FARMINGTON – There’s something to be said for football players being able to take their aggressions out on opponents as opposed to their own teammates.

With just a week before the kickoff to the 2023 high school football season, several local and area teams got together for a scrimmage at Hutchison Stadium at Farmington High School.

In addition to Class 4A state champion Bloomfield, the day was spent with varsity and junior varsity squads from Piedra Vista, Aztec, Farmington and Valley High School from Albuquerque.

For Valley and Piedra Vista High Schools, two of the top teams in Class 5A last season, the scrimmage was an opportunity to see where the teams are headed with just one week before the start of the regular season.

Piedra Vista, which reached the Class 5A championship game last year before losing at home to Artesia, will open the season on Friday night against crosstown rival Farmington. Valley High School was knocked out of the Class 5A postseason by Artesia by a final of 50-0 and are expected to be one of the top teams in the classification under second year head coach Billy Cobos.

The Vikings will open their season at home Thursday night against Bernalillo.

For Farmington High head coach Jeff Dalton, the key to Thursday’s scrimmage was all about execution as the team prepares for its second season playing in Class 6A.

“There are no weeks off, starting with week one against Piedra Vista, so we just want to see these kids play at a high level,” Dalton said. “We have to execute, and we can’t make mistakes. The expectation is that we control what we can control and not make mental errors.”

The Scorpions advanced to the Class 6A quarterfinals last season, finishing the season with a record of 6-6 and including a 3-1 mark in District 2/5-6A. After beating Carlsbad 34-33 at home in an emotional opening round win of the NMAA postseason tournament, Farmington lost on the road to La Cueva, which finished the season as the Class 6A runner-up.

Dalton said the Scorpions team was excited about the scrimmage and eager to be on the field with other players from other schools, as opposed to practices against their own teammates.

“The kids get to the point where you play and practice against each other and you start to get annoyed with each other,” Dalton said. “To get be a team was a good thing and not be out to get each other definitely helps.”

The point of scrimmages against area teams is as much about getting reps in for players and getting them prepared for the real competition, which opens this weekend.

“We’re in evaluation mode today, we’re not trying to accomplish anything other than to see who can fill in spots and who’s ready to step up and play,” Dalton said.

For Bloomfield, which will open their season at home Friday night against St. Pius, head coach Mike Kovacs is eager to get his team onto the field where they can begin to defend the Class 4A title. The Bobcats earned the championship last November beating Silver by a score of 13-7 for their first state title since 1966, ending a five-game losing streak in championship contests in the process.

“It feels way better for these kids to be able to go out there and hit someone else,” Kovacs said. “They’re so tired of hitting their friends and you can fall into this lull of practice and you can do that against quality teams like these, it’s a real good thing for these kids.”

For the most part, teams rarely show a lot to opposing teams in scrimmages, but the chance to compete and evaluate talent and a team’s readiness to compete is what Kovacs felt was most important.

“It’s hard to monitor because everything is so watered down in a scrimmage, but you still get to see the athleticism and evaluate off of that, and that’s what we like to see.”

Kovacs was impressed with the readiness his team showed as they prepare to defend their state championship.

“You never know that first hit if there’s some reservation or some rust,” Kovacs said. “They came out today and responded well, they were aggressive today, and I’m excited to see that.”

For more information about this weekend’s opening games across the state, check out the official page for the New Mexico Activities Association at nmact.org.