers so quickly may be an advantage, with the players and coaches anxious to get rid of a bad taste from the loss.

“We’ll have an opportunity to sharpen up the game plan … see where we can attack their game plan in a different way to make it more successful for us,” he said.

The Chargers kept Valencia off-balance with different defensive looks, according to Cage, who says improving the running game and eliminating turnovers will be key.

“There were a couple of opportunities to make a one-on-one play and they made the play and we didn’t.”

Cage hopes that will change against the Academy this time.