Rams scrimmage against Robertson

PORTALES – If nothing else, Portales High's football team was able to compete against an outside opponent on Friday night.

And with the thermometer near the 100-degree mark, the Rams may also have gotten a feel for what it might be like in Saturday's 1 p.m. season opener against Highland at Milne Stadium in Albuquerque.

"It was really hot, but you can't control what days you play on," senior guard-defensive end Nehemiah Yorfee said. "You just have to go out there and do your thing."

All in all, it was a good test for PHS against Las Vegas Robertson, a program which is consistently among the top ones in New Mexico Class 3A.

"We were tired of hitting each other," Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. "It was nice to go against some other people. We started slow and got better as the scrimmage progressed.

"We did some good things on defense, for sure. I thought we got better on offense as the scrimmage went on."

Ramirez said his main concern in the scrimmage was the offensive line, which is looking to replace four starters from last year's 9-3 squad. One of those candidates is the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Yorfee.

"We wanted to see how our pass-blocking was, how sharp we looked running our (receivers') routes were and our quarterback's ability to read the defense," Ramirez said. "We know some things are a process. We still have more improving to do."

Junior QB Paxton Culpepper sparked the offense with a couple of long touchdowns passes.

Yorfee also said it was good to go head-to-head with an outside opponent.

"I think we could've done better, but we're young in the offensive line," he said. "But we're senior-heavy this year."

Portales defeated Highland 31-16 in last year's season opener at Greyhound Stadium. The Hornets went on to post a record of 5-4 in 2022.