Back To It: Nanez scores six, Storm post 67 to return to title game

RIO RANCHO — Earlier this week, head coach Ken Stevens talked about how this is a different Hobbs team than the Storm have faced off against in their playoff past.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, this is a different Cleveland team as well: They have Evan Nanez.

Behind the sophomore receiver’s six-touchdown afternoon, No. 2 Cleveland (11-1) defeated No. 3 Hobbs (9-3) in a shortened 67-16 victory enroute to their seventh straight 6A title game appearance.

“We just had a good game plan,” Nanez said. “We knew what they were doing. We kind of got anything we wanted; any route was open with us.”

Nanez took anything he wanted and then some, cashing in four receiving touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and a kickoff return score in his signature semi-final outing.

“The kid is incredible,” Cleveland quarterback Jordan Hatch said. “He’s just a crazy athlete, so he makes my job easier, he makes my stats look better. I love him for that.”

Saturday’s offensive barrage marks the first time the Storm have posted 60 or more points in a game since 2023, spoiling the party of Hobbs’ first semifinal since 1981.

But while the offense ended on a high note, the afternoon did not open that way. Hobbs threw some early adversity at the Storm, holding them to three points and intercepting Hatch in the first quarter.

“I think that’s kind of something we have to work on, coming out sharper and faster,” Hatch said. “Me personally, too. I threw a pick on a basic route. They kind of dropped a nickel deep, and I just didn’t see it. There’s just stuff we have to fine-tune like that.”

Cleveland’s defense picked up the slack for the slow-to-start offensive unit. The number “six” proved to be a lucky one on both sides of the ball, with the Storm forcing six turnovers in a season-high outing.

“I think we pick up at the end of the year when we’re supposed to,” Cleveland linebacker Troy Logan, who forced a fumble in the win, said about his defense. “ I feel like there are a lot of teams that play their best during the season, and then they kind of fall off in the playoffs, but we progressively get better every single weekend, and I think that showed today.”

It was only a matter of time before Hatch and Co. turned up the heat, putting up 28 points in the second quarter alone.

While many fans thought that would be enough to call it, the true dagger came in the middle of the third quarter. After a broken play allowed Hobbs to go 60 yards for a score, Nanez answered the Eagles’ drive with a 100-yard touchdown kickoff return.

“I was coming one way, saw a hole open up, and then two people had to cut back,” Nanez said. “I started getting tired at the end but had to run through it.”

Fans were talking about the championship matchup before the fourth quarter even began. Some of that is likely due to Cleveland’s eagerness to get a second chance at the one blemish on their record: The Las Cruces Bulldawgs.

“Everybody says not to look ahead on your schedule, but we’ve had this one marked since the first game happened,” Logan said. “We knew that this was what it was going to come down to.”

Cleveland and Las Cruces will battle for the 6A State Championship, Nov. 29, at Lightning Bolt Stadium.

“We were all kind of hoping we would have the chance to play them again, because I feel like, as a team, we’re just so much better now than we were then,” Hatch said. “So I’m excited to get our ‘get back.’”