Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales defensive end Wromiah Gbassagee runs through the stepover drill early in Monday morning's Ram football practice.
The Portales Rams are coming off an 8-4 campaign last season, and have made the state semifinals in each of the last four seasons - including winning the Class 4A title in 2016.
PORTALES — While it probably didn’t feel like a good idea when they were in teachers meeting later that morning, Portales coaches reported an overall positive feeling from the first day — or was it night? — of Ram football practice.
The PHS practice field, less than two weeks away from hosting a 5 p.m. Aug. 16 scrimmage with Robertson, was the site of football season starting in Ram country at 12:01 a.m.
“I think the energy was good, the kids were excited,” Portales coach Jaime Ramirez said. “That’s what you want, for them to be ready for football and the season.”
Portales will do 5 p.m. practices today and Thursday, followed by its first opportunity at a two-a-day on Friday. With teacher meetings concluded, the Rams will go 6 a.m.-8 a.m. and 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
The Rams are coming off an 8-4 campaign in 2018, which included a six-game winning streak and the program’s fourth-straight semifinal appearance — where they fell to eventual 4A champion Taos.
Portales opens its season with two 1:30 p.m. Saturday road games — Aug. 24 against Hope Christian and Aug. 31 against St. Michael’s — before it has three straight home games. Homecoming is Sept. 20 against St. Pius X, followed by a bye week.
District play begins Oct. 16 with a home contest against Ruidoso, followed by a visit to Moriarty and a home game with Lovington.
First-week goals were lofty, but achievable in Ramirez’ mind.
“I really want to get our base run plays and our base screens and quick game in,” Ramirez said. “We want to get our vertical plays, stretch the field. Defensively, I want to get our base defense versus spread teams and also our base defense versus a more balanced formation.”
When asked if he expected to see more spread offenses or standard packages this season, Ramirez said no one offense should be much more prevalent than another, and some schools might throw everything at you.
“Going through last year’s film,” Ramirez said, “we’ve seen a variety of teams that use multiple formations, not only the doubles and trips, but also with a tight end and a pro set. We just want to be prepared for anybody we see.”
