Rams look for bounce-back win against Jaguars

Portales High’s football team has developed a bit of a rivalry against Los Lunas-based Valencia over the past few years.

Now the teams find themselves in the same district as they prepare for Friday’s 7 p.m. clash at Eastern New Mexico University’s Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.

It’s the fourth year in a row the teams have played. After splitting a pair of tightly contested games the first two seasons, the Rams ran away to a 51-0 victory in 2023.

PHS coach Jaime Ramirez doesn’t expect a repeat of that on Friday night.

“They’re a very good football team,” he said. “They’re coached really well.”

While the Rams (2-3, 0-1 District 4-2A) dropped a 40-20 decision on Saturday at Manzano in their district opener, Valencia (4-1, 1-0) is coming off a 17-6 victory at home over Silver. Senior quarterback Aidan Harrington completed 11-of-14 passes for 82 yards and also ran 12 times for 98 yards and a touchdown.

“Offensively, they spread the ball around,” Ramirez said. “They’re probably 65 or 70 percent run, but (Harrington) also passes the ball.”

Defensively, the Jaguars have gone from a 4-3 look to a 3-4 set, Ramirez said, noting a number of players go both ways. “They’re adjusting to the team’s personnel,” he said.

The Rams hope to find some consistency after struggling at Manzano. Senior quarterback Tommy Lopez put Portales in front with a 5-yard run in the first quarter, and later had scoring passes to senior Kaidyn Cordova and sophomore Tommy Salgado, but Portales couldn’t overcome five turnovers.

Junior quarterback James Vautier completed 13-of-27 passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns for the Monarchs (5-1, 1-0), and also carried nine times for 61 yards and two scores.

“We struggled on both sides of the ball the whole game,” Ramirez said. “We played good defense in the second half and executed better on offense in the first half, but we just couldn’t put four quarters together.”

Cats face old rival – Still looking for its first win of the season, Clovis High entertains Carlsbad in a 7 p.m. start on Friday at Leon Williams Stadium.

The Wildcats defeated the Cavemen 33-23 at home a year ago. Carlsbad enters this year’s match at 2-3 and coming of a 35-13 District 6-5A setback at second-ranked Centennial last week.

The week before, Carlsbad notched a 35-6 victory over Cibola.

Senior quarterback Kason Perez completed 14-of-21 passes for 147 yards and two TDs for the Cavemen at Centennial. He also ran 12 times for 105 yards and a score.