PORTALES — For nearly a quarter and a half on Friday night, it looked like the Lovington Wildcats might just have their way with the defending Class 4A state champions.
Down 14-0, though, Portales High rallied back with 35 unanswered points and cruised to a 42-21 victory in the Rams' home opener at Greyhound Stadium.
In the end, senior quarterback Tyrese Dawson was too much for the Wildcats (1-1) to handle. He rushed 21 times for three touchdowns and 262 yards — 187 in the second half — and also threw a 22-yard scoring pass to senior Juan Espinoza in the final minute of the first half to tie the game 14-14.
Dawson all but sealed it with a spectacular 90-yard TD run early in the final period, making it 35-14.
"In the second quarter, we just got the momentum," Dawson said. "The offensive line helped us a lot."
Dawson, a receiver for the Rams last season, said he was confident the Rams (2-0) would come back from the early deficit.
"I wasn't concerned because we always have slow starts like that," he said.
The Wildcats, who beat Chaparral in a 68-54 shootout last week in their opener, rely in a short passing game led by sophomore quarterback Casey Perez, who completed 27-of-40 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a third score.
The Wildcats marched for TDs on two of their first three possessions, with Perez throwing a 20-yard scoring pass to junior Evan Cesareo and capping the second drive with a one-yard sneak.
"I don't know what happened," Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said of the slow start. "It was like we've never played football. We couldn't get in a rhythm."
Lovington put together an 11-play drive that ended on downs at the PHS 10 with 10 minutes left. On the next play, Dawson weaved his way through the middle and down the left sideline — leaving Wildcats defenders in his wake — to make it a three-score game.
Lovington went 77 yards in 10 plays to make it 35-21, with Perez hitting senior Isaiah Brown on a swing pass which he turned into a 31-yard score with 4:27 left. Then the Wildcats narrowly missed recovering an onside kick, and Portales added the icing with a six-play, 48-yard drive ending on a 16-yard TD run by junior running back Julian Garcia with just over a minute left.
Ramirez said the PHS defense eventually adjusted to the Wildcats' passing attack, and in general played well.
"We gave them two short fields (to score)," he said. "Other than that, our defense did a good job."
The Rams return to Greyhound Stadium next Friday to host West Las Vegas in the school's homecoming game.