Rams losing seniors, but confident for 2017

PORTALES - With the 2016 season at an end, the Portales High football team finds itself standing atop the dog pile, having plowed through the season while overcoming a speed bump every now and then to hold the 2016 class 4A blue trophy up high.

Finishing with a 12-1 record, their only loss coming to Dexter 24-13 in midseason, the Rams finally overcame rival Robertson to win the state championship on Saturday. They rolled through their wins with an average margin of victory of 31 points.

"First, I think that the loss to Dexter, we weren't real focused," Rams coach Jamie Ramirez said on Monday. "It was homecoming and I think the boys were more focused on homecoming activities than the game. That being said, I think it was a blessing in disguise, because it focused us and allowed us to come out and improve every week, get better every game."

Having played Robertson 15 times over the past decade, Portales posted a 5-10 record against the Cardinals, going 0-5 against the team from Las Vegas in the playoffs during that time. The win was made even sweeter for Portales' fan base by handing Robertson its first loss of the season.

The backfield duo of Junior Ramirez and Darion Ontiveros carried the offensive load for the Rams, combining for 44 touchdowns and 3,021 yards on 378 carries. While many teams tried different defensive schemes and strategies to halt the Rams duo, most came up short, with the team averaging 270 yards rushing per game.

"Junior and Darion are special athletes," said coach Ramirez. "That being said, you don't get anything done without a good offensive line, which is something I can't give our boys enough credit for."

That line consisted of Mario Cordova, Trenton Small, Jeremy Karngbaye, Luke Mcsperit, Isaac Gomez and Bart Molina. The big guys up front allowed the backfield to regularly chew up huge chunks of yardage, giving the speedsters the chance to find the holes for their patented breakaway touchdown runs.

Tyrese Dawson, who was also the backup quarterback, was the Rams' No. 1 receiving threat, recording nine touchdowns and 539 yards on only 26 receptions. The deep threat of Dawson more than influenced the Rams' ability to run the ball as well as they did, keeping opponents honest on defense.

While the Portales offense may have stunned many of its foes, it was the rugged Rams defense that set the tone all season long, showing consistently that Portales could make an opponent pay for any mistake or misstep.

Led in tackles by Karngbaye and Emilio Lovato with 80 and 78 tackles, respectively, the line presence of Karngbaye and Trenton Small was no small obstacle for opponents to overcome. Both players, especially as the season headed into the final stretch, were a huge part of the team's success.

As with the offense, coach Ramirez pointed out that all season long it was the defensive line that helped win games. With Karngbaye, Small, Mcsperit, Molina, Lorenzo Armijo and Colin Williams packing the defensive front, every team facing Portales found it difficult to find success. The Portales defense held the Cardinals to a mere 128 yards of total offense in the championship game.

With many linemen going both ways, coach Ramirez implemented a solid rotation that basically made every position two-deep, allowing his fronts to continually play hard.

The Rams will enter next season with a different look, losing most of the players mentioned here to graduation. Coach Ramirez said that while his staff hasn't thought too much about next year and is enjoying the recent success, it shouldn't be a concern.

"We always had the mentality that we will put players where they can best help the team," he said. "With our coaching staff and players, we should be able to make it work."

Dawson showed that the offense will be in good hands behind center. That was a concern before this season, but despite losing 20 players from the 2015 squad to graduation the Rams managed to notch the school's fifth state title.