PICTURED: From left, Jack Byers, Tootie McNeil, Derrick Warren, Charlie Campbell, Miguel Soto and Marco Soto celebrate their undefeated District 2-AAAAA championship Friday at Bulldog Bowl.
(Photo by Martin Green)
PICTURED: Corbyn Dominguez eyes Mayfield quarterback Xavier Ochoa (10) as he returns an interception 29 yards for a touchdown.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
The word "domination" gets bandied about quite a bit in the world of sports, but anyone would be hard pressed to find a reason not to apply it to the Bulldog football team's season thus far.
Seasons are, of course, a bit strange in this new alignment, where the bulk of the 10-game pre-playoff docket consists of district battles. But the boys in orange spent the start of their 2025 campaign running a gauntlet of three of the best Class 6A has to offer. They won big over rival Carlsbad -- seeded 11th in this year's playoff bracket -- in their season opener on the road, taking the Eddy County War by a final of 48-24. Next up was third-ranked Hobbs in the home opener, where the 'Dogs overcame a halftime deficit to post four touchdowns in the second half while holding the Eagles to two for the 51-41 win. And then came the lone loss Sept. 5 against No. 4 Centennial, a bout the Bulldogs could have taken but came out on the short end of by just four points, 42-38.
Then came the gamut of District 2-AAAAA, a seven-game stretch that also includes seven of the 12 Class 5A squads ranked in this year's state playoffs. And in the second season, one stat alone is sufficient to indicate dominance: 44-12. That's the 'Dogs' point average per game versus their opponents'. Amidst that, a 42-28 win over defending champion Roswell High Oct. 17 at Wool Bowl.
Needless to say, all that remained on Halloween Night at Bulldog Bowl was to tack on the exclamation point. The Bulldogs did just that, defeating Mayfield 51-0 just as the third quarter began.
PICTURED: Jack Byers stretches out to receive a Derrick Warren pass for a 55-yard touchdown.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
Artesia couldn't have done much more in any phase of the game Friday. The offense scored to cap six of its seven possessions, the seventh ending in a field goal. The defense held Mayfield to four punts, two turnovers on downs, and a pick six. Special teams recovered a pooch kick to set up the Bulldogs' fifth touchdown of the night. Through just one half and change, the Bulldogs still managed to rack up 332 yards of offense while holding the Trojans to 70. With that, the 'Dogs put a bark on an undefeated district championship and solidified their top ranking in this year's state playoffs.
Once Artesia depressed the pedal Friday, they wouldn't let up until the final cannon sounded. After forcing a quick three-and-out, the 'Dogs needed just two plays to get on the board: a 28-yard pass from Derrick Warren to Sawyer Whitehead and a four-yard run by Bryce Parra, who burst through Mayfield's final line of defense and extended the ball over the goal line with 9:24 to go in the first. The Orange Crush defense then took the field to secure the point-after, as safety Charlie Campbell handed the ball off to corner Edel Villa for the successful conversion run.
From there, the Crush would sandwich three more punts between a pair of TODs as the offense continued to deliver blow after blow. A 33-yard pass from Warren to Cael Houghtaling set up Artesia's next TD: a one-yard push up the middle by Parra. Back-to-back one-play scoring drives consisted of a 55-yard pass from Warren to Jack Byers -- who made a fingertip catch at the Trojan 21 before maintaining his balance and riding his momentum into the end zone -- and a 49-yard run by Parra, who sprinted untouched through the Mayfield defense, splitting the last two defenders to make it 27-0 with 57 seconds still to go in the first.
PICTURED: Bryce Parra extends the ball over the goal line on a four-yard touchdown run to cap Artesia's first drive of the game.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
The Bulldogs would need just 16 seconds to add to that, scoring on a 19-yard Parra run after Tyler Egeland recovered the kick. The 'Dogs' lone mishap -- a dropped fair-catch attempt on a punt -- set the Trojans up at midfield for their most successful series of the evening. They'd convert once on fourth down en route to the Artesia 18-yard line, but four consecutive incomplete passes ended the threat. The 'Dogs, meanwhile, required just three plays to score from their own red zone, the last of those an 82-yard touchdown between Warren and Byers, who caught the pass near midfield and outran the Mayfield secondary, delivering a stiff-arm to the head of the final man in his vicinity. Artesia would then make it 48-0 at the half when linebacker Corbyn Dominguez intercepted a Xavier Ochoa pass and followed his blockers 29 yards to the house.
The second string took the field for the start of the third quarter, driving from midfield to the Mayfield 26 before Dominguez also delivered the final points of the night on a 38-yard field goal that ended the game by mercy rule with 7:55 to go in the period, 51-0.
Warren was six of eight for 206 yards and two touchdowns in the abbreviated contest, Parra went 6-103 rushing with four scores, and Byers caught both of Warren's TD passes for 137 total yards.
The victory set Artesia's regular-season record at 9-1, and the team will now await the results of this weekend's first round of playoff games to learn who they'll face in the Nov. 14-15 quarterfinal round at Bulldog Bowl. No. 9 Mayfield will travel to No. 8 Highland at 7 p.m. Friday to determine that. Other first-round games include No. 12 Deming vs. No. 5 Goddard at 1 p.m. Saturday at Wool Bowl for the right to take on No. 4 Lovington in the quarters; No. 11 Santa Fe Capital at No. 6 Gadsden at 7 p.m. Friday with the winner taking on No. 3 Los Alamos; and No. 10 Valley at No. 7 Belen at 7 p.m. Friday with second-ranked Roswell High waiting.
PICTURED: Bryce Parra takes the handoff from Derrick Warren prior to scoring from the one.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)
STAT BOX
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
Artesia- Bryce Parra 4-run (Edel Villa run good), 9:24
Artesia- Parra 1-run (Corbyn Dominguez kick good), 4:21
Artesia- Jack Byers 55-pass from Derrick Warren (kick failed), 2:41
Artesia- Parra 49-run (pass failed), :57
Artesia- Parra 19-run (Dominguez kick good), :41
SECOND QUARTER
Artesia- Byers 82-pass from Warren (Dominguez kick good), 8:09
Artesia- Dominguez 29-interception return (Dominguez kick good), 5:40
THIRD QUARTER
Artesia- Dominguez 38-field goal, 7:55
FOURTH QUARTER
Cancelled (Mercy Rule)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Artesia- Parra 6-103; Tyler Egeland 1-6; Ray Ray Cano 1-5; Warren 1-0; Cristian Pando 1-(-1)
Mayfield- #38 3-17; Marcus Castillo 13-16; Xavier Ochoa 3-7; Nathaniel Benavidez 6-4; Keon Thompson 1-2; Ryan Chavez 1-(-5)
PASSING
Artesia- Warren 6-8-206-2-0; Lucas Atkins 1-3-19-0-0; Byers 1-1-(-6)-0-0
Mayfield- Ochoa 2-10-29-0-1; #48 0-1-0-0-0
RECEIVING
Artesia- Byers 2-137; Cael Houghtaling 1-33; Sawyer Whitehead 1-28; Destin Pacheco 1-19; Jett Fuentes 1-7; Trent Egeland 1-1; Warren 1-(-6)
Mayfield- #39 1-15; Israel Cabanas 1-14
TEAM STATISTICS
FIRST DOWNS
Artesia 4; Mayfield 5
RUSHING YARDS
Artesia 10-113; Mayfield 27-41
PASSING YARDS
Artesia 219; Mayfield 29
TOTAL YARDS
Artesia 332; Mayfield 70
PENALTIES
Artesia 3-35; Mayfield 3-25
TURNOVERS
Artesia 1; Mayfield 1
PICTURED: Jack Byers steps into the end zone with an 82-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Warren.
(Photo by Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)