Rams blow out Dons with dominant second half

Trailing for the first time in three games this season, Portales High’s football team didn’t change a whole lot at halftime.

No doubt, though, the Rams looked like a completely different team. They erased a 14-7 deficit by scoring on each of their six second-half possessions for a 48-14 win over West Las Vegas at Greyhound Stadium.

Junior quarterback Paxton Culpepper threw for a personal-best six touchdowns, five coming in the final two stanzas. He had a five-TD night last season in a win over the Dons at Las Vegas.

“It was probably the worst first half we’ve had in a while; usually we come out firing,” said Culpepper, who completed his final eight passes and 12 of his last 14 while finishing 16-of-22 for 350 yards. “But it was probably the best second half we’ve had.”

PHS (3-0), which had outscored its first two opponents by a combined 99-0, led 7-0 on a Culpepper-to-Tommy Lopez pass in the opening stanza, but the Dons (1-2) got P.J. Perea scoring aerials of 41 yards to junior Daniel Bustamante and 18 yards to junior Patrick Rodriguez Jr., the latter coming with 18 seconds left in the half.

It was all Portales after that.

“We had a really good first series, and then it just seemed like we went flat,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. “They’re better than the first two teams we played. They came out and hit us, and hats off to West Las Vegas for that.”

Portales had only four first downs and was outgained 207-105 in the opening two stanzas. After halftime, though, PHS rang up 268 total yards while holding the Dons to six first downs and 53 total yards.

“The defense stepped up in the second half,” Culpepper said. “It was pretty impressive.”

Leading just 21-14, Culpepper threw two touchdown passes each to seniors Andru Ontiveros and Braden Beck in the final period as the Rams pulled away.

Beck finished the night with five catches for 128 yards, while senior Zane Mayberry caught six balls for 99. Many of the receptions were short passes over the middle, with Rams receivers providing YAC at the end of the plays.

“They were giving that to us the whole game,” Culpepper said. “We just had to go do it.”

Perea, a junior who is a third-year starter for the Dons, completed 16-of-28 passes for 192 yards. But he was just 5-of-13 in the second half and had a pass intercepted by Rams senior safety Devin Diaz.

“The second half, we came out ready to play,” Ramirez said. “We started executing on offense, and playing great defense. We’re pretty good when we do things right.”

It was the first of three consecutive home games for Portales, which hosts Valencia on Friday. The West Las Vegas tilt began a stretch of five home games plus a bye for the Rams over a seven-week stretch.