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Rams home at last

Portales makes Greyhound Stadium debut versus West Las Vegas

PORTALES — If history’s any indication, the Portales Rams will have their fourth 3-0 start in their last five seasons.

While the history is strongly in Portales’ favor when it comes to West Las Vegas — 21 wins in 22 tries, the lone mark a game the Rams won and forfeited later for using an ineligible player — none of it’s really coming to Greyhound Stadium on Friday.

Or, as succinctly put by Portales coach Jaime Ramirez, “Last year’s last year.”

The Rams, 36-0 winners over the Dons on the road last year, enter an arguably favorable stretch of the season with three straight home games followed by a bye. And it somewhat feels earned after two long trips to open the season.

But Portales is taking little for granted.

“We just have to play hard, hit for sure and play as a team,” said senior Jayden Killette, who had a second-half interception in Saturday’s 49-6 win at St. Michael’s. “We’ve got a lot of good players who each bring something, and we’ve got to play together.”

Ramirez figures the Dons will provide a challenge, especially given the carrot of potentially knocking off the top-ranked team in Class 4A.

“They are a scrappy team,” Ramirez said of the Dons. “They get after you, they’re well coached. They’re 2-0 for a reason.”

Under Adrien Gonzales, now in his sixth season leading the Dons, the team has been on the upward trajectory with three consecutive winning seasons and a good start on a fourth with wins over Moriarty (25-6) to open the season and last week at Santa Rosa (46-16).

The Dons reached last season’s Class 3A semifinals, where they fell to eventual state champion Dexter — coincidentally, a road opponent for Portales Oct. 11.

“The quarterback really slings it,” Ramirez said of senior John Balizan. “Their passing offense is super good, and they do enough in the run game to keep teams honest.

“They’re thinking, ‘Let’s go up to Portales and shock everybody.’ We have to come out and show we’re the better team.”

Portales held its first practice of the week just a little after 7 p.m. Monday at Greyhound Stadium. The timing of the practice let everybody squeeze as much Labor Day weekend out as possible, and the practice marked the first time Portales has been on its home field since its mid-July appearance at the Eastern New Mexico University 7-on-7 challenge.