James Yodice: Prep football: James Yodice's Games to Watch, Week 8 (Oct. 6-8)
Oct. 1—1. Centennial (4-1, 1-0 in 3/4-6A) at Hobbs (6-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. Friday: Mammoth showdown here between the second-ranked Hawks and fourth-ranked Eagles; you'd have to believe the winner is likely to go on and win this district, and just as crucially, both these teams are firmly in the hunt for a top-4 seed in the playoffs.
2. Bloomfield (6-0) at Silver (5-1), 7 p.m. Friday: So much to love about this 4A clash of titans: No. 1-ranked Bloomfield averages over 45 points a game, while the Colts, ranked No. 3, feature a defense that has only given up 30 points the entire season.
3. Cibola (6-0, 1-0 in 1-6A) at Volcano Vista (5-2, 0-1), Nusenda Community Stadium, 7 p.m. Friday: Outstanding matchup in terms of the 6A rankings — Hawks are fifth, Cougars sixth — not to mention one of the metro area's most heated rivalry games, plus a pair of top-flight QBs in Aden Chavez and Elliot Paskett-Bell.
4. Eunice (5-1, 1-0 in 4-2A) at Jal (7-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. Friday: In the state's smallest 11-Man classification, it does not get any better than a meeting of the state's top two ranked teams. No. 1 Jal is the biggest threat this season to end Eunice's recent strangehold in Class 2A; this game should reveal the legitimacy of that threat.
5. Farmington (2-4, 0-0 in 2-6A) at West Mesa (3-3, 1-0), Community Stadium, 7 p.m. Thursday: It is not an overstatement to call this a game with playoff-level importance for the Mustangs. If West Mesa manages to beat both Sandia and Farmington in this district, to me, that would practically cement West Mesa's entry into November's playoffs.
