Grand Finale: A farewell to Storm football's dominant 2026 class

RIO RANCHO — “Senior year, I didn’t want to miss out,” Cleveland Storm running back Samuel Bustillos said about coming back from injury this season.

Miss out, he did not.

Bustillos and the Cleveland senior class rode off into the sunset on Saturday afternoon, capturing the school’s seventh state title in a 35-28 championship victory over Las Cruces.

The victory not only completes a successful title defense of their 2024 championship, but also puts the Class of 2026 in an exclusive tier, witnessing three state titles through their time in the football program.

This includes titles in 2022, 2024 and 2025 on top of a semifinal finish in 2023. A majority of this year’s senior class was not on that 2022 championship team. Who was? Freshman backup quarterback Jordan Hatch, who now, three years later, has his second title as a starting quarterback.

“It’s a legacy; it’s a tradition,” Hatch said after the game.

Hatch is a likely candidate in the race for New Mexico Player of the Year, but in this game, it was the senior tailback who stole the show.

Bustillos recorded over 200 yards rushing for the first time in his career, scoring two touchdowns and outshining arguably the best running back in the state, LC’s Danny Amaro.

Bustillos missed the first matchup against Las Cruces in September, catching the Bulldawgs and even himself off guard with a performance like this.

“Not at all, man.” Bustillos said. “I’m beyond blessed, all glory to God.”

Not only is this 2026 class sporting a decorated resume, but it is the first class to go through the program with Robert Garza as the varsity head coach for all four years.

“We’re just happy for these kids. We know what they do on a daily basis, and it’s not easy, but their hard work paid off today,” Garza said.

Across the back-to-back championship seasons headlined by this class, the Storm went a combined 24-2 with a 10-0 record in district play. Cleveland scored 50 or more points 11 times, along with seven shutouts on defense.

“Doing this (winning championships) year in and year out,” said Cleveland senior safety Collin Joyner, “it’s kind of the standard now, but it is always a great feeling.”

2025’s title makes it seven for Cleveland football, on the cusp of cracking the top-10 on the most titles list across the state. For a school that opened in 2009 to be sharing that list with those who have been playing since 1950, “impressive” would be putting it lightly.

“It feels great knowing we protected the tradition, like the teams before us did,” senior tight end Noah Escudero said.

Next up for these seniors: the collegiate level. Cleveland already has a handful of college commits on the roster, including linemen Moses Sparks, headed to Utah, while receiver Jacob Maldonado and defensive end Elijah Richards plan to become Lobos next year. This may be just the beginning of the list, with recruitment ramping up with the offseason now underway.

A mass exodus of senior talent is coming, but has that stopped Cleveland before? This well-oiled machine of a high school program does not beg the question of what is next for the Storm, but rather what the other schools are preparing to do to try and stop them.

Coach Garza and the Storm will aim for a three-peat and title No. 8 in 2026.