RRHS 'Mob Squad,' Cleveland top '25 student section rankings

RIO RANCHO — Section: A distinct group within a larger body of people or things.

If you attend any high school football games this season, you can usually point out the area where the players’ classmates are cheering them on, better known as “the student section.”

But if you attend any football games in the city of Rio Rancho, you will see two student sections who are redefining the term.

“(Rio Rancho’s) Mob Squad loves to show off their Student Section on Instagram,” Manny Alvarez, owner of the website “Student Section Report,” said. “To the point where it indicates to us that they want to be number one. Cleveland shows off their Student Section, but not as much as Rio Rancho.”

Wait, number one? Are there rankings for student sections?

Indeed, there is, and Rio Rancho and Cleveland are some of the best. To end the 2024 football season, the Rio Rancho Mob Squad took the New Mexico crown, with Cleveland taking third. In the 2025 preseason rankings, the Rams held their top spot with the Storm in fourth.

But what’s the criteria?

“The number of times they show off their student section on social media is the main key. Of course, the size of the Student Section is a factor,” Alvarez said. “The themes, how loud or crazy you get, having props like powder or a fog machine can play a factor, but we know some school districts restrict those, so we don’t grade big on that.”

Move over, NMAA. Alvarez has been ranking student sections since 2015. It all started in Southern California before expanding nationwide.

“I was writing for a website, covering high school sports, and I wrote a featured story on a local student section in Orange County. The story got attention, and other student sections asked me to write about them,” Alvarez said. “The requests kept adding on, and I realized that this has its own audience and needs its own platform. In 2018, I started my own website covering student sections in Southern California. Now, I cover all 50 states and even Canada.”

With the competition growing in New Mexico, the Mob Squad will hold onto their top spot … until it is taken from them.

“It was going to be Rio Rancho in a landslide, but we are noticing more student sections in New Mexico popping in. Deming High School is looking like a student section that may take that top spot from Rio Rancho,” Alvarez said. “I have Cleveland in the Top 5, but there are some student sections that will try to sneak in after a solid opening Friday.”

While the Storm await their home opener and chance to join the action, Cleveland hosted the New Mexico Student Council Central District’s annual back-to-school conference. An event designed to foster school pride and energy, the conference awarded winners and prizes for categories such as best costume and more.

At RRHS, the Mob Squad will follow up their home-opening “Neon Party” from last week with a patriotic theme for their home matchup against Clovis on Friday.

“It’s going to be a fun fall.”