Rams cruise in second half

STAFF WRITER

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Coming into the game against West Las Vegas, Portales coach Jaime Ramirez said the Dons were a mirror-image of the Rams as both teams ran the same offense and defensive play styles.

For the first half, that appeared to be true as Portales went into half-time with a 14-12 lead. Then came the third quarter and Portales (3-0) quickly shattered that illusion by scoring 41 unanswered to cruise to a 55-12 victory.

The Rams were plagued by turnovers in the first half and had trouble stopping the aerial attack for West Las Vegas’ (2-1). Suffice it to say, Ramirez had material for his halftime speech.

“I told them we didn’t play Ram football those first two quarters,” he said. “We were sluggish. We played slow and we played with no intensity. We came out in the second half and the boys responded like I know they should have from the first snap.”

Thomas Tulk, who wasn’t on the football team last season, took the third quarter kickoff and ran it back into the end zone. The rout was on from there.

In addition to Tulk, Tyrese Dawson made his season debut and he didn’t disappoint as he caught a touchdown pass in the first half and then ran in three touchdowns in the second half.

“Tyrese did outstanding,” Ramirez said. “I thought it was a good team effort. Our offense and defensive line took over in the second half like I knew they would.”

Offensive production was great, but it would have all be for naught if the Rams defense didn’t step up and shut down the Dons like they did.

“Jeremy Karngbaye had an outstanding game defensively,” Ramirez said. “Once again Darion (Ontiveros) ran the ball well and so did Mark Lovato.”

While the Rams celebrate the seventh time in school history they’ve started a season 3-0, they are at home again on Friday to take on St. Michael's. They’ll be looking for their second-straight 4-0 start and second in school history.