Rams ride defense to win at Goddard

FARMINGTON – Clovis High’s scheduled football season opener on Friday night against Farmington was pushed back a day to to lightning and inclement weather.

The Wildcats and Scorpions were scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. kickoff on Saturday.

CHS returns home on Friday night to take on Rio Rancho at Leon Williams Stadium.

Portales 22, Roswell Goddard 16 – At Roswell, senior quarterback Paxton Culpepper threw for a pair of touchdowns and the Rams opened their campaign with a 22-16 victory over the host Rockets at the Wool Bowl.

PHS led 22-16 before holding on through a scoreless final frame.

“We played great defense all night,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. “We were a little sloppy at times on offense, and our special teams let them have some great field position.”

Culpepper threw a 5-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Xavier Tarpeh in the second stanza. Senior Kaidyn Cordova then run on for two extra points after a missed snap on the attempted conversion kick, and the Rams carried an 8-3 lead into halftime.

After the Rockets took a 9-8 lead early in the third canto, the Rams rallied back on a 10-yard pass from Culpepper to senior Joel Lujan and a 30-yard run on a counter play by senior Dallas Lozano. Portales added a 2PAT after the former score on a run by Lujan.

“It was just a hard-fought game for both of us,” Ramirez said. “We were just getting after each other.”

The Rams are set for their home opener at Greyhound Stadium on Friday night against rival Lovington, which beat Portales in the District 4-4A and regular-season finale last year and then repeated the feat in the Class 4A championship game three weeks later at Greyhound Stadium.

The Wildcats have moved up to Class 5A this fall.

“We’re rivals, so you know it’s going to be a competitive ballgame and a tough, hard-fought game,” Ramirez said.