Portales wins battle up front, romps over Robertson

Rams rush for 363 yards, capture first title since ’08

PORTALES — It was a deceiving halftime score Saturday as top-ranked and undefeated Robertson scored late in the first half against Portales to tie the Class 4A state championship game at 14-all.

In the second half, the Rams continued their dominance and the Cardinals ran out of breaks in losing in the final for the second straight season.

With the 43-14 win, No. 2 seed Portales (12-1) earned its first state title since 2008.

“Once we got our nerves taken care of and everything was good, we played solid football those last two quarters,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said. “Coming in, we felt we needed to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That was one of our keys, and if we could do that, we felt we could have a good night. And fortunately we did, and we had a good night.”

Portales didn’t just control the lines of scrimmage; it devoured it on both sides. The Rams ran at will behind quarterback Junior Ramirez, who ran for 165 yards and three touchdowns, and back Darion Ontiveros, who added 193 yards and two scores.

Meanwhile the Portales defense chased and harassed the Cardinals (12-1) throughout the game, limiting them to 117 total yards.

“When you win championships, it’s always in the trenches, and they kind of dominated us in the trenches,” Robertson coach Leroy Gonzalez said. “You try to do things with the personnel you have. Our kids played their hearts out. We played hard and didn’t give up. You have to give it to Portales. They played well today and they deserved it.”

After the two teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, Portales showed its might, grinding out a 17-play drive that took 7:36 before Ontiveros scored from four yards out.

A botched Portales punt led to an 8-yard Arjay Ortiz touchdown pass to Marc Grano, but that was essentially the end of the Cardinals’ day.

The Rams lost to Robertson in the semifinals last season after getting unhinged by a couple of turnovers, but they were not going to let that happen this time.

“It’s a tribute to our coaches, getting them calmed down,” coach Ramirez said. “Last year we made a couple of mistakes that hurt us and we weren’t able to recover. This year we made a couple of mistakes and we moved on to the next play. The outcome was much better.”

Portales scored on its first three possessions of the second half while holding the Cardinals to three first downs during that span as the lines took over.

“Our offensive line was getting a good push, and without them, we wouldn’t have gotten the yards that we got,” Junior Ramirez said.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have won this game. They were dedicated the whole year and they proved why they were one of the best offensive lines in the state of New Mexico. And our defense, our defensive line has been doing it all year, too. They’re animals. They proved why they’re animals.”