The Goddard Rockets football team finished with a 7-5 record during the 2025 campaign, losing to Lovington 28-14 in the second round of the state playoffs. Goddard has finished with a winning record in six of the last eight seasons.
Schedule outlook
The Rockets open the 2026 season with a rematch against Lovington at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, on the road. Goddard’s first home game will be the following week against Carlsbad at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28. In the final non-district game, the Rockets face Los Lunas at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, on the road.
Goddard starts district play against Chaparral at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at the Wool Bowl. The Rockets will then face Alamogordo at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at home. The Tigers dropped from 6A to 5A, so they are a new foe on the schedule this year.
Goddard will shift focus to Gadsden at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, on the road. The Rockets then face Deming the week after at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, on the road as well.
Goddard returns home to play Mayfield at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16. The Rockets will later play Artesia at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at the Wool Bowl as well.
Goddard closes the regular season with the annual crosstown rivalry game against Roswell at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Wool Bowl.
The Rockets play 10 regular season games, including seven district matchups, just like the past two seasons. They play five home games, four away games, and a rival game against the Coyotes, which draws fans from both teams.
State championship history
The Rockets are in search of their first state championship since 2012, when they defeated Los Lunas 17-14 on the road. Goddard finished with a 13-0 record that season.
The Rockets have won eight state championships in total, with victories coming in 1967, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2008, 2009, and 2012.
Crosstown rivalry
Like college football rivalries, the matchup between Goddard and Roswell is always the last game before the state playoffs begin. With the Rockets playing Artesia the week before, this gives them back-to-back weeks of rivalry football.
The Coyotes have also secured eight state championships, with their most recent one coming against Artesia in 2024, when they won 41-22 at the Wool Bowl. Roswell previously won in 1953, 1955, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2018, and 2019. The battle for who gets nine first is something to keep fans in Roswell excited. The Coyotes hold a 41-22-3 all-time series lead over Goddard.
Marshall Mecham can be reached at (915) 232-1793 or on X @mecham_marshall.
Mecham serves with the New Mexico Local News Fellowship, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the state. Learn more at www.newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.
