Rams open district play at Ruidoso

HATCH — In a season where Portales High’s football team has struggled, the Rams have left no doubt when they do post a win.

PHS (2-5) got on the board with a 53-0 spanking of Rio Grande on Sept. 25, and returned to the win column on Saturday in a 40-0 drubbing of host Hatch Valley. Despite its record, Portales has outscored its seven opponents for the season 208-152.

“We’ve pretty much been in every game we’ve lost,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez noted.

On Friday, the Rams begin Class 4A District 3/4 action with a trip to Ruidoso (3-4) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Portales made short work of the winless Bears (0-6), riding four touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Devin Diaz — two to sophomore Zane Mayberry and one each to sophomore Elijah Kladiihbah and senior Eric Ramirez.

“It was a much-needed win,” Ramirez said. “We’ve got some things to clean up, but we played pretty good today. I liked the way we executed on offense and defense.”

The Rams did all of their scoring in the first three quarters. Their first four scores came on the Diaz TD tosses before senior running back Braydon Mignard added a 15-yard scoring run and junior Emmanuel Diahn returned a punt blocked by junior A.J. Lopez for a score to cap a 20-point third quarter.

Lovington (4-3) is ranked No. 1 in 4A this week, while fellow district members Ruidoso and Silver (5-2) come in at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. The Rams are ranked 11th.

“Once you get to districts, it seems like everybody’s pretty good,” coach Ramirez said.

He added that while the teams play different styles, the Rams should match up with the Warriors. Ruidoso’s top weapons are senior running back Dalton Trapp and junior quarterback Griffin Hooker.

“They run the same defense we do, but they run it a little different than we do,” Ramirez said. “They do what they do.

“They’re always a good football team. Coach (Kief) Johnson always has them prepared to play.”

After this week, the Rams host Silver on Oct. 23 before finishing out the regular year at Lovington the following week.