Rams beat Ruidoso to improve to 2-0

PORTALES - Before this summer, Portales High junior Braden Beck never really had an inkling to play football. Then, after hearing from some of his peers, he decided to give it a try.

Beck has made quick progress, and is playing a receiver position on offense and cornerback on defense for the Rams. He helped them post a 26-14 victory over Ruidoso on Thursday night at Greyhound Stadium.

Beck caught two passes for 82 yards, including a 40-yard TD strike from sophomore quarterback Paxton Culpepper early in the second quarter as the Rams (2-0) opened a 12-0 lead.

The Warriors (1-1) countered with a 64-yard touchdown drive, but PHS mounted a 69-yard scoring march of its own, capped by senior running back Emmanuel Diahn's 4-yard TD run, and stayed in control throughout.

Ruidoso scored late off a Rams turnover, then tried to make it even closer in the final minutes. But Beck picked off a Cooper Pritchett pass in the end zone with five seconds left.

"My friends wanted me to play, and I was like, 'All right,'" said Beck, who also plays basketball and participates in track at PHS. "It's pretty nerve-racking, but you've just got to show up."

He worked out with the Rams over the summer, and coach Jaime Ramirez said he knew Beck had a chance to contribute despite his lack of experience.

"He's a heck of an athlete and really aggressive," Ramirez said. "That's a good combination for football. And he has really good hands."

Culpepper had not been feeling well earlier Thursday, Ramirez said, and left the game shortly before halftime.

"He was feeling sick at halftime, so we sent him home," Ramirez said. "His sinuses have been bad the whole week."

Junior Devin Diaz, who started at QB last season for PHS, stepped in and helped the Rams hold the fort.

"I thought he did a good job of running the offense," Ramirez said.

Ruidoso, coming off a 20-0 win over Gadsden in its opener, had 87 yards in penalties and three turnovers. Two of Portales' scoring drives covered 15 and 24 yards after Warriors mistakes.

"Penalties hurt us this week; we didn't have that last week (in a 20-0 win over Gadsden)," Ruidoso coach Kief Johnson said. "We gave them great field position all night long."

Diahn, who had issues with leg cramps at times during the game, nonetheless posted his second 100-yard outing of the season. He finished with 136 yards on 20 carries, scoring three times, and now has seven of the Rams' nine touchdowns so far.

"I thought we came out a little tight," Ramirez said. "We played great defense the whole night, and we responded well when they scored their first points."

Beck said the Rams struggled to put the Warriors away.

"I feel like we just lost focus at times," he said.

Senior running back Kaden Sago had 95 yards rushing for Ruidoso, and score both Warriors touchdowns on three-yard runs.

Portales hits the road for the first time this week when it travels to West Las Vegas for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.