Hall of Fame Game for CHS

Cavemen vs. Centennial in District Opener

By Don Eskins

After four grueling weeks of gridiron football, the Carlsbad Cavemen will open District 3/6A play on Friday night, September 19, in the Cavern City, and it should be a tough one!

The Cavemen will take on the Centennial Hawks, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A football and statewide.

The Hawks, 3-1 on the year, have defeated No. 6 Artesia, 42-38; No. 30 Atrisco Heritage Academy, 49-6; and most recently, No. 8 Rio Rancho, 42-40. Their lone loss came at the hands of the No. 1-ranked Cleveland Storm 55-42. (All rankings based on MaxPreps statewide poll)

The Cavemen, 2-2 on the season, are ranked 17th statewide and 11th in Class 6A. They’ll be hoping to rebound off last Thursday’s, September 11, 23-7 loss to the Cibola Cougars.

It will be a big night of gridiron play for the Cavemen, who hope to get off the second season, or district play, on the right side of the win-loss column.

CHS Gridiron Leaders

In order for Carlsbad to best the Centennial Hawks, they’ll need big games from quarterback Eloy Lopez or backup QB Marley Munoz, running back Brock Wright, receiver Robert Castenada, and linebacker Colton McKibben.

Eloy Lopez, who sat out last week’s game at Cibola due to an injury, is questionable again this week. On the year, he’s hit 17 of 39 attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown with one interception. Marley Munoz has made good on 19 of 29 attempts for 142 yards and one touchdown.

Brock Wright has been CHS’s offensive punch on the ground. So far, he’s rushed for 398 yards and two touchdowns on 77 carries, an average of 5.17 yards per tote.

Robert Castenada, who leads CHS’s receiving corps, has accumulated 15 catches for 185 yards (an average of 12.3 yards per catch) and two touchdowns.

Defensively, the Cavemen will be looking to Colton McKibben (35 tackles, a tackle for loss, one interception, and one fumble recovery), Ty Young (22 tackles), and Zayland Pesante (21 tackles, two sacks, three TFLs, and one forced fumble) for leadership on the field.

A Look at the Hawks

According to MaxPreps, the Hawks will be led by signal caller R. Laborin. A junior, Laborin has made good on 37 of 65 attempts through four games for 618 yards (an average of 154.5 yards per game) and six touchdowns. He’s thrown two interceptions.

Centennial’s leading rusher is D. Ramirez. A junior, Ramirez has rushed for 651 yards on 66 carries, an average of 9.9 yards per carry. He’s also scored seven touchdowns.

The Hawks’ top receiver is A. Sandoval. Sandoval has hauled in 14 receptions in 2025 for 176 yards, an average of 12.6 yards per catch. He’s credited with one touchdown grab.

2025 Hall of Fame Inductees

Friday night’s game has been designated as CHS’s Hall of Fame game. Spectators will be introduced to this year’s Class of 2025 inductees during a special halftime ceremony. This year’s class of inductees, as always, is a great one.

They are: 1. Brian Hall, Baseball (Class of 2000); David Kowalski, Tennis (Class of 2001); 3. Michael Carriaga, Swimming (Class of 2004); and 4. Lance Carriaga, Swimming (Class of 2006 CHS).

Cavemen 7, Cibola 23

The 2-1 Carlsbad Cavemen, hoping to make it three wins in a row, came up short against the Cibola Cougars, also 2-1, on Thursday night, September 11, in Albuquerque.

Down just 10-7 at the break, CHS gave up touchdowns to the Cougars during the third and fourth periods. Unable to generate any points of their own, they fell to Cibola 23-7.

Caveman running back Brock Wright scored CHS’s only touchdown of the night on a nine-yard pass from quarterback Marley Munoz during the second quarter.

The following are the Cavemen vs. Cibola game stats:

Cavemen @ Cibola

C-men 0 7 0 0 7

Cibola 0 10 7 6 23

ame Stats CHS Cibola

Total Plays 54 52

Total Yards 114 203

Passing Yards 71 123

Rushing Yards 43 80

First Downs 8 9

Turnovers 2 4

Fumbles Lost 2 3

Int. Thrown 0 1

Penalties 2 7

Yards 10 52

Scoring: 2 Qt, TD Brock Wright

9-yd Pass from Marley Munoz

(Lennon Ananins Kick)

Offensive Stats:

Passing: M. Munoz 13-19-71yds.- TD

Rushing: B. Wright 14-37yds; M. Munoz 19-6yds.

Receiving: R. Castenada 6-32 yds; R. Hernandez 3-13yds; J. Harper 2-12yds; B. Wright 1-9-TD; E. Leos 1-5.

Defensive Stats:

C. McKibben 7T-1A-TFL; R. Sanchez 3T-2A-TFL-Int: T. Barta 3T-3A; T. Young 2T-3A; D. Escamilla T; C. Roberson T-3A-Fum. Rec.; S. Cruz T-4A; R. Castenada T; E. Leos T-Fum. Rec.; L. Ananins 4A; A. Venegas 2A; Z. Pesante 2A; I. Gaitan A; I. Rubio A; I. Solorzano A.

Stats by Caveman coach

Charles Millar