Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales receives No. 2 seed in 4A; Clovis, Texico, Tucumcari will all travel in first round
Whoever stayed up late didn’t see too many surprises in prep football playoff pairings, as Clovis, Portales, Texico and Tucumcari high schools all made its respective 12-team brackets.
Portales is in the best position of them all, taking the second seed in Class 4A behind St. Michael’s, which handed the Rams (9-1) their only defeat of the season in Santa Fe, 21-20. A rematch would be on the road, as the Rams hosted the Horsemen in last year’s semifinals.
The Clovis Wildcats ended up as the ninth seed in Class 6A, just as coach Cal Fullerton figured. Clovis (5-5) will go on the road to face Atrisco Heritage in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game. The game will be played Friday at 7 p.m. at Nusenda Community Stadium in Albuquerque. The winner faces top-seeded Manzano the followng weekend.
“I kind of figured (Friday) night that Atrisco deserved to jump us,” Fullerton said. “They’re 7-3 and a district champ. That puts you over a fourth-place team, no matter how good the district is.”
In Class 3A, Texico took the 10th seed and will face Dexter, with the winner traveling to second-seeded Capitan. Tucumcari is the 11th seed, and will face Tularosa for the right to visit third-seeded Santa Rosa in the second round.
The top four seeds in each classification receive a first-round bye and home field advantage in the second round. The higher seed hosts in the first round. Semifinals and state championships are determined by playoff history. The previous host the last time the teams played in a semifinal or title game is the visitor in this year’s matchup. If there is no semifinal or title game history, the higher seed hosts.
The following are the pairings for each class:
Class 6A
No. 1 Manzano vs. No. 8 Atrisco Heritage/No. 9 Clovis
No. 2 La Cueva vs. No. 7 Eldorado/No. 10 West Mesa
No. 3 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Hobbs/No. 11 Piedra Vista
No. 4 Las Cruces vs. No. 5 Rio Rancho/No. 12 Centennial
Class 4A
No. 1 St. Michael’s vs. No. 8 Hatch Valley/No. 9 Shiprock
No. 2 Portales vs. No. 7 Taos/No. 10 Hope Christian
No. 3 Robertson vs. No. 6 West Las Vegas/No. 11 Silver
No. 4 Ruidoso vs. No. 5 Moriarty/No. 12 Socorro
Class 3A
No. 1 Eunice vs. No. 8 Zuni/No. 9 Newcomb
No. 2 Capitan vs. No. 7 Dexter/No. 10 Texico
No. 3 Santa Rosa vs. No. 6 Tularosa/No. 11 Tucumcari
No. 4 Estancia vs. No. 5 Raton/No. 12 Cuba
