LOVINGTON FOOTBALL RETURNS TO CLASS 4A
For most New Mexico students, the return to school means new classes, new teachers and the start of another school year. For the Lovington Wildcats, it means a return to familiar territory.
After spending the past two seasons competing in Class 5A, Lovington is back in Class 4A — a classification where the Wildcats have enjoyed plenty of success, including state championships in 2021 and 2023. “It’s a little bittersweet, to be honest,” said Lovington head coach Josh Bailey. “When we were previously in 4A, we competed at a high level and won some championships. We wanted to be the first Lovington team in school history to win a 5A championship, and I’m proud of the effort.”
While the classification may be familiar, this year’s Wildcats will look considerably different. Lovington graduated more than 20 seniors from last year’s team and enters the season with just four returning starters on each side of the football. “We don’t have a lot of returners,” Bailey said. “We have some experience on the offensive and defensive side of the line. We call them ‘The Hogs,’ and we feel like those guys are going to be a huge strength of our football team.”
Leading that group is senior Jaden Garcia, a two-way lineman who has been on the varsity since his freshman season. “I think he played in every play in our championship game against Portales three years ago,” Bailey said.
Senior Daemyn Leyva is another key member of the group. Leyva saw significant playing time last season at defensive tackle and offensive guard and will once again be counted on to provide experience and physicality up front.
That physicality could become a defining characteristic of the Wildcats. “We want to be the most physical team we see,” Bailey said. “We want to dominate up front.”
The Wildcats will have plenty of new faces at the skill positions. Junior Jeremiah Caballero, sophomore Aidan Ortiz and junior Justin White will form a stable of running backs, while the receiving corps has grown stronger throughout the summer.
Senior Justin Allen, who played quarterback for Lovington last season, is expected to see most of his time at receiver this year. Seniors Lzhrion “LZ” Vaughn and JoJo Perez will also contribute to the group, with Perez bringing additional athleticism from the basketball court.
At quarterback, junior Kylan Spencer and sophomore Miguel Perez will compete for the starting job. Lovington also added a couple of transfers from Hobbs. Senior Amryn Wheeler will contribute at tight end and defensive end, while senior Edgar Zubia joins the secondary. Junior Adhyx Wheeler will also be part of the defensive backfield.
The biggest question mark defensively may come at linebacker. “Linebacker is our least experienced position on the entire field,” Bailey said. “We graduated five senior linebackers last year.”
Despite the youth and inexperience, Bailey believes Lovington’s return to Class 4A could work to the Wildcats’ advantage. One of the biggest differences he sees is the prevalence of two-way players. “The physical demand on a week-to-week basis is the area that we hope will play to our favor a lot more than it did at the 5A level,” Bailey said. “There are a lot of teams that have guys play both ways at the 4A level, and that’s not common in 5A.”
Lovington was one of those teams in Class 5A. “We were one of very few teams that had a majority of guys play both ways,” Bailey said. “Toward the end of football games, that definitely matters.”
The Wildcats won’t ease into their return to Class 4A. They open the season against Class 5A Goddard and will face another major challenge in Week 3 when they take on Class 6A opponent Carlsbad. For a young Lovington team, those games should provide an early test. But if the Wildcats can establish the physical identity their coach is looking for, they may find that their return to Class 4A feels more like a homecoming than a rebuilding project.
The classification is familiar. The roster is not. And Lovington is ready to find out what this new group can become.
