Rams shoring up for home game against Dexter

PORTALES - Friday's season-opening 21-0 win over Moriarty at Greyhound Stadium served an almost ideal purpose for the Portales High football team.

Most important, the Rams came away with the win. They also have a lot of areas they can shore up in looking ahead to the rest of their abbreviated spring season.

"We have some work to do, but we have a lot of potential for sure," Rams junior tackle-defensive end Braydon Mignard said on Monday. "It was definitely a good first game. We can for sure build off it."

The Rams play their final regular-season home game on Friday in a 7 p.m. kickoff against Dexter, which opened its season with a 17-2 win over New Mexico Military. PHS coach Jaime Ramirez expects the Demons to field a much-improved squad over the one Portales thumped 40-14 in 2019.

"They have a lot of talent coming back this year," Ramirez said. "They return seven starters on defense and, I think, six or seven on offense."

Against NMMI, Dexter jumped out to a 14-0 lead at the quarter and kept the Colts at bay the rest of the way.

Ramirez said the Demons have gone to more of a spread attack this year and have a bevy of capable receivers.

"Traditionally, they've been a two-back offense with multiple formations," he said. "Their receivers are all good, and (senior quarterback Marco Munoz) did a good job of distributing the ball."

In their opener, the Rams were outgained despite pitching a shutout, but they made three stops inside the Portales 20 to keep Moriarty off the board.

"Our defense held up pretty good, but we definitely had first-game jitters," Mignard said. "Offensively, I thought our line was pretty stout."

Portales labored into halftime with a 6-0 lead, but quickly added to that when junior Ethan Conrow returned the second-half kickoff 76 yards for a score. Senior quarterback Baylor Diaz then capped off an 88-yard scoring drive on a 2-yard keeper with about four minutes left.

Mignard said the Demons present different challenges.

"Dexter looked pretty strong," he said after watching film of the NMMI clash. "It's only one game, but you can tell they're more experienced than last year."

Ramirez said the Rams were stout when they needed to be against Moriarty. Now they want to clean up some other areas.

"I think we need to do a better job of executing on offense," he said. "Hopefully, we can continue to do a good job on special teams this week."