FARMINGTON – Not every head coach of football teams across San Juan County were enthused about the recently announced reclassifications for the upcoming season.
The drop from Class 6A to 5A for Piedra Vista presumably would put the Panthers, coached by Jared Howell, in a position to contend for a state title, much like they did when they lost 27-14 against Artesia for the Class 5A championship in 2022.
The New Mexico Activities Association’s reclassifications were announced last winter, but it also put Piedra Vista and other teams in a bind to create a non-district schedule consisting of only three games as opposed to four, as it had been in years past.
Following the season opener this weekend against Farmington, Piedra Vista will be home against Durango before playing out of state against Olympus (Utah) High School on Sept. 4.
“They’ve got probably 2,500 kids in that school, so they’re about twice as big as we are,” Howell said this week.
The Titans finished last season with a record of 6-6 before losing in the second round of the Class 5A postseason.
This season, the Panthers are one of two teams dropping not only into Class 5A, but also arriving in the same district as Los Lunas, who has come away with a pair of nail-biting victories in each of the last two postseason tournaments.
Last season, Piedra Vista was bounced in the opening round of the Class 6A tournament by the Tigers by a score of 28-24. In 2024, also in the first round, the Panthers came up a point short in a 28-27 heartbreaker against Los Lunas.
The Tigers will welcome a new head coach to the sidelines. Stephen Johnston takes over the Los Lunas program following the departure of Greg Henington last December.
“They’re big and they’re talented and they’re good athletes,” said Howell in reference to Los Lunas. “We were playing them without our big players out there in both games. We didn’t have our quarterback last year, then we had three big starters out. Everybody has people out, but we had like stat leaders that weren’t there.”
The newly created eight-team District 1-5A will also include Highland, Capital and Los Alamos High Schools, all of which played in the Class 5A postseason tournament last year.
On the other side of the state, District 2-5A will be made up primarily of teams from the defending champion Artesia Bulldogs, as well and Gadsden and Roswell, both of which advanced to the final four in last year’s Class 5A postseason.
“I feel like there’s pretty good parity in the districts now,” Howell said. “There’s some balance in there. There’s not just one team and then the rest. I feel like if you’re not in the top three, you’re probably not going to deserve to go the postseason anyway. There are going to be solid teams in both districts.”
The Panthers will open their season on familiar territory on Friday night at Hutchison Stadium when they face crosstown rival Farmington. This will be the 27th meeting between the two teams since the year 2000. After 26 contests, PVHS leads the Scorps, 14-12. Surprisingly, games have not been that close with only five of those contests ending with one-score differences.
“The in-town rivalry is good for the kids, they’re always going to be ready to play that game, and you pretty much throw records out the window,” Howell said. “Now it’s the first game of the year, so everybody’s going to come together to see what both teams have and give us a barometer of what’s to come.”
As for other teams in the District 1-5A slate, Miyamura is coming off a 4-6 season last year and have a lot to replace at the skill positions. but they return enough size and experience up front to remain competitive. The new district alignment does them no real favors and the Patriots will need its skill players to develop quickly.
Capital High brings back a solid defense which includes sophomores Emmanuel Portillo, Michael Martinez, Anthony Montoya and Maxx Kelley, all of whom appeared in varsity games as freshmen.
Capital intercepted 12 passes, recovered 10 fumbles and forced 13 during the season on their way to a 4-6 record.
Joshua Grine contributed to this report. For more information about NMPreps.com, check out the website.