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Late Rams bid falls short

PORTALES - Early on, it looked like Portales High might blow out West Las Vegas.

Then the teams settled into a slugfest and it seemed perhaps the last side with the ball would win.

The Rams were down by two but in position late to pull out the victory, only to turn it over on downs at the West Las Vegas 32 with two minutes left. The Dons then got a fourth touchdown pass from freshman quarterback J.J. Perea on the final play, capping a spectacular performance in a 46-38 win at Greyhound Stadium on Friday night.

The teams combined for 801 total yards, including 475 by the Dons (3-0) with Perea completing a startling 17-of-19 passes for 380 yards.

"It was a shootout," Dons coach Adrian Gonzales said. "It probably took a couple of years off my life, but games like this are fun."

On the other hand, it was a tough one for the Rams to swallow. They put together a 12-play, 81-yard scoring drive following the opening kickoff, and led 13-0 after the first quarter.

In the end, they couldn't stop the potent Dons attack.

"We just take what the defense gives us," said Gonzales, whose squad is averaging 42 points a game so far. "We didn't expect to put up points like that, but it's about execution. That's the biggest thing."

Vigil completed his first 10 passes of the game, then hit on five in a row during a stretch of the second half.

"We try to put him in good positions," Gonzales said. "We kind of scheme to take the pressure off him."

Senior Brayden Mignard ran for three touchdowns for Portales (0-2). Meantime, sophomore Devin Diaz played the entire game at quarterback and went 12-of-21 for 180 yards and three TDs - two to sophomore Zane Mayberry.

"We fought today, and I was proud of that," Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. "We had a chance at the end and just came up short. We've just got to do the little things better."

The Rams pulled to 40-38 with 4:28 left when Diaz capped an 11-play, 62-yard march with a fourth-and-goal, 10-yard TD toss to sophomore Andru Ontiveros. But a 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.

PHS had one more possession after a low Dons punt snap gave the Rams possession at the West Las Vegas 36 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. But Mignard was thrown for a 4-yard loss on third-and-2, and a rollout pass by Diaz fell incomplete on fourth down.

Sophomore Elijah Kladiibah played slotback in this one after getting the start under center in the Rams' season opener at Hope Christian on Aug. 21. He and Diaz have been competing at QB throughout preseason practices.

"I though Diaz played a really good game tonight," Ramirez said. "We looked good at times in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams), but we didn't play consistently in any of them for the whole game."

The Rams are at home again on Friday when they take on Valencia in a 7 p.m. kickoff.

 
 
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