After putting together an 8-1 mark in the regular season, the Tatum football team was rewarded with the No. 2 seed in the 8-man state playoffs when the NMAA released the brackets Sunday (view here).
The Coyotes will have a bye in the first round and will play the winner of Mountainair and Logan either Nov. 16 or Nov. 17.
Defending state champion and undefeated Gateway Christian earned the top seed and a bye. The Warriors have won 13 games in a row since losing to Melrose last season (a team it defeated in the state title game) and beat Tatum 36-12 in Tatum earlier this season.
Gateway will play the winner of No. 4 Foothill and No. 5 Carrizozo.
The Class 1A brackets were also released and Jal did not make the six-team field.
Hagerman earned the top seed while McCurdy in No. 2 – both getting a bye in the first round.
Hagerman will play the winner of No. 4 Fort Sumner and No. 5 Capitan while McCurdy will play the winner of No. 3 Escalante and No. 6 Magdalena.
The NMAA will release Class 2A through 5A state football playoff brackets Sunday.
