St. Mike’s gets No. 4 and bye; Robertson No. 5

and the championship round will come the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Gonzalez said all along he preferred to have his Cardinals avoid the first-round bye by staying on the field for the first round. It’s a sentiment his players shared after they beat West Las Vegas — the Dons (6-4) are the sixth seed and will host No. 11 Cobre — to earn a share of the 2-3A title.

“We’ve got a good thing going, you know?” said Robertson running back Santiago Gonzales. “This team needs to keep working. We’ve been in this spot so many times before and we know we can do this. We know it.”

Robertson has made three straight trips to the state finals, but they’re looking up at a loaded bracket that has a potential semifinal matchup against No. 1 Hope Christian, the only undefeated team left in 3A. The Huskies (10-0) have allowed just 26 points all season and posted seven shutouts but are staring down the barrel of an odd historical note: The top seed in what was the former 4A has been eliminated in the quarterfinals three times in the last five playoffs and has reached the championship game just once in that span.

Dexter (8-2) is the 2-seed, followed by Socorro (9-1) and St. Michael’s. West Las Vegas will travel to Socorro with a win later this week.

Class 4A

After spending more than half the season as the top-ranked team, Taos (9-1) heads to the playoffs as the No. 3 seed despite more wins and fewer losses than anyone else in the class.

The Tigers await the winner of the Lovington-Bernalillo game in the quarterfinals two weeks from now. They missed out on their shot at the No. 1 overall seed when they were beaten soundly by St. Pius during district play. As a result, St. Pius (7-3) is the 1-seed, followed by Portales (7-3). Portales is a combined 40-6 since the start of the 2015 season.

The fourth seed is Kirkland Central.

Class 5A

To no one’s surprise, the only team out of District 2/6-5A is Del Norte. The Knights (4-6) got the lowest seed in the bracket and, as No. 12, head to No. 5 Piedra Vista. Not receiving bids were Los Alamos, Capital and Santa Fe High.

The Hilltoppers (5-5) were the only team to finish without a losing record.

Roswell, Goddard, Los Lunas and Artesia received the top four seeds, respectively, and received first-round byes into the quarterfinals.

Class 6A

Three undefeated teams remain in the big-school class, led by No. 1 Cleveland (10-0). La Cueva and Centennial (both 10-0) are 2-3, respectively and are on the same side of the bracket. Volcano Vista (8-2) is seeded fourth.

Small schools

Perennial power Escalante is still alive in the 2A playoffs after hammering Capitan in Saturday’s opening round. The Lobos (9-2) head into the quarterfinals against No. 4 Estancia, a team they lost by 40 points to in the third week of the season.

The top eight seeds have all reached the quarterfinals in 8-man, led by No. 1 Gateway Christian and No. 2 Tatum, while the top two seeds have made the 6-man championship game this weekend. No. 1 Animas will host No. 2 Elida on Saturday.