Rams ready for early start

The Portales Rams are going to get the earliest start possible on the football season.

Third-year coach Jaime Ramirez said PHS will have a “midnight madness” practice, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday at the Rams’ practice facility. He said players will report for a short meeting about 11:30 p.m., and the scrimmage will run about two-and-a-half hours.

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The Portales Rams are hoping for another big year from junior Bronte Staugaard. As a sophomore, Staugaard led Portales with 1,433 rushing yards on 208 carries and 13 touchdowns.

“They’ve done it here in the past, and I’ve done it in the past with other teams,” Ramirez said. “We wanted to change things up a little.”

The Rams, who went 6-5 last season and lost to Las Vegas Robertson in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs, will practice from 6-10 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. Ramirez said he isn’t sure about the schedule for the following week.

PHS will host a four-way scrimmage at the practice facility on Aug. 22 with West Las Vegas, Santa Rosa and the Clovis junior varsity before beginning regular-season the following Friday at Las Vegas Robertson.

Also, Floyd and Dora are scheduled to begin workouts on Monday. Floyd is dropping from 8-man to 6-man this year while the Coyotes, who reached the 6-man semifinals in 2013, are moving up to 8-man.

Dora is co-opting with Elida this year. Coach Mason McBee said the Coyotes may pick up a player or two from Elida.

Dora is scheduled to practice from 6:30-8 a.m. on Monday through Thursday, then will have a morning workout on Friday. School begins the following Monday.

The Coyotes’ opener will be either Aug. 29 or 30, at home against Foothill.

Floyd will practice from 4-6 p.m. each day next week, working around in-service meetings, coach Steve Foust said. School also starts on Aug. 11.

The Broncos open the season on Aug. 30 with a neutral-site game at Carrizozo against Reserve.