Rams look to buck Elks again

Staff writer

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Some of the seniors on the Portales Rams football team are willing to dye to win.

Several of the seniors wanted to do something different heading into their Class 4A home playoff \game against the Pojoaque Valley Elks tonight at Greyhound Stadium. So they dyed their hair blonde.

“For us, it’s our last season as a group together, so we came together and said lets do something crazy,” senior safety Paul Conrow said. “So me, Matt (Martinez) and a few other guys decided let’s dye our hair beach blonde.

“It’s an interesting look, so it was a good idea.”

Rams coach Jamie Ramirez doesn’t have a problem with it, as long as they stay focused on the game.

“Whatever they want to do to help them draw closer to each other, I’m all for it,” Ramirez said.

“As long as its legal and it doesn’t hurt what we’re trying to do as a team, it’s all in good character and fun so I’m all for it.”

Senior receiver John Young, who did not dye his hair, knows that win or lose this could be his last Portales home game and it means a lot to him.

“It means a lot to us, we don’t want to lose,” said Young, who plans on attending West Texas A&M in the fall. “This is (probably) our last time playing in front of our home crowd here, so we want to come and play strong.”

The Rams (6-4) played the Elks (5-5) earlier this season, scoring 40 points in the first half on their way to a 52-13 win. But Ramirez has been telling his team all week not to take a minute off as they prepare for the rematch.

“I want them to understand that you can’t take a team lightly,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “You can’t go in there thinking hey just because you beat them earlier in the season, that they’re just going to lay down.

“They want to win as bad as we do and right now everyone is 0-0, so they’re going to come in with a lot of confidence and revenge on their minds.”

With the weather expected to be in the low 30s, the Rams may lean on their formidable running game. Against the Elks in October, they rushed for 252 yards.

Bronte Staugaard was the lead horse with 177 yards on 13 carries and three touchdowns while Martinez had 73 yards and a TD on eight carries, but Ramirez didn’t want his players to dwell on the past.

“We’re not looking at what we did in that game,” he said. “It’s a new season and a new game. Running the ball is a big part of what we do, but we do it through execution and that’s how we have to do it in this game.”