Rams set to take on Bernalillo

If there were any chance Portales High’s football team would be looking ahead to next week’s District 4-4A and regular-season finale at Lovington, Rams coach Jaime Ramirez is quick to put the kibosh on it.

“Not for me,” Ramirez said when asked about the possibility. “We want to stay focused on one game at a time.”

So far, that philosophy has worked well for PHS (8-0, 1-0 district), which has outscored its foes by an average of more than 40 points a game.

Friday night, PHS – coming off five home outings and a bye over the last seven weeks – returns to the road to face Bernalillo (6-2, 0-1) in a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Spartans are coming off a 47-26 loss at Lovington, but Ramirez warns not to overlook them.

“They’re a good team, well-coached,” he said. “Last week was a close game; it was 13-6 at halftime. I just think Lovington played better in the second half.”

He said the Spartans are essentially a spread team on offense, and play an aggressive style on defense.

The teams have two common foes – Valley, which Bernalillo edged 12-6 in its opener, and Highland, an 18-14 win. Meantime, the Rams crushed both the Vikings (45-7) and the Hornets (45-0).

“It’s about matchups, too,” Ramirez said. “You can’t just look at scores. We know coming in that they’re a very good football team.”

Senior quarterback Uriel Castro has thrown for more than 1,200 yards this season, with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. His favorite target is senior wide receiver Mason McChristian, who has nine of the TD receptions and 33 catches for 615 yards.

The top running back is senior Diego Molinar with 323 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

Several players go both ways for the Spartans. Defensive leaders include junior inside linebacker Lee Miller and sophomore inside linebacker Mario Molinar.

The Rams this week moved up from third back into the No. 1 spot in Max Preps’ Class 4A poll, with Bloomfield (8-0) staying second and Lovington (5-3) going from first to third.

Cats return to action – Clovis High is back at it this week after a bye, and the Wildcats (3-5, 2-0 District 5-6A) can position themselves for another run at a postseason berth when they visit Santa Fe Capital, their second trip to that city in three weeks.

Clovis is also in a position where it doesn’t want to peek ahead, looking at a possible showdown with Los Lunas (7-2, 3-0) next week at Leon Williams Stadium. In last year’s meeting at Los Lunas, both teams came in 3-0 in district play but the Tigers cruised to a 54-0 victory.

While the Jaguars (1-7, 0-2) have struggled, six of their losses since a season-opening 33-17 victory at Grants have been by eight points or less.

The exception? A 57-7 demolition at Los Lunas on Sept. 29.

Last Saturday, Capital went for a 2-point conversion and the win in overtime at Albuquerque High, only to come up short and lose to the Bulldogs 14-13.

“They play really hard and physical,” Cats coach Andrew McCraw said of the Jaguars. “We’ve got to take care of business this week. We can’t overlook them.”

McCraw said the week off allowed the Cats to get work in on both Capital and Los Lunas.

“We got a lot of good work in,” he said. “We’re healthier right now (than before the bye). We got a lot of kids back this week.”

Top players Capital include senior quarterback Joseph Rodriguez and senior wide receiver/cornerback Elijah Rodriguez. “I think Elijah is definitely their go-to guy on defense,” McCraw said.

“I’m really proud of our effort in district so far,” he said. “These seniors have done a good job; they’re practicing hard. I think they realize the time is almost up for some of them.”