Rams’ O-line shrugs off slow start

A revamped offensive line that returned one starter began the season slow, but has picked up the pace in recent weeks.

Comprised of two seniors, a junior and two sophomores, the offensive line has sprung junior running back Bronte Staugaard for 564 yards and 12 touchdowns in the last three games, all wins.

“I think we’re going to be a big factor the rest of the season,” senior center Drew Jackson said. “We we’re really rough in our first game, but now we have a rhythm and we’ve improved every day.

“We don’t get much glory in the game, so we take pride in ourselves knowing we did a good job.”

Sophomore tackle Aaron Hernandez is looking tom keep the win streak alive.

“Our goal is the district championship and a state title, if we get there, we’re going to look back on this streak as the starting point,” Hernandez said. “Right now we have a lot of confidence and focus and that’s going to help us.”

Portales (3-3) opens District 4-4A play at home tonight against Hope Christian tonight.

“I think it’s extremely important to start off the district schedule with a win,” Portales coach Jamie Ramirez said.

Hope Christian beat Portales 42-32 last year with then sophomore quarterback Caleb Meyer-Hagen throwing five touchdown passes. Ramirez said Meyer-Hagen and the Huskies were able to take advantage of defensive mistakes

Ramirez said his staff has been emphasizing doing the small things on defense and it’s paid off during their three-game win streak when they’ve allowed less that 20 points a game.

“We just focus on assignment defense and being in the right spot and making form tackles and attacking downhill when they run the ball,” Ramirez said.

Hope Christian (2-4) snapped a two-game losing streak last week with its win over Bernalillo.

“They like to put seven in the box and run a cover-three defense, so if we can, we’ll run in between the tackles, and if they try to adjust, we’ll attack on the outside,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said his team’s confidence is at a high level right now.

“I think that every week we win it gives our team more confidence. When we were 0-3, the doubt was starting to set in and it could’ve been real easy for us to lose focus on our goals and aspirations. But we got better as the season went on and we started to get some wins and the guys stayed focused and it paid off.”

Gameday

Hope Christian at Portales

When: 7 p.m. today

Where: Greyhound Stadium

Records: Hope Christian 2-4, Portales 3-3

Last week: Portales beat Pojoque Valley 52-13; Hope Christian beat Bernalillo 36-7

Last meeting: 2013, Hope Christian won 42-32