Rams top Sartans in defensive battle

PORTALES — Hagen Rains didn’t know whether or not he’d be needed at quarterback on Saturday, but he was ready.

Portales High senior QB Baylor Diaz gave it a go on a bum ankle, but came out in the second quarter. Rains stepped in and led the Rams on a 14-play, 80-yard drive for the game’s only score, which he got early in the fourth quarter as PHS held on for a 6-0 win over St. Pius in a New Mexico Activities Association-sponsored “bowl game” at Greyhound Stadium.

“I didn’t know if I was going to play or not (at quarterback),” said Rains, a junior. “It was Baylor’s last game, and I wanted him to play. He’s been our quarterback for three years, and those are some big shoes to fill.”

Rains also stepped in after Diaz went down with an injury during the 2019 season, helping the Rams win a couple of games en route to a Class 4A state championship.

Actually, both signal-callers played well. Each went 6-for-7 through the air for a combined 143 yards, including 106 by Rains.

“Hagen Rains stepped in and did the job,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. “Hats off to Hagen for leading our team.

“Baylor is a true football player. He did not want to sit out, but you could tell his ankle wasn’t healed yet. But that’s who he is.”

Rains helped get Portales out of a hole early in its scoring march, finding running back Ethan Conrow on a 48-yard pass play after a holding penalty on the second play of the possession backed the Rams up to their own 11. Portales clicked off five first downs on the drive, overcoming another holding penalty along the way.

“They played tough,” Ramirez said of the Sartans. “We knew they were tough coming in. They haven’t given up a lot of points this season.”

Both teams had scoring opportunities. It was a matter of someone finally finding the end zone, and Rains did that on a 1-yard sneak with 9:22 left in the game.

The Rams started in Sartans territory on their first two possessions, but came up empty — including reaching the 1 on a first-and-goal following Dason Davis’ 34-yard return of the opening kickoff to the St. Pius 42.

Meantime, St. Pius (1-3) penetrated the red zone four times, including marches of 15 and 11 plays, only to turn the ball over on downs each time. The Sartans reached the PHS 15 in the final minute, but a fourth-and-3 pass to senior Nick Pascuzzi was broken up by Rains in the flat.

“I’d been studying their film all week,” said Rains, a safety on defense. “All they needed was three yards. I just broke on it as fast as I could.”

With St. Pius out of timeouts, Rains took a couple of kneeldowns to run out the remaining seconds.

“That was a great play,” Ramirez said of Rains’ deflection. “That put the final nail in the coffin.”

The Portales defense limited St. Pius to 172 total yards.

“I was really proud of our kids,” Sartans coach David Montoya said. “They played their (butts) off. Our defense has been pretty solid all year. We lost a couple of kids on defense (this season), but they battled really hard.”

Junior defensive end Brandon Blidi helped spark the Rams’ defense, collecting a pair of sacks in the contest.

“The whole other side (of the Rams’ defensive line) was able to rush hard, which led the quarterback to come my way and I was able to make the plays,” Blidi said. “It was fun. I felt like the defense stepped up when it mattered most.

“We did it for our seniors today. It was important to get the win this week.”

The Rams finished with 246 total yards of offense. Conrow rushed 12 times for 55 yards, while Davis caught five passes for 86.