Stout Colts blank Portales

PORTALES - With the Portales Rams still technically its defending champion, following an abbreviated spring season with no title game, the field is wide open for the blue trophy in Class 4A.

However, the Rams might not have a chance to defend their crown, with the latest blow a 12-0 setback to a defensively stout Silver squad.

The visiting Colts (6-3, 2-1) held a punchless Ram offense to 72 yards and slowly took control of things in the second half.

Silver took the lead with a 20-yard third-quarter run by Mason Lockett and sealed things in the closing minutes - the nail in the coffin a right-side Aidan Granado rush for 30 yards.

In a game that kicked off at 5 p.m. due to a long bus trip for Silver, the postgame celebration was clearly a tight-knit group, with just 31 players dressed out and each player finding somebody else to award post-game credit before starting their focus on Ruidoso.

"Honestly, this is my first year and we're trying to build a program," Silver coach Jerome Ortiz said. "For some reason, a lot of my freshmen, when their season ended they didn't move up. I started with close to 60. Buying in, learning a new program, there are always those ones that are going to check in. I demanded guys that are going to come out with heart, guys that are gonna go no matter what the score is. These 31 guys are them."

Portales (2-7, 0-2) had difficulties all night against Silver, running just 29 offensive plays with only three plays going for 10 or more yards.

"They beat us up front, to be quite honest," Portales coach Jaime Remirez said. "And when they beat you up front, it doesn't matter what you run - inside or outside, quick passes, deep passes - because you don't have time. When we did get the ball out of the quarterback's hands quickly, it seemed like we would shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties. It was tough, and we couldn't get out of our own way."

Ortiz said the Colts, coming off a 48-16 loss against Lovington, had a pretty good idea what Portales was going to run most of the night due to extensive film work. Still, he said, the Rams made it a fight to the end.

"They've gotten a lot better from what I've seen on film," Ortiz said, before noting that everybody in 4A has proven themselves beatable. "They're a good team, and they might give Lovington a run."

Ramirez agreed 4A is wide open, but admitted it's a tough hill to overcome for a young Portales squad. Ramirez said he's been pleased with his team's effort, but the Rams' overall youth leads to two frequent outcomes. Either Portales give up a big play due to young mistakes, or being physically outmatched means the Ram defender is in the right spot but a more mature offensive player fights for a few extra yards - and what could have been 3rd and 4 is instead 3rd and 1.

Portales will head to Lovington to close the regular season. The Wildcats are coming off a 46-14 win over Ruidoso.