Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Elida junior T.J. Kennedy takes down Roy/Mosquero freshman Rhett Smith before he can release a pass during Friday's 52-31 victory for the Tigers over the Blue in a 6-man playoff quarterfinal tilt at Elida. The Tigers now play at top-seeded and unbeaten Logan on Friday night in the semifinal round.
ALBUQUERQUE – There probably won't need to be much scouting done for Portales' first-round opponent this week in the Class 4A football playoffs.
PHS (6-4) drew the No. 5 seed in the 12-team bracket, and will face 12th-seeded Chaparral (3-7) at 7 p.m. on Friday at Steve Loy Stadium. The Rams beat the Lobos 44-19 on Friday to end the regular season.
"It's a playoff game, and everybody's 0-0," Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said Sunday. "We're not expecting them to play it the same way they did the first time."
Friday's matchup was close for three quarters before the Rams outscored Chaparral 27-6 in the final stanza to win going away, clinching the program's 11th winning record in 13 seasons under Ramirez.
"It was a tight game," Ramirez said. "We had an outstanding fourth quarter. We can't overlook anybody."
Friday's winner advances to a quarterfinal matchup against fourth-seeded Bernalillo (8-2). The Spartans, former district rivals of the Rams, edged PHS 14-7 in a Sept. 6 matchup at Bernalillo.
Top-seeded Bloomfield (9-0), No. 2 St. Pius (8-2) and third-seeded Taos (7-3) also notched first-round byes. Other first-round matchups on Friday send No. 9 Moriarty to No. 8 Valencia and No. 11 Manzano to No. 6 Espanola Valley, while 10th-seeded plays at seventh-seeded Grants on Saturday.
The championship game is slated for November 30.
Class 2A – Defending champion Texico (9-0) drew the top seed in 2A and a first-round bye. In next week's quarterfinals, the Wolverines face the winner of Saturday's matchup sending ninth-seeded McCurdy (7-3) to No. 8 Navajo Prep (7-2).
Second-seeded Santa Rosa (7-3), No. 3 Legacy Academy (9-1) and No. 4 Tularosa (6-4) also have first-round byes. Other Saturday first-round tilts have 12th-seeded Laguna Acoma at No. 5 Eunice, No. 11 Cuba at No. 6 Loving and No. 10 Jal at No. 7 Raton.
Again, the finals are slated for Nov. 30.
Eight-man – Coming off a first-round bye in the 12-team bracket, defending champion Melrose (10-0) hosts ninth-seeded Lordsburg (5-5), a 60-6 winner over Mescalero on Friday, in a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Melrose. The Buffaloes, who have mercy-ruled all eight New Mexico opponents this season, posted a 52-0 victory over the Mavericks at home on October 18.
With a win, the Buffaloes will face either fourth-seeded Gateway Christian (6-2) or No. 5 Clayton (8-2), who play on Saturday, in next week's semifinal round. The championship game is set for Nov. 23.
Six-man – Second-seeded Grady (9-1) and fourth-seeded Elida (7-3) each won handily in Friday's quarterfinal round of the eight-team bracket. This week, the Bronchos host sixth-seeded Mountainair (7-2) while the Tigers visit top-seeded Logan (10-0) in 6 p.m. Friday kickoffs.
The winners advance to the Nov. 16 championship game.
