Rams look to stay in district race against Sartans

After fighting through an injury-plagued start to the football season, Portales High finds itself with a chance to either win the District 4-2A championship or at least earn a trip to the postseason.

On Friday night, the Rams face district co-leader St. Pius in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium.

“They’re a good football team,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said of the Sartans (4-2, 2-0 district). “We’re out to get better every week. We’re starting to get healthy.”

St. Pius currently shares the top spot in the district with Manzano (5-1) while the Rams and Valencia (5-2, 2-1) are tied right behind them.

Although this is the first year the Sartans and Rams have been in the same district, they’ve played every year since 2018. The only wins for St. Pius in that stretch were a pair of 21-20 decisions.

Portales has won 32-0 and 41-0 in the past two campaigns, but Ramirez is ready to throw out the history books.

“Every game’s different, every year’s different,” Ramirez said. “I’m always big on this week’s game. All I care about right now is St. Pius. Our goal is to focus on that.”

After Friday’s game, the Rams have a week off before traveling to Albuquerque Academy for a Saturday contest on Oct. 26. They wrap up the regular season at home against Chaparral on Nov. 1.

Cats entertain Organ Mountain – At one point this season, Organ Mountain looked like a team Clovis High might be able to beat. Then the Las Cruces-based Knights turned things around, and they come into Friday’s District 3-6A clash at Leon Williams Stadium standing third in the seven-team district and with wins in three of their last four outings.

The Cats and Knights collide in a 7 p.m. kickoff, and the Wildcats (0-6, 0-2 district) will try again to break through.

“We’re just going to go out there, do our best and see what happens,” CHS coach Stan Hodges said. “They’re going to be a handful, that’s for sure.”

Organ Mountain (4-3, 2-1) dropped its first three games this fall, but has since won three of four – including a 41-40 overtime win at Carlsbad on Friday night.

“That was a big turning point for them,” Hodges said. “They just look like a better team. I think they’re just coming together.”

The Knights, coming off an 0-10 season, currently trail Las Cruces High (5-2, 3-0) and Centennial (6-0, 2-0) in the standings. They lost to Cruces 55-7 two weeks ago before rallying past the Cavemen.

Hodges said the Knights will get in a double-tight end look at times, but put extra linemen in those positions and try to take advantage of their size. They can also spread teams out, he said.

Despite last week’s lopsided loss, Hodges said the Cats did some good things, particularly on offense. He said he’s hopeful to get a couple of offensive linemen back this week who have been out with injuries.