By Brienne Green
Every August, with the heat of Southeast New Mexico summer still hanging thick and heavy over parched practice fields, thousands of teen boys strap on pads and helmets and return to the gridiron. In this part of the state, “Friday night lights” are woven into the very fabric of the predominantly small towns that comprise it. Tradition, hometown pride, rivalries, a sense of community — all these and more call fans back to the bleachers year after year as cities from Artesia to Portales, Roswell to Ruidoso, “roll up the streets” to cheer on their teams.
New Mexico’s record books for state championship wins and playoff appearances are dominated by southeastern squads, none more prominently than Artesia. The Bulldogs famously sit at second on the National Federation of State High School Associations’ (NFHS) list of all-time state championships with 33 and are recognized as the program with the most titles nationwide in the modern era (1950 onward). The ‘Dogs compete in a stadium that has been featured in National Geographic and spend the majority of their seasons ranked among the top five teams in the state.
It could be argued that there comes a point where a team simply has nothing left to prove. The boys who fill New Mexico’s football fields each autumn are, after all, just that: boys. The state is low on the list of recruiting hot spots where Division 1 colleges are concerned, meaning the majority of athletes aren’t competing with fame or money on their minds. They play to add blue trophies to lovingly displayed cases at local schools, for the camaraderie and love of the sport.
When New Mexico’s top high school football program began its 2026 season with an 0-3 record, it was noteworthy. It was fair game to point out that such a start for Artesia hadn’t occurred since 1983. But from there, it felt as if the race was on to see who could make the most of the three contests that, in reality, mattered least. Few mentioned that all three losses had come at the hands of top 10 teams in the classification above the Bulldogs’. Plenty wondered if the “fall of Title Town” had begun, with one Albuquerque television station creating an entire segment devoted to who was in office and what had yet to be invented the last time Artesia went winless through Week Three.
It’s in the nature of sports fans to get a kick out of the stumbles of the mighty. But when the targets are teenage boys rather than the New York Yankees, a bit of perspective is in order. The most successful team in the state — and the defending champion of Class 5A — does not become a failure because of three regular-season losses. The actual shortcoming generated more from adults who thought it appropriate to take aim at a high school football team’s pride and morale. Nearly 100 boys could have taken that to heart, lost their confidence, been made to feel as if they’d shamed their community. Instead, the Bulldogs opened district play last week with a 53-0 win.
Sports are competitive at every level. High school is no exception. With competition comes the obvious expectation that not everyone is going to be kind. But even the most successful teams don’t win 100% of the time. What they do do, however, is pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again. And that’s worth celebrating — every bit as much as 33 blue trophies
