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Prep Football
WEEK 1
Thursday, Aug. 20
*
St. Pius at West Mesa, Community, 7 p.m.
*
Cibola at Sandia, Wilson, 7 p.m.
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Rio Grande at Highland, Milne, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 21
*
Centennial at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
*
Las Cruces at Rio Rancho, 7 p.m.
*
Eldorado at La Cueva, Wilson, 7 p.m.
*
Volcano Vista at Atrisco Heritage, Community, 7 p.m.
*
Los Lunas at Mayfield, Field of Dreams, 7 p.m.
*
Valley at Albuquerque High, Milne, 7 p.m.
*
Bernalillo at Belen, 7 p.m.
*
Hope Christian at Gallup, 7 p.m.
*
Del Norte at Valencia, 6 p.m.
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Moriarty at Thoreau, 7 p.m.
*
Silver at Legacy Academy, at Bernalillo HS, 7 p.m.
*
Menaul at Mesilla Valley, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 22
*
Manzano at Albuquerque Academy, 11 a.m.
For the full 2026 schedule, check abqjournal.com or click here.
The start of a fresh two-year realignment/classification cycle has brought with it the usual amount of new prep football matchups and unique district rivalries.
The 2026 season, for example, will see New Mexico’s two most prodigious powers, Cleveland and La Cueva, as district partners for the first time. As a side note, La Cueva and Eldorado are NOT district partners for the first time since anyone can remember.
Class 2A powerhouse Texico will be making an extremely rare appearance in the metro area this upcoming season. Albuquerque Academy’s still relatively fresh experiment of staging one home night game per season takes on added heft this year since that game is scheduled the final Friday night of the regular season, on Oct. 30.
The biggest scheduling change is that Classes 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A are now composed of two giant districts. It is eight/eight in 6A and 5A, nine/seven in 4A and nine/eight in 3A.
Class 6A dropped from 21 members to 16 for the next two seasons.
Here is a metro-centric rundown of top matchups to watch in the regular season:
WEEK 1: The season opens on Thursday, Aug. 20, with St. Pius-West Mesa at Nusenda Community Stadium, Cibola-Sandia at Wilson and Rio Grande-Highland at Milne.
The Cibola-Sandia game will attract added attention what with the Matadors having added several high-profile transfers in the offseason.
The clear-cut Game of the Week is Friday’s Centennial-Cleveland showdown in Rio Rancho. Class 6A finalist Las Cruces also is in the Field of Vision, as the Bulldawgs face Rio Rancho.
Eldorado-La Cueva is a Week 1 contest, as well, and that game serving as a season opener is just plain weird.
Los Lunas and new coach Stephen Johnston, who was at Manzano, open at the Field of Dreams against Mayfield.
Legacy Academy, which has arrived as a 2A stronghold, opens at home (sort of) in Week 1 against Silver, at Bernalillo High’s field.
WEEK 2: Legacy-Hope Christian on Thursday at Community is a terrific pairing to get Week 2 going.
Friday night highlights include Volcano Vista-Cibola – Cibola is no longer a 6A program; the Cougars are now in Class 5A – and Los Lunas visiting Rio Rancho.
La Cueva heads out of state to face Palmer Ridge, Colorado, and St. Pius is going even further outside New Mexico’s borders, for a game at Holtville, California, a town located between San Diego and Yuma, Arizona.
WEEK 3: La Cueva-Volcano Vista at Community is a dynamite game on Friday as the schedule shifts into September.
Rio Rancho ventures to Wool Bowl to play Roswell High in an intriguing cross-classification matchup on that Week 3 Friday night.
Los Alamos and star running back Jordan Herrera make an appearance in the metro area, as the Hilltoppers play at Belen.
The unusual bit of all this? Virtually everyone’s nondistrict schedule will be completed before Labor Day.
WEEK 4: Miyamura at Cibola on Thursday is an example of an unusual-looking matchup that comes with the change in realignment.
We’re already getting going with district games, such as Cleveland at Farmington, Clovis at Volcano Vista and Hope Christian at Ruidoso.
Two-time defending 4A state champion Bloomfield makes its first visit to the metro area here in Week 4, as the Bobcats take on Manzano.
WEEK 5: Albuquerque Academy and St. Pius kick off Week 5 at Community Stadium, and it’s a strong slate of games.
None are larger than Cleveland-La Cueva at Wilson Stadium on Friday, Sept. 18. Hobbs also is in town that night, facing Eldorado at Community Stadium as Hobbs makes a rare regular-season journey into Albuquerque.
Bernalillo faces a challenging road trip at Bloomfield. Same with Valencia, which has a roadie in Dexter.
Texico, led by the fantastic junior Cross Figg, is here, too, in Bernalillo to play Legacy Academy.
WEEK 6: Eldorado has a short week, and the Eagles are at the FOD to play Las Cruces on Thursday night, and Los Alamos plays Highland at Milne.
Centennial returns to the metro area on Saturday afternoon for a key district matchup against Volcano Vista at Community. Portales plays at St. Pius at Wilson, also on Saturday.
Friday features a Valencia County matchup between Valencia and Belen.
WEEK 7: Rio Rancho and La Cueva hook up at Wilson Stadium to highlight the Friday night schedule. Seven of the metro’s 25 football-playing schools have their bye in Week 7.
Bloomfield (Del Norte) and New Mexico Military Institute (Hope) will be in the metro area on Friday, as will Portales, in Belen.
Last year’s 8-Man state champ, Fort Sumner/House (Foxes big man Aaron Torres has a D-1 offer from the Lobos), has a road trip at Menaul on Friday night.
Saturday, Cleveland is at Wilson Stadium to face Sandia in what could – and should – be an important league matchup.
WEEK 8: Plenty of interesting games to be found here, including Sandia-Rio Rancho on Friday on the Rams’ field.
Also Friday, Carlsbad and star linebacker Colton McKibben, who has already committed to UCLA, are at Wilson Stadium to take on Eldorado.
Also Friday, Volcano Vista has the long bus ride to Hobbs, and Los Lunas goes to Los Alamos in a key District 1-5A contest. Hope at Moriarty is equally vital in 2-3A as the Pintos drop from 4A to 3A this year.
WEEK 9: Farmington at La Cueva is part of the Thursday night schedule, but it’s Las Cruces at Volcano Vista on Friday that is the eye-grabber in Week 9.
Valencia and Academy meet at 3 p.m. Friday as the Chargers prepare for for their humongous cross country meet the following morning, hence the unusual mid-afternoon kickoff on a Friday.
Silver at Hope, at Wilson, is a Saturday afternoon matchup. So is Sandia-Atrisco Heritage, which takes on some added interest in light of several Jaguars leaving AHA for Sandia under the new open transfer rule.
WEEK 10: Los Lunas and Cibola on Thursday night at Community Stadium is a game that could determine the District 1-5A champion.
There is a huge game Friday at Wilson, with Centennial playing Eldorado in a rare meeting between the two schools.
Highland is at home Friday to face Piedra Vista in a game that could have some potential playoff implications. Piedra Vista is one of five schools that dropped from 6A to 5A for this two-season scheduling block, along with Los Lunas, Cibola, Santa Fe and Alamogordo.
WEEK 11: Halloween weekend is the final week of the regular season. Cleveland at Rio Rancho, Eldorado at Volcano Vista and La Cueva-Sandia are the three top matchups on Friday the 30th.
Academy’s night game is here, on Friday versus Belen in 2-4A; the Chargers’ previous home night football games have been much earlier in the season, and non-district in nature. Belen dropped from 5A to 4A for at least the next two seasons.
Valley, formerly a 5A program now in the 4A ranks, has a daunting final game, in Bloomfield.
Lovington’s only trip north of the regular season has the Wildcats in a sensational Halloween afternoon finale Saturday at Community Stadium against St. Pius. The Wildcats, like Belen and Valley, dropped from 5A to 4A for 2026 and 2027.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @JamesDYodice.
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WEEK 1
Thursday, Aug. 20
*
St. Pius at West Mesa, Community, 7 p.m.
*
Cibola at Sandia, Wilson, 7 p.m.
*
Rio Grande at Highland, Milne, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 21
*
Centennial at Cleveland, 7 p.m.
*
Las Cruces at Rio Rancho, 7 p.m.
*
Eldorado at La Cueva, Wilson, 7 p.m.
*
Volcano Vista at Atrisco Heritage, Community, 7 p.m.
*
Los Lunas at Mayfield, Field of Dreams, 7 p.m.
*
Valley at Albuquerque High, Milne, 7 p.m.
*
Bernalillo at Belen, 7 p.m.
*
Hope Christian at Gallup, 7 p.m.
*
Del Norte at Valencia, 6 p.m.
*
Moriarty at Thoreau, 7 p.m.
*
Silver at Legacy Academy, at Bernalillo HS, 7 p.m.
*
Menaul at Mesilla Valley, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 22
*
Manzano at Albuquerque Academy, 11 a.m.
For the full 2026 schedule, check abqjournal.com or click here.
The start of a fresh two-year realignment/classification cycle has brought with it the usual amount of new prep football matchups and unique district rivalries.
The 2026 season, for example, will see New Mexico’s two most prodigious powers, Cleveland and La Cueva, as district partners for the first time. As a side note, La Cueva and Eldorado are NOT district partners for the first time since anyone can remember.
Class 2A powerhouse Texico will be making an extremely rare appearance in the metro area this upcoming season. Albuquerque Academy’s still relatively fresh experiment of staging one home night game per season takes on added heft this year since that game is scheduled the final Friday night of the regular season, on Oct. 30.
The biggest scheduling change is that Classes 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A are now composed of two giant districts. It is eight/eight in 6A and 5A, nine/seven in 4A and nine/eight in 3A.
Class 6A dropped from 21 members to 16 for the next two seasons.
Here is a metro-centric rundown of top matchups to watch in the regular season:
WEEK 1: The season opens on Thursday, Aug. 20, with St. Pius-West Mesa at Nusenda Community Stadium, Cibola-Sandia at Wilson and Rio Grande-Highland at Milne.
The Cibola-Sandia game will attract added attention what with the Matadors having added several high-profile transfers in the offseason.
The clear-cut Game of the Week is Friday’s Centennial-Cleveland showdown in Rio Rancho. Class 6A finalist Las Cruces also is in the Field of Vision, as the Bulldawgs face Rio Rancho.
Eldorado-La Cueva is a Week 1 contest, as well, and that game serving as a season opener is just plain weird.
Los Lunas and new coach Stephen Johnston, who was at Manzano, open at the Field of Dreams against Mayfield.
Legacy Academy, which has arrived as a 2A stronghold, opens at home (sort of) in Week 1 against Silver, at Bernalillo High’s field.
WEEK 2: Legacy-Hope Christian on Thursday at Community is a terrific pairing to get Week 2 going.
Friday night highlights include Volcano Vista-Cibola – Cibola is no longer a 6A program; the Cougars are now in Class 5A – and Los Lunas visiting Rio Rancho.
La Cueva heads out of state to face Palmer Ridge, Colorado, and St. Pius is going even further outside New Mexico’s borders, for a game at Holtville, California, a town located between San Diego and Yuma, Arizona.
WEEK 3: La Cueva-Volcano Vista at Community is a dynamite game on Friday as the schedule shifts into September.
Rio Rancho ventures to Wool Bowl to play Roswell High in an intriguing cross-classification matchup on that Week 3 Friday night.
Los Alamos and star running back Jordan Herrera make an appearance in the metro area, as the Hilltoppers play at Belen.
The unusual bit of all this? Virtually everyone’s nondistrict schedule will be completed before Labor Day.
WEEK 4: Miyamura at Cibola on Thursday is an example of an unusual-looking matchup that comes with the change in realignment.
We’re already getting going with district games, such as Cleveland at Farmington, Clovis at Volcano Vista and Hope Christian at Ruidoso.
Two-time defending 4A state champion Bloomfield makes its first visit to the metro area here in Week 4, as the Bobcats take on Manzano.
WEEK 5: Albuquerque Academy and St. Pius kick off Week 5 at Community Stadium, and it’s a strong slate of games.
None are larger than Cleveland-La Cueva at Wilson Stadium on Friday, Sept. 18. Hobbs also is in town that night, facing Eldorado at Community Stadium as Hobbs makes a rare regular-season journey into Albuquerque.
Bernalillo faces a challenging road trip at Bloomfield. Same with Valencia, which has a roadie in Dexter.
Texico, led by the fantastic junior Cross Figg, is here, too, in Bernalillo to play Legacy Academy.
WEEK 6: Eldorado has a short week, and the Eagles are at the FOD to play Las Cruces on Thursday night, and Los Alamos plays Highland at Milne.
Centennial returns to the metro area on Saturday afternoon for a key district matchup against Volcano Vista at Community. Portales plays at St. Pius at Wilson, also on Saturday.
Friday features a Valencia County matchup between Valencia and Belen.
WEEK 7: Rio Rancho and La Cueva hook up at Wilson Stadium to highlight the Friday night schedule. Seven of the metro’s 25 football-playing schools have their bye in Week 7.
Bloomfield (Del Norte) and New Mexico Military Institute (Hope) will be in the metro area on Friday, as will Portales, in Belen.
Last year’s 8-Man state champ, Fort Sumner/House (Foxes big man Aaron Torres has a D-1 offer from the Lobos), has a road trip at Menaul on Friday night.
Saturday, Cleveland is at Wilson Stadium to face Sandia in what could – and should – be an important league matchup.
WEEK 8: Plenty of interesting games to be found here, including Sandia-Rio Rancho on Friday on the Rams’ field.
Also Friday, Carlsbad and star linebacker Colton McKibben, who has already committed to UCLA, are at Wilson Stadium to take on Eldorado.
Also Friday, Volcano Vista has the long bus ride to Hobbs, and Los Lunas goes to Los Alamos in a key District 1-5A contest. Hope at Moriarty is equally vital in 2-3A as the Pintos drop from 4A to 3A this year.
WEEK 9: Farmington at La Cueva is part of the Thursday night schedule, but it’s Las Cruces at Volcano Vista on Friday that is the eye-grabber in Week 9.
Valencia and Academy meet at 3 p.m. Friday as the Chargers prepare for for their humongous cross country meet the following morning, hence the unusual mid-afternoon kickoff on a Friday.
Silver at Hope, at Wilson, is a Saturday afternoon matchup. So is Sandia-Atrisco Heritage, which takes on some added interest in light of several Jaguars leaving AHA for Sandia under the new open transfer rule.
WEEK 10: Los Lunas and Cibola on Thursday night at Community Stadium is a game that could determine the District 1-5A champion.
There is a huge game Friday at Wilson, with Centennial playing Eldorado in a rare meeting between the two schools.
Highland is at home Friday to face Piedra Vista in a game that could have some potential playoff implications. Piedra Vista is one of five schools that dropped from 6A to 5A for this two-season scheduling block, along with Los Lunas, Cibola, Santa Fe and Alamogordo.
WEEK 11: Halloween weekend is the final week of the regular season. Cleveland at Rio Rancho, Eldorado at Volcano Vista and La Cueva-Sandia are the three top matchups on Friday the 30th.
Academy’s night game is here, on Friday versus Belen in 2-4A; the Chargers’ previous home night football games have been much earlier in the season, and non-district in nature. Belen dropped from 5A to 4A for at least the next two seasons.
Valley, formerly a 5A program now in the 4A ranks, has a daunting final game, in Bloomfield.
Lovington’s only trip north of the regular season has the Wildcats in a sensational Halloween afternoon finale Saturday at Community Stadium against St. Pius. The Wildcats, like Belen and Valley, dropped from 5A to 4A for 2026 and 2027.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @JamesDYodice.
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