Rams rip St. Mike's to improve to 4-0

STAFF WRITER

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The Portales Rams finally got to play their first full home football game of the season on Friday night.

After dispatching the St. Michael’s Horsemen 41-13 at Greyhound Stadium, the Rams showed they should be considered one of the elite teams in Class 4A.

In order to make sure the game wouldn’t be shortened again with lightning warnings, kickoff was moved from its 7 p.m. start to 5:30 p.m. And as in the opener against Texico, Portales (4-0) took control early, forcing St. Michael’s to a three-and-out before marching down for a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tyrese Dawson, who was filling in for an injured Junior Ramirez.

The Horsemen (2-2) didn’t appear fazed by the early score as they got on the board early in the second quarter with a 16-yard run by Angelo Baca to pull to 14-7. It looked like this one might be close like the Rams’ 28-13 win in Santa Fe last year, but with 24 seconds left in the half, senior running back Darion Ontiveros scored on a 79-yard run to give Portales a 21-7 lead.

That gave the Rams all the momentum they needed to finish the game.

The Rams had just three passing attempts in the first half, but decided to open up the playbook after the intermission as Dawson focused more on throwing and less on running the option.

“We felt like if we wanted to run the ball more (in the second half), we’d have to pass and spread things out more,” Ontiveros said.

Once again, Ontiveros stood out as one of the top players for Portales, finishing with 28 carries, 294 rushing yards and six touchdowns while recording one of four Rams interceptions on defense.

The other three Rams to pick off St. Michael’s quarterback Antonio Gabaldon were Thomas Tulk, Julian Urioste and defensive lineman Trenton Small, who had an assist when Jeremie Karngbaye tipped a pass right into his hands. That one was essentially the nail in the coffin for the Horsemen with eight minutes left in the game.

“I saw the quarterback’s hand go forward and I saw Jeremie’s hand come up and tip the ball,” Small said. “I saw the ball. It fell in my hands and all I could think of was ‘Run!’”

Overall, Small thought the defense did a good job, but he did point out to some things they need to fix.

“Little blocks here and there and a lot of skill work for our d-line as far as keeping our shoulders down, getting to our gaps and gap responsibility,” Small said. “But our team performed very well.”

The one main issue for Portales’ defense was defending the deep ball. Gabaldon had several completions for 25-plus yards to get the Horsemen out of third-and-long situations.

Portales coach Jaime Ramirez wasn’t too concerned about it.

“We were in position a few times,” he said. “We’ve just got to do a better job of tracking the ball. We track the ball better, we’ll be fine.

“But we did have four picks, so that’s pretty good if they’re throwing a lot. So I can’t say too much about our secondary. You get a good team like St. Mike’s, they’re going to complete some passes on us. But we played tough and won.”

Ramirez was also happy with the play of the Rams’ offensive and defensive lines.

“I think it was a great total team effort,” he said. “Our O-line and our D-line need a shout-out. All season they’ve been great.

“We can’t do anything without either line. They set the precedent and they are the heart and soul of our team.”

The Rams play at home again next Friday, hosting Dexter in their homecoming game.