Rams hand out football awards at Sunday banquet

PORTALES — It was a celebration long-delayed, but better late than never for the Portales High football team Sunday night.

Following its 12-1 season and its second Class 4A title in four seasons, the Rams held their celebration banquet Sunday.

Coach Jaime Ramirez said in the weeks following Portales’ title win over Bloomfield, time simply got away from staff and a decision was made to wait until there were no known conflicts.

Portales players had nine players take 12 Class 4A all-state first-team selections, and two others grab second-team honors while four Rams were named to the North-South All-Star team. The latter was important, Ramirez said, because the large-school team includes Classes 3A through 6A.

In District 3/4-4A, 13 Ram players took 19 first-team positions and four second-team spots went to Portales players. Kellan Hightower was the overall district MVP, while Philip Blidi was defensive MVP.

Team awards were given for most improved (Braydon Mignard), hardest worker (Jordan Garcia), most consistent (Jalen Allen), breakout player (Dason Davis), leading tackler (Isaih Saiz), dominant offensive lineman (Fabien Olivas), offensive impact player (Hightower), defensive impact player (Blidi), MVP (Wromiah Gbassagee), leadership (Jayden Killette) and Ram fighting heart (Justin Paden).