Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

The Roswell Coyotes scored early against the Artesia Bulldogs Saturday at the Wool Bowl in Roswell and never looked back denying Artesia its 33rd state title and a three-peat in New Mexico’s 5A class winning 41-22.

The victory avenged a 35-21 loss in 2023 at the Bulldog Bowl in Artesia.

The Bulldogs last three-peat came in 1996-97-98.

Coyotes quarterback Jacob Palomino set the tone on Roswell’s opening drive of the first quarter scoring on a 62-yard run.

Francisco Guzman booted the extra point kick with 10:46 left in the opening period.

Seconds later Bulldog quarterback Izac Cazares answered Palmino’s score, as he ran for an 80-yard touchdown. The extra point kick was blocked as the Coyotes led 7-6.

Palomino scored his second touchdown of the quarter with under seven minutes left to play. Guzman kicked the extra point as Roswell exteneded the lead 14-7.

The Bulldogs could not find any offensive footing on its second drive of the first quarter. Fate though appeared to be on Artesia’s side as the Palomino fumbled on the Coyotes third drive of the period.

Cazares capped off a nine play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Artesia’s 2-point conversion failed as Roswell held on to a 14-12 lead.

In the second quarter, the sold-out crowd felt the momentum shifting to Roswell’s favor as the Coyotes capped off a 17-play drive, as Palomino struck 6-foot-3 wide reciever Madison Greathouse with a 5-yard pass. Guzman’s extra point kick was good as Roswell led 21-12 with 6:26 left before halftime.

More than two minutes later, Artesia’s Corbyn Dominguez booted a 32-yard field goal as the lead narrowed to 21-15.

Roswell widened the lead again as Palomino scored on a 2-yard run with 33 seconds left before halftime. The extra point was good as the lead was 28-15.

The Coyotes put the game away for good in the second half securing its first state title since 2019.

Artesia’s final touchdown of the game came with 7:01 left in the third quarter as senior running back Frankie Galindo caught at 40-yard pass.

Dominguez kicked the extra point for the Bulldogs.

Roswell head coach Jeff Lynn said the win was good for not only Roswell High School, but the community as a whole which is still recovering from flood damage suffered during an October storm.

“I’m just happy for these kids, everything they’ve overcome. I’m just super proud of our community and our school,” he said after the game as players, the parents and the community at large celebrated.

“I’m just super happy for these kids, that’s what its all about. For them to finish on top, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Bulldog head coach Jeremy Maupin said Artesia played good at times in the loss. But lacked consistency.

“We just need to be more consistent and wish we had another shot at them. We don’t have it this year, so we’ll have to wait another year,” he said after the Bulldogs accepted the second-place trophy.

Maupin said injuries to starting quarterback Izac Cazares and running back Bryce Parra did not help Artesia’s cause in the second half.

He said he was proud of the seniors as 34 of them played their final game in a Bulldog uniform, including Galindo.

After the game, Galindo said he wanted to motivate the team to another victory.

“I just never thought to give up. I just wanted to go 110 percent, I just wanted to keep on driving and I wanted to keep teammates up even thought their heads were down. I always wanted to be the positive person and leader of this group and bring everyone up and try to get something going, a spark,” he said.

Galindo thanked the coaches and the community for its support during his time in a Bulldog uniform.

Artesia wrapped the 2024 season with a 9-4 record and Roswell finished 11-1.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or via email at msmith@currentargus.com.

By: Artesia Daily News Staff

In the glow of the warmth of Thanksgiving, Artesia lies wrapped securely in the embrace of a bear hug, courtesy of a Bulldog.

It may be premature, on the eve of a state championship football game, but we all feel like champions. And besides, we’ve been here before.

The Artesia High School Bulldogs, 9-3 overall and 6-1 against District 5A opponents, will take on archrival Roswell (10-1, 6-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Roswell.

The game will be a rematch of last year’s state championship clash, which the Bulldogs won 35-21. In a rivalry that dates back to 1909, that game marked the first time Artesia and Roswell had ever met in a state title game.

This year, Roswell is the top-ranked team in District 5A and Artesia is No. 2. The teams met in October and Roswell won 44-40.

That’s the past. Roswell knows, as all of New Mexico knows, that if you’re playing Artesia, you’d better bring your A game. We’ve not only been here before, we’ve won before.

A total of 37 times, we’ve waited anxiously before a state title game. Starting in 1957, we’ve won 32 of those games. That’s more state championships than any high school in the country – and we’ve won the last two.

It’s appropriate we not only wish the team well, but also be thankful for the pride this football program has given us. We have won three consecutive championships three times: 1974-75-76;1992-93-94; and 1996-97-98.

With another “threepeat” on the table Saturday, this is a sports program that deserves our gratitude.

We enjoy great teams playing in what is perhaps the best high school stadium in the country – The Bulldog Bowl. We thank our philanthropists for that. Another reason for gratitude.

Jeremy Maupin won his first state title as head coach last year. Fingers crossed he adds another on Saturday. He’s built a hard-hitting team defensively with an offense that puts basketball-type scores on the board. The team has scored 50 points or more six times this year. The Bulldogs exploded for 70 points against Centennial and 64 against Deming.

Three players have dominated the offense: quarterback Izac Cazares, running back Frankie Galindo and receiver Ethan Conn. They are a powerful combination and while it might be a stretch, we could say they conjure up the image of one of sportswriting’s åmost powerful opening lines:

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.”

That was written by the famed Grantland Rice for the New York Herald Tribune about a 13-7 Notre Dame victory over Army. It was October 18,1924.

Our “horsemen” have impressive statistics. Galindo has 19 touchdowns this season. Conn has 17 TDs and Cazares has 15 rushing touchdowns along with 38 touchdown passes. All are seniors. So are outside linebacker Grant Johnson, who averages 6.3 tackles per game, and Ayden Huffman, an inside linebacker averaging 5.8 tackles per game. Senior defensive end Kaden Grantham has logged 5 sacks per game, followed by junior defensive end Marco Soto Jr. with 4. Two juniors on defense, Charlie Campbell and Edel Villa, each have 4 interceptions on the season.

Artesia football is mysteriously like Thanksgiving. The menu and food are the same each year, but we never tire of the joy they bring. We remain truly grateful.

Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

Jesus Trujillo, a former school teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor, had no idea his daughter Bailey was memorizing speeches delivered by his students when she was only 3 years old.

Today, more than a dozen years later, Trujillo is celebrating Bailey’s national award for mastering just such a speech.

Now a 16-year-old sophomore at Artesia High School, Bailey captured first place in the FFA Creed Leadership Development Event speech competition during last month’s national FFA convention in Indianapolis.

The competition required her to speak in front of a panel of judges and a live audience, reciting the FFA Creed from memory and answering questions about it. The FFA Creed is a 258-word summary of the organization’s basic values and beliefs about FFA membership, agriculture, citizenship and patriotism.

Jesus Trujillo attended Artesia High in the 1990s and served as FFA state president in 1994. He taught agriculture and worked with the FFA chapter in Hagerman, a small rural community 16 miles north of Artesia, for 15 years before moving back to Artesia with wife Tabatha and children Bailey and Devon. Jesus works at his family’s business, RT Trucking.

He said the creed competition is considered the top event for FFA members in grades seven through nine.

“Every kid has to learn, recite or compete,” he said.

The FFA says the competition is designed to help participants “learn to communicate in a powerful, organized and professional manner and build self-confidence.”

Bailey still recalls her early start learning the creed and, as things turned out, preparing for the national competition.

“I’ve known the creed since I was three … my dad was an ag teacher and I would listen to his students say it. It’s always been a part of me; it’s just been stuck in my head,” she said.

Hayley Ellet, Artesia High’s FFA sponsor, said learning the nearly century-old creed is a rite of passage for FFA members.

“Every kid that enters into an agricultural education classroom learns the FFA creed,” Ellet said.

But memorizing the creed is just the beginning.

Ellett said Bailey started competing as an eighth grader and qualified for the national competition as a ninth-grader during the 2023-24 school year.

She then had to work her way through a challenging elimination process to qualify as one of four finalists in the national event.

Ellet said the contest started with 49 entrants competing in preliminary rounds that featured seven contestants speaking in four different locations around the convention hotel, the Downtown Indianapolis Marriott.

The field of 49 was cut to 16 and then to four speakers for the final round.

“There are audiences throughout the competition,” Ellet said. “The final round is held in a large convention ballroom.”

The finals were conducted in front of an audience of 200-300 in the ballroom and also livestreamed, she said.

Bailey said the competition was a valuable learning experience.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned … and I’ve shared this with many people … you can do anything you set your mind to do,” she said. “Being able to even walk across the national stage was a huge accomplishment for me. I was going to be grateful no matter what, but to be first was amazing.”

Her dad said Bailey’s accomplishment reaffirmed his long-held belief in the value of Future Farmers of America.

As a teacher and FFA adviser, Jesus Trujillo said, his goal was to see FFA members make the top eight or even top 16 in any competition.

“To have my daughter do it was even better,” he said. “It’s neat as a parent and teacher to see what FFA can do for these kids.”

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or via email at msmith@currentargus.com.