Goddard runs over Rams

ROSWELL — Portales, 1-1 in Class 3A play so far, got a rude welcome to its first foray into Class 4A football for the season.

The host Goddard Rockets, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, built momentum behind a three-man attack of Jesus Baca, Tommy Spangler and Steven Chaves and rolled to a 42-0 victory Friday night at the Wool Bowl in Roswell.

Goddard (4-1), which travels to Clovis next week, racked up 363 yards of total offense and was never seriously threatened by Portales (2-3), who never got inside the opposition’s 30-yard line.

Portales stopped Goddard on the opening drive of the game, holding the Rockets on four downs after Spangler opened the game with a 38-yard run.

After that, Goddard seemed to have the Rams figured out. The Rockets got on the board as Baca executed a perfect play fake and found Ryan Najar on the right sideline for a 30-yard strike.

Goddard coach Sam Jernigan credited the Rams for their run defense, but felt his team made good adjustments to what Portales did.

“You don’t really know week to week what the other guys will do,” Jernigan said. “You can prepare all you want, but you don’t know what’s going to happen on the field.”

What happened on the field afterward was a Goddard rout. After a 34-yard field goal from Tyler Ortega, Baca found Chaves for a 9-yard score.

The final blow of the half came when Steven DuChance picked off an overthrow from Portales junior Mario Salazar and took it back 45 yards for the score.

A 25-yard field goal from Ortega midway through the third quarter put the 35-point running clock rule in effect, and Goddard got in one more score (a 5-yard run by Chaves) in the fourth.

Despite the score, Ram coach Glenn Johnson thought the team played well against one of Class 4A’s top teams.

“We lined up and did a lot of good things against the best football team we’ve played to date,” Johnson said.

The Rams are idle next week and will face Roswell the following Friday. The bye week is well timed, as three Rams suffered injuries during the game. Running back Eric Segovia, who had 29 yards rushing, and junior defensive back Kevin Gonzales suffered concussions, while linebacker Robert Kemp suffered a shoulder injury.

“With two weeks,” Johnson said, “it’s most likely they’ll be able to come back.”

Junior Cruz Ontiveros led Portales with 32 yards rushing, while Salazar threw for 107 yards.