Texico holds off Portales

TEXICO — It took the Portales Rams a while to get going Friday night. By the time they did, they were in too deep a hole to escape.

Senior running back Shay Harrison rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns as Texico posted a 35-23 victory in a game that was moved to Texico earlier this week because of lighting issues at Greyhound Stadium.

CMI photo: Tony Bullocks

Texico senior running back Shay Harrison breaks free of the tackle of Portales senior Branden Weringa to score a touchdown in the second quarter of Friday night game at Texico.

The Wolverines (2-0) led 21-0 before Portales ended a scoring drought of nearly eight quarters with a 32-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Daniel Sanchez to senior Jacob Aranda with eight seconds left in the half.

The Rams (0-3), who had scored only one touchdown coming in, probably outplayed Texico from about the middle of the second quarter until late in the third, but they couldn't complete a comeback.

"We played better in the middle of the game," first-year Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. "We won the second and third quarters, but they won the first and fourth and it's tough when you get behind like that.

"They 'out-physicaled' us. They've got a good ballclub and I expect them to go deep in the (Class) 2A playoffs."

Sanchez, a left-hander, got his first start at quarterback this week after the Rams committed 12 turnovers in their first two games. Against the Wolverines, Portales gave it away three times in the first half, but seemed to get some confidence after finally scoring.

Sanchez completed 17-of-33 passes for 210 yards, also tossing a late TD pass to senior Daniel Hernandez.

"I was proud of the way he threw the ball," Ramirez said.

Junior Jaime Sotelo showed some speed out of the backfield after halftime for the Rams, rushing for 75 yards on just five carries and adding a 35-yard reception.

Still, Harrison was a workhorse for the Wolverines, carrying the ball 31 times and helping key Texico's defense at linebacker.

"I think we played pretty solid," he said. "We get a few breaks early with the turnovers, but you can't expect a team like that to just fold."

After forcing a three-and-out from Portales to start the game, the Wolverines went 75 yards in 13 plays covering nearly six minutes. Harrison carried seven times for 38 yards before junior Mitchell Pinnell took the ball in from a yards out.

CMI photo: Tony Bullocks

Portales senior running back Osbaldo Navarrete takes the handoff from junior quarterback Daniel Sanchez in the second quarter of Friday nigh game at Texico.

Harrison added scoring runs of 11 and 4 yards early in the second quarter before the Rams' defense stiffened up.

"They picked it up on defense in the second half," Harrison said. "Sometimes there's just not a hole to find, so you take what you can get."

His final TD came on a 6-yard run on the first play of the final period.

"I thought our kids played well," Wolverines coach Ryan Autrey said. "We took advantage of some turnovers and got a little cushion before they (Rams) figured out the things they could do to hurt us."

Harrison had about the same yardage in each half, but Autrey said it got tougher in the second half.

"He's a tough kid," Autrey said. "For a while he was trying to find holes rather than running through holes."

Texico was coming off a bye, something which gave the Wolverines extra time to prepare but isn't necessarily ideal this early in the season.

"I really would've rather played," Autrey said. "You can say we had two weeks to prepare for them, but it's hard to prepare for that speed."