La Cueva’s varsity football team is heading south to “take care of business” against 13th-ranked Los Lunas High School in what is expected to be a tough game. La Cueva is ranked second in New Mexico by MaxPreps and first in the 6A District 2/5 standings. Los Lunas is tied for No. 1 alongside Capital and Albuquerque High Schools in 6A District 5 standings.
“It’s a business trip in the sense that our mentality needs to be a workday mentality that we have a job to do down there and we’re going to have to work hard to find a way to win against a good team,” said Brandon Back, head football coach and athletic director for the Bears.
Los Lunas was the Class 5A state champions in 2021 and ranked No. 4 behind La Cueva in the Final NMAA MaxPreps Top 25 for the year. The Tigers have a 2-2 record this year with senior quarterback P. Cieremans leading the team in rushing yards, averaging 77.7 yards per game.
“This Los Lunas team is a championship team,” Back said. “They’ve been to the state championship. They know what it takes to win and to be great. They’re well coached and a very strong team.”
Back said La Cueva is preparing for the away game the same as they prepare for any other game. “Travel doesn’t affect us too much. It’s just more about timing related to our pregame warm up,” adding that being physically ready is key.
“We’re not really focused on the outcome, we’re more focused on the process it takes to have a good outcome,” Back said. “We gotta control the ball, make sure we’re putting ourselves in a good spot and just be physically ready to take on another challenging opponent.”
La Cueva’s away game begins at 7 p.m. in Los Lunas. The NFHS Network shows the game will be played on their website, but chatter on social media suggests some games are not being streamed as NFHS advertises.