Rams move to 2-0, rout St. Mike's

SANTA FE — The Portales Rams have traveled well this season. They won’t have to do it again for a while.

Two road games so far this season for Portales. Two road victories for Portales, the most recent a 49-6 drubbing of St. Michael’s Saturday at Christian Brothers Field.

Senior Wromiah Gbassagee scored four touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving, as the Rams (2-0) never trailed and spent the entire fourth quarter with a mercy-rule running clock against the Horsemen (0-2).

“We did a good job,” Portales coach Jaime Ramirez said of the run game. “Our O-line opened up some holes for Wromiah and Baylor (Diaz), and they ran the ball well.”

The Rams struck twice in the first quarter, with Gbassagee going for a 78-yard run to put Portales on the board. They struck again when Baylor Diaz fired a bullet into the end zone that was tipped but snatched up by Dason Davis for a 16-yard score.

St. Michael’s responded in the second quarter as Kennis Romero took a pass 64 yards for the score, but that’s all she wrote for the Horsemen offense.

A Jayden Killette interception was followed by Gbassagee’s touchdown reception, 56 yards from Diaz, and Gbassagee found the end zone one more time before halftime on a 3-yard burst.

Portales had rushing touchdowns of 16 yards each by Gbassagee and Diaz in the third quarter to make it 42-6, and Ramirez went with a mix of backups and starters over the final period.

The Rams added one final score early in the fourth, when sophomore Hagen Rains connected with Kellan Hightower for a 35-yard strike.

“We rally around our defense,” Ramirez said. “When you play tough defense like we did today, it relaxes your offense. You’re confident you can score because your defense is going to get you the ball.”

Thanks to three home games the next three Fridays — West Las Vegas, Goddard and St. Pius X — and a bye week following, the Rams won’t set foot on a field outside of Portales until they head back to Santa Fe and face Capital Oct. 4.