Aztec is located in San Juan County in the northwest part of the state. The community received its name from early Catholic priests, Fathers Francisco Atanosio Dominguez and Francisco Velaz de Escalante, seeking a shorter route from Santa Fe to the missions of California.
In the summer of 1776, they located the Indian ruins nearby and erroneously identified them as having been built by the Aztec Indians. Later scholarship correctly associated the ruins with the Anasazi tribe, though the name of the town remained as it was originally named. It is thought that the ruins themselves date to the 11th to 13th centuries and that the Anasazi were ancestors of the Pueblo tribes that inhabit much of northwest New Mexico today. The town itself was officially established about 100 years later in the late 1800s and was largely an agricultural based economy. Aztec's cumulative record in football since 1950 has been 419-253-13 with a number of those winning seasons having been earned under former head coach Brad Hirsch who went 85-16 in his 8 seasons with the Tigers finishing his tenure in 2011. In that remarkable season, Aztec went 13-0, its only perfect season in history, and won a State Championship in a nip and tuck thriller with Goddard 28-27. This would be only the Tigers' second State Championship, ending a long drought since 1953 despite having reached the big game 12 times previously without success. Aztec's current coach is Matthew Steinfeldt who came to the Tigers after serving as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Colorado's Ft. Lewis College in Durango. Coach Steinfeldt is from football country, growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University graduating in 2000 after being a three year starter on its football team. Steinfeldt went on to earn a Master's degree from Moorehead State in 2004. His other coaching stops included Texas A&M Commerce and Anderson University.
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Lordsburg, New Mexico is the county seat of Hidalgo County which sits in the "Bootheel" area of southwestern New Mexico. Its history includes having been settled by the Mogollon people from AD 150 to AD 1450. Several generations of Indians resided there until the more recent Indian War years of the late 1800s, including the Apaches. Being located on the site of natural springs, it became a natural stopping point for later travelers and settlers, including Mexicans and Anglos arriving from the eastern United States. As were many other towns in the New Mexico, it was established by a railroad company, specifically the Southern Pacific Railway in 1880. The origin of the town's name is not completely clear. Some attribute it to a Delbert Lord, Chief Engineer of the Southern Pacific Railway, others to Dr. Charles Lord, an Arizona merchant who established a banking and wholesale business there. It was a key stop on the Butterfield Stage Route, which ran from the 1850s to the outbreak of the Civil War. This route ran from Missouri to California and had the US Mail contract for that period. The southern route was attractive because it avoided the worst of the winter weather. At its peak, the Butterfield line had 800 employees, 250 coaches and used 100 horses and 500 mules. During World War II Camp Lordsburg housed Japanese-American citizens in an internment camp (1942-1943). Later it became a Prisoner of War Camp for German and Italian prisoners from 1943 to 1945. Lordsburg High School is home to the Maverick. Lordsburg traditionally has competed well in high school athletics. It is currently in the 3A classification in football and baseball and in the 2A classification in volleyball, basketball, track and field. Lordsburg's football program is usually competitive. In 5 state championship appearances, the Mavericks have taken the title once (2006) and lost four times (2009, 2003, 1990 and 1986). Lordsburg has the distinction of breaking up Animas' state record winning streak by downing Animas 9-8 in the 1990 regular season, though Animas got its revenge by winning the championship game 36-0. Clayton, New Mexico is in Union County, in the extreme northeast corner of the state. The Yellowjackets have made 11 appearances in the state football championships: 2014, 2013, 2009, 2008, 2006, 1998, 1988, 1987, 1978, 1976, 1974, taking the title in 2013. They are usually in the chase for the title all season long.
The town itself was founded in 1887, a concept of a group of businessmen including U. S. Senator Stephen Dorsey hoping to buy land and build a town in the path of a railroad. It lay on the historic Santa Fe Trail that ran from Missouri to Santa Fe. Originally the budding community was named Perico, but it was renamed Clayton for Clayton Dorsey, the eldest son of Senator Dorsey, in 1888 after the first train arrived on the new track. Senator Dorsey had come to Colfax County a decade earlier and built a cattle ranch southeast of Raton, running as many as 22,000 head at its peak. In addition to naming Clayton for his son, Stephen Dorsey named a town for himself, Dorsey, now a ghost town. Clayton Dorsey graduated from Yale University in 1890. He did not attend law school, but rather "studied law" under practicing attorneys, as was the tradition back then. He was admitted to the bar and practiced as an attorney in Colorado most of his life. In football, the Clayton Yellowjackets have gone 122-87 since 1995 and the last three years, they've had a record of 30-7. Clayton finished the 2014 season at 11-1 under new coach Collin Justiss, its only loss coming in the championship game to Estancia. One might think that the town Moriarty was named from the villainous character from the "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries of author A. Conan Doyle, but it was not. Instead, it was named for a settler named Michael Timothy Moriarty who moved to the area from California in the late 1880s, seeking relief from his chronic rheumatism. Situated in Torrance County, it is home to Moriarty High School and the Moriarty Pintos. Located on historic US Route 66, Moriarty also hosts the annual Pinto Bean Fiesta, which culminates in crowning of the year's "Pinto Bean Queen," but their high school mascot is the equine variety. Political figures from Moriarty include former New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya. Notable athletes from Moriarty include Major League Baseball pitcher Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays and left fielder/first baseman Kyle Blanks of the Oakland Athletics. Moriarty competes in District 5-5A against the Albuquerque Academy Chargers, Grants Pirates and St. Pius X Sartans. The Pintos have made the state football playoffs 8 out of the last 10 years in football, compiling a record since 2005 of 63-49. Goddard High School in Roswell (Chavez County) was named for Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945). Dr. Goddard was a physicist who is considered to be the father of modern rocketry. Attracted by the vast open areas and mild weather of southeastern New Mexico, he came to Roswell in the summer of 1930 after many years of research in the eastern US. For the next 12 years, he did rocket research in the area. Among his many achievements, he is credited for developing successful liquid fuel rockets, perfecting rocket construction and developing the use of vanes and gyroscopic controls. Dr. Goddard is credited with 214 patents in various areas of science. Appropriately, Goddard High School's mascot is the Rockets.
Goddard High School was completed in 1965 and is part of the Roswell ISD. It was constructed during the Cold War and most of its original classrooms were underground, designed to serve as underground bomb shelters in the event of a nuclear attack. In its relatively short existence, Goddard has won 49 state championships in sports: 8 in football, 11 in volleyball, 1 in boys basketball, 3 in baseball, 10 in boys golf and 18 in girls golf. Oñate High School in Las Cruces (Doña Ana County) was named for Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar (1550–1626), a Spanish Conquistador, explorer, and colonial governor of the Santa Fe de Nuevo México province then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, after leading successful campaigns in Mexico against the Chichimec Indians, he received permission from Phillip II of Spain to lead early expeditions to the Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley. A controversial figure in history for his harsh treatment of the indigenous peoples, Oñate founded settlements within the province, before moving on to other parts of the southwest while continuing with other explorers to search for treasure, including the fabled Seven Cities of Gold (Cibola). Oñate High School is part of the Las Cruces ISD and was completed 1988. Its mascot is the Knights. Oñate has won several state championships as of this writing, including one aquatic championship and three girls track and field championships. [From time to time we may write about other school names, if we feel that there is some historical connection to the state of New Mexico.] |
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We post articles of general interest about New Mexico athletes, coaches and sports. Some names will already be familiar to you. Others are perhaps not as well known, but we hope you enjoy them all. Archives
December 2015
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