Rams pull away to beat Chargers 27-7

ALBUQUERQUE – Shaking off the effects of having a field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown, Portales High finally got things going its way in the second half.

Senior quarterback Tommy Lopez ran for three scores and the Rams pulled away with three second-half tallies for a 27-7 District 2-4A victory over Albuquerque Academy on Saturday.

Portales (5-4, 3-2 district) can assure itself a tie for second place on Friday night when it hosts Chaparral (3-6, 2-3) in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Steve Loy Stadium. With a head-to-head win over Valencia (6-3, 3-2), the Rams – ranked sixth in Class 4A by MaxPreps – would win the tiebreaker from the Jaguars and help their seeding in the 12-team playoffs, with pairings to be released on Sunday by the New Mexico Activities Association.

Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said defense was the key to victory.

“We played solid defense throughout the game,” he said. “Offensively, we moved the ball up and down the field, but we had trouble putting it in the end zone in the first half.”

Portales missed a couple of early scoring opportunities against the Chargers (3-6, 2-3), then fell behind when Academy sophomore Grayson Staley returned the blocked field goal 70 yards for the game’s first points on the opening play of the second quarter.

Lopez tallied on an 11-yard run midway through the period to send the game into halftime tied. He added a 2-yard scoring run late in the third and a 3-yard run early in the fourth for a 21-7 advantage.

Freshman running back Slade Segovia capped off the win, going over from three yards out with three minutes to go.

Chaparral, located between Las Cruces and El Paso, is coming off a 41-6 loss at home to district champion St. Pius. If the Rams and Lobos have met before, it was before Ramirez took over the program in 2012.

Junior quarterback Israel Nieto has thrown for 1,100 yards and eight TDs this season. The leading receiver for the Lobos is sophomore Tyvin Howard with 28 catches for just over 500 yards.

While the Rams are likely already in the playoffs, a win on Friday could perhaps boost them up a notch or two in the seedings.

“I think it’s important that we play well,” Ramirez said. “It’d be nice to get a victory and give ourselves a chance to move up.”

Cats look to break through – Clovis High’s football team has one final chance to win a game and escape the District 3-6A cellar when the Wildcats (0-9, 0-6 district)) visit Alamogordo (1-8, 0-6) on Friday night.

Clearly, both teams have struggled mightily, but the Tigers have been close in district losses at Organ Mountain (18-10) and at Carlsbad (26-21). Their lone triumph was a 36-35, double-overtime decision over Piedra Vista at home on Sept. 13.

“They average around 82 plays a game,” Cats coach Stan Hodges said. “They run what I like to call a ‘NASCAR’ offense. They try to spread you out, not so much to throw, but to try to smash-mouth you to death.”

Junior quarterback Nathanael Best has hit on 57 percent of his passes for 627 yards and10 touchdowns, with eight interceptions. He also leads the team in rushing with 1,009 yards, including seven 100-yard outings, and seven TDs.

“They’re not a bad football team,” Hodges said. “They do what they can with what they’ve got.

“Defensively, their front seven are all juniors and seniors.”

The key for the Cats, he said, is ball control.

“We have to keep their offense off the field,” Hodges said. “We’re going to have to utilize the clock.”