Ram football schedule tougher for 2018 season

PORTALES — Portales High coach Jaime Ramirez didn't intentionally try to make his team's 2018 football schedule harder than it already was. But, to quote another football coach, it is what it is.

Portales will replace three opponents this year, including District 4-4A rival NMMI. NMMI, along with Texico and Socorro, will not return to the slate in '18, as Goddard, St. Pius and Capital will take their place.

"Re-classification of schools had an impact," Ramirez explained. "Lovington was 5A last year, but now they're in 4A. Lovington replaces NMMI in our district, while NMMI drops to 3A. Texico dropped us, and the Socorro game was a one-year deal from the beginning, because that's such a long distance to travel."

Lovington's presence will make District 4 even tougher this year, as the Rams will now finish their regular season on the road against the Wildcats on Nov. 2. That game, as opposed to finishing off against NMMI to end the year, could have playoff implications for both teams.

Lovington started the '17 season 5-3, before ending the year on a three-game skid. However, the Wildcats still managed to make the 5A postseason, losing in the first round to another Portales opponent for 2018, St. Pius.

Lovington joins a district that already includes Portales, Ruidoso, Moriarty and Hope Christian. Portales won the state title two years ago and lost in the semis last year, while Moriarty lost in the quarterfinals to Ruidoso, who of course captured the 2017 4A title.

Due to scheduling all of these new opponents, whom Ramirez said Portales accepted on essentially a "first come, first serve basis," district opponent Hope Christian was moved up to Week 1 on Aug. 24, while always-tough non-district foe St. Mike's was moved to Aug. 31, to accommodate the regular season finale against Lovington, a team Portales played on Sept. 1 a year ago. Both games will be played at Greyhound Stadium.

A road game at Ruidoso on Oct. 19 and a home game against Moriarty on Oct. 26 makes up the rest of the district schedule this year, while the three new games against Goddard (Sept. 14 at Roswell), St. Pius (Sept. 22 at Albuquerque) and Capital (Oct. 5 at Portales) will all be played consecutively, with the Week 6 bye on Sept. 28 in-between.

The rest of the schedule includes a road game at West Last Vegas on Sept. 7 and Portales' homecoming game against Dexter on Oct. 12. Needless to say, with a slate that includes a pair of 5A schools and a district that's always difficult to navigate, no game is a given.

"Good football schools," Ramirez said. "(When I look at this year's schedule), I can't see a team that we can say that we're gonna be better than."