Portales | Saturday, August 28, 2022 | MaxPreps
The Portales Rams hosted Ruidoso for the second game of the 2022 season. Kickoff was at 7 PM at Greyhound Stadium with hundreds in attendance.
The Rams added to the scoreboard first, when #23 Emmanuel Diahn rushed 8 yards for 6 points. Unfortunately, the point after was missed. But, that started the momentum of the game in the Rams’ direction.
It wasn’t until the 2nd period that Ruidoso scored, tying the game at 6-6. The Rams answered though and scored another touchdown. #1 Paxton Culpepper completed a 40 yard pass to #3 Braden Beck for another 6 points. The Rams tried for a rushing 2-point conversion, but were stopped by Ruidoso setting the score at 12-6. Then, right before the half, #23 Emmanuel Diahn scored a touchdown with a 4 yard rush, moving the score to 18-6.
A few minutes into the 3rd, Portales’ starting quarterback, #1 Culpepper was taken out due to an injury, and #5 Devin Diaz came in. Not too long after Diaz’s start, #23 Emmanuel Diahn scored another rushing touchdown, putting the Rams ahead 24-6. A 2-point conversion where #5 Diaz completed a pass to #11 Zane Mayberry, successfully bumped the Rams to 20-points ahead of their opponent.
The Portales defense continued to hold strong, after having forced a fumble in the first half, with #13 Xavier Tarpeh intercepting a Ruidoso pass in the 4th. Shortly after, Ruidoso managed to tack on another 8 points, minimizing their deficit to 26-14. Portales was stopped from scoring again, but nah rained their lead, and won the game with a final score of 26-14.
After last week’s win over Highland, Portales is now 2-0 at the start of this season. Their next game is Friday, September 2 in Las Vegas, NM against West Las Vegas High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM.
