2021 Team Preview: Portales Rams

<strong>Portales 2021 Preview</strong> Head Coach: Jaime Ramirez Mascot: Rams Twitter: @PHS_RamFootball; @phsramathletics (AD) Colors: Red, Black, White Enrollment: 762 Spring Record: 4-1 Key Players: RB [player_tooltip player_id="134984" first="Ethan" last="Conrow"], OLB [player_tooltip player_id="134976" first="Brandon" last="Blidi"], OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id="135624" first="Dylan" last="Looney"], OL/OLB [player_tooltip player_id="134973" first="Braydon" last="Mignard"], DB [player_tooltip player_id="134982" first="Hagen" last="Rains"]. Breakout Star: RB [player_tooltip player_id="134984" first="Ethan" last="Conrow"]. Overview: The most important question facing Portales in the preseason was finding a replacement for dynamic dual threat quarterback Baylor Diaz, who threw for 467 yards and rushed for 445 yards in the four-game spring schedule. His successor” Possibly his younger brother, <strong>Devin Diaz</strong>. His primary competition has been sophomore <strong>Zane Mayberry</strong>. Portales returns its second leading RB in the spring, senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134984" first="Ethan" last="Conrow"]</strong>. He was the starter in the spring, but has had to fight off several competitors in preseason camp, including senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134976" first="Brandon" last="Blidi"]</strong>, among others. Youth dominates the wide receiver corps, meaning the Rams are inexperienced catching the football. All the starters return in the trenches, both O-Line and D-Line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="135624" first="Dylan" last="Looney"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134973" first="Braydon" last="Mignard"]</strong> anchor the O-Line. OLB Cade Cameron spearheads the second level of the Portales defense. Conrow also plays OLB. Looney, Blidi and Mignard, all two-way players, return to bolster the D-Line. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="134982" first="Hagen" last="Rains"]</strong> is the top name in the secondary.   <strong> </strong> Schedule: Portales has three straight home games in September before a stretch of four straight road games. The Oct. 29 showdown with Lovington could be for the district title. Aug. 21 at Hope Christian (Sat.) Aug. 27 Bye Sept. 3 WEST LAS VEGAS Sept. 10 VALENCIA Sept. 17 ST. PIUS X Sept. 25 at Rio Grande (Sat.) Oct. 1 at Dexter Oct. 9 at Hatch Valley (Sat.) Oct. 15 at Ruidoso Oct. 22 SILVER Oct. 29 at Lovington Top Storyline: Can Portales continue its run of excellence in Class 4A? Final Thoughts: Portales won the Class 4A state championship in 2019 in dominating fashion, winning its three playoff games by an average margin of 26 points. Over the past six seasons (2015-2020), Portales has compiled an impressive 57-10 record. The Rams aren’t the favorites this season but they’ll still contend for a bye in November. Portales should have a solid running game, but with a new quarterback and an entirely new wide receiver corps, the passing game is a question mark. Portales lost some talent from the spring, but the Rams aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Coach’s Comments: “We used the summer to get back into the weight room and get stronger and learn our schemes. We have a bunch of new guys coming in, sophomore we’re trying to prepare for this next season. . .We return a running back who’s played the last couple of years, but he has a bunch of guys nipping at his heels that want to be the starter too. . . .Along the O-Line and D-Line, we return everybody.” – Jaime Rodriguez. https://twitter.com/BenjaminGolan/status/1417191435594575878 https://twitter.com/BraydonMignard/status/1373463471703138306