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By Don Eskins The Carlsbad High School Cavemen and the Goddard Rockets face off in Roswell on Friday night, August 28. The Cavemen are still riding high following a season-inaugural 20-13 victory over the Class 5A top-ranked Artesia Bulldogs, while the Rockets hope to etch their names in the win column for the first time since sustaining a disappointing 20-14 opening-season loss to the Class 4A's No. 2 Lovington Wildcats. Action between two of the state's most storied program

Bits & Pieces by Don Eskins Whether sitting in the Artesia Bulldog Bowl bleachers or watching online some 811 miles away in Springfield, Mo., prep football fans had to be impressed by the Carlsbad Cavemen's effort in their 20-13 victory over heavily favored Artesia on Friday night, August 21. In chalking up their first win of 2026, the Cavemen, now in their fourth year under the leadership of CHS head coach Cale Sanders, played with confidence, poise, and maturity. On calls f

By Don Eskins After dropping their first two volleyball games of the new season to Las Cruces Schools (the Centennial Hawks 0-3 and the Mayfield Trojans 0-3) on Friday and Saturday, August 21-22, the Cavegirls rallied to register their first win of the season with a tough-fought 3-2 victory over the Artesia Bulldogs. The game took place in the Cavern City on Tuesday night, August 25. Since their opening 0-3 loss to Centennial, the Cavegirls have steadily shown promise for a c

By Don Eskins Playing solidly on both sides of the football has been a goal Cale Sanders has been pursuing since his selection as Carlsbad's new head football coach in 2022. On Friday night, August 21, in Artesia, against the Class 5A's No. 1 ranked Bulldogs, the Cavemen looked like they were well on their way to doing just that. The Cavemen offense, with 315 total yards against the Bulldogs, 220 of it on the ground, looked im

By Don Eskins On Saturday, August 29, the CHS cross country program will host the first-ever Jesus Fierro Invitational. Scheduled to get underway on Saturday at 9 a.m., the Invitational will take place at Alta Vista Junior High School. Ten teams will compete in both boys' and girls' varsity competition. Fierro, a longtime educator and coach in the Carlsbad Municipal School System, spent several years coaching both track and cross country at CHS. During his tenure as head of t

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High's Cavemen soccer team battled a very tough Las Cruces Mayfield Trojan squad to a 0-0 tie on Friday, August 21, and then fell victim to the Centennial Hawks 2-0 on Saturday, August 22. Both games took place in the Cavern City. The two losses dropped Cavemen head coach Aaron Babcock's team to 0-2-1 on the year. Although coming up short for wins against both of the City of Crosses-based teams, Babcock said his kids continue to show improvement. "After

By Don Eskins They didn’t get the win they were looking for in Lovington on Tuesday afternoon, August 18, but they didn’t get a loss either. What the Carlsbad Cavegirl soccer team did get was a 3-3 tie and a good start on the 2026 season. “After so much practicing during the off-season and this summer, it was really great to finally get to watch these girls compete in a match that had some meaning,” said Cavegirl head coach Misty Long. “The most important thing about our girl

By Don Eskins The Santa Teresa Desert Warriors spoiled the Carlsbad Cavemen soccer team’s 2026 season opener in Santa Teresa on Monday, August 17. The Warriors, 18-4 in 2025, scored one goal in the first half and two more in the second to close out CHS’s hopes for a victory, 3-0. (MaxPreps stats) However, first-year head coach Aaron Babcock, who inherited a team that posted a 3-15 record in 2025, remained optimistic about the future of his charges. “It was a better game than

By Don Eskins The Carlsbad Cavemen and Artesia Bulldogs, on a collision course since the end of the 2025 prep gridiron season, will clash under the Friday Night Lights of the Bulldog Bowl on August 21 in the City of Champions. The battle, historically the second-oldest prep football game in the Land of Enchantment, better known as the Eddy County War, will serve as both teams’ 2026 season opener. Oddsmakers, once again, are making the host Bulldogs a heavy favorite. The Dogs

By Don Eskins When the Cavemen soccer team storms the field against the Santa Teresa Desert Warriors on Monday, August 17, in Santa Teresa, they’ll be under the leadership of new head coach Aaron Babcock. Babcock, who inherits a team that posted a record of 3-15 last year, has been teaching English I and U.S. History at CHS for the past three years. Prior to coming to the Cavern City, he enjoyed 25 years of successful coaching and teaching in Texas. Despite Carlsbad’s showing

By Don Eskins The Cavemen offense rode the arm of junior quarterback Marley Munoz, the hands of senior wide receiver Robert Castenada, and the legs of junior running back Brock Wright all the way to the New Mexico state playoff quarterfinals in 2025. Overall, CHS posted a record of 6-6, the offense put up 35 points against the highly regarded Rio Rancho Rams in a 35-13 victory during the first round of state tournament play, and they closed out the year as the Class 6A’s eigh