Rams fall behind early, lose to Huskies in opener

ALBUQUERQUE — The Portales Rams, defending 2019 Class 4A state champions, found themselves in a big early hole on Saturday night.

They tried to dig themselves out of it, but it was just too much.

Hope Christian built a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter, then clinched the game with a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the final stanza to nail down a 28-14 victory in the season opener for both teams.

Sophomore quarterback Elijah Kladiihbah ran for a pair of third-quarter scores to bring the Rams close, but that was it.

Fumbles and interceptions were the main culprit, PHS coach Jaime Ramirez said.

“Honestly, we just had too many turnovers,” he said. “I think we had three fumbles and two interceptions, and it’s hard to beat a good team when you do that.”

Kladiihbah scored on runs of 55 and 15 yards on consecutive possessions in the third period. Eric Ramirez added PAT kicks after both scores.

Turnovers helped the Huskies to a 14-0 lead in the opening segment, including a Kladiihbah pass that slipped out of the hands of a PHS receiver and was returned for the first score of the game by a Huskies lineman. An interception later set up a third Hope tally.

“We had a rough first quarter,” Ramirez said. “We’re going to learn a lot of things from this game, and we’ll get better from it.”

Portales has an early open date this week. The Rams’ next action will be in their home opener on Sept. 3 against West Las Vegas at Greyhound Stadium.

Animas 34, Elida 21 — In a neutral-field clash at Carrizozo, Animas pulled away late to overcome an early Tigers lead.

Senior quarterback Omar Castillo ran for a pair of second-quarter scores to stake the Panthers to a 12-8 halftime lead, then added three touchdown passes in the second half.

The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead, with freshman Gunner Tipton and senior Jesse Woodruff combining to sack Castillo in the end zone after a penalty had pushed Animas back to its 5.

Junior Levi Victor’s 11-yard TD pass to junior Dalyn Taylor later in the quarter capped a 62-yard, eight-play drive and made it 8-0. Tipton scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter and Taylor caught another TD pass from Victor, this one for 35 yards, in the fourth period for Elida.

The Tigers are in action in their home opener on Friday night, hosting Carrizozo.