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With a senior-laden roster, the Portales Rams figured they’d have a decent football team this fall.
When they added junior running back Jesus Davalos, a transfer from Floyd last Christmas, everything came into focus.
As potent as the Rams’ spread-attack passing game was this year, it was made far more dangerous with Davalos lining up in the backfield with senior quarterback Michael Trujillo.
Davalos led the Rams in rushing and receiving as Portales (10-3) earned its first Class 3A state championship in 20 years, dismantling District 4-3A rival Lovington 48-10 in the finals — it was also the Rams’ first win over the Wildcats in 12 years.
Portales had a bevy of capable receivers and made every effort to spread opponents’ defenses.
With Davalos, they had a more-than-legitimate running threat as well.
“We’ve got other guys who can play back there as well, but he gives us something special,” third-year Rams coach Andy Correll said. “And our front (offensive line) has done a tremendous job of getting him in the open.”
Trujillo often completed passes to half-dozen or more receivers in a game — nine caught at least one pass in an early-season 63-35 loss to Texas Class 2A Division I finalist Muleshoe — and that’s one reason the attack was so explosive.
About the time a defense focused on taking away the pass, though, Davalos could make them pay in a hurry with elusive, open-field runs.
Davalos finished the season with 29 touchdowns — 17 rushing, 12 receiving — with 1,632 yards on the ground and 996 receiving. He rushed for at least 100 yards in eight games.
Meantime, Trujillo passed for 3,789 yards and 42 TDs, including 409 yards and six scores in the championship game.
During a midseason interview Davalos said the reason he came to Portales was to challenge himself at a higher level after playing 8-man ball at Floyd.
“I came at a great time,” he said. “We’ve got five very good linemen right now.
“To have the success I’ve had, a lot of it is due to my teammates. But I’ve been able to pick up the system and run with it.”
Portales started the season with a 51-7 thumping of traditional 3A power Las Vegas Robertson. The Cardinals were going through some inner turmoil at the time and trying to rebuild after a series of championship runs under former Clovis High assistant Chad Roanhaus, who left after last season to take the job at New Mexico Highlands.
In the end, losses to Muleshoe and Class 4A state champion Roswell Goddard (64-19) were mere blips on the radar. And things set up well for a run to the title — with 18 seniors on the roster, the Rams played their final five games at home, including all three playoff contests.
While Portales averaged just under 40 points a game — nearly 48 in the final five games — the Rams’ defense also picked up its play as the season wound down. After the loss to Goddard, Portales allowed 134 points in its final eight games, an average of less than 17 per outing.
“I’ve watched these kids play from Little League,” longtime defensive coordinator Mark McAfee said before the title game. “I felt if they just progressed … I thought we could be where we are right now.”
The narrow loss at Lovington during district play served as motivation as well, and when Correll won a coin flip to determine home field he figured his team’s chances were pretty good.
“Lovington’s a great football team, but I knew that coming in here would be pretty hard,” he said. “Our kids just executed to the level they can.”
Roster
No. Name Pos. Yr.
10 Rick Bergman WR/DB Sr.
12 Logan Erf WR/DB Sr.
13 Brandon Adkins WR/OLB Sr.
15 Michael Trujillo QB/DB Sr.
16 Brandon McAfee WR/ILB Sr.
18 Steven Howard WR/DB Sr.
20 Shawn Sites WR/OLB Sr.
21 Jesus Davalos RB/DB Jr.
22 Eddie Martinez WR/DB Jr.
25 Saul Ontiveros WR/OLB Jr.
30 Cris Mendoza RB/OLB So.
32 Zack Terry RB/OLB Jr.
33 Cody Creek WR/ILB Sr.
34 Shawn Carrasco WR/DB Jr.
35 P.J. Carrillo RB/ILB So.
38 James Salgado WR/DB So.
40 Adrian Calamaco WR/DB So.
41 Jeffrey Collins WR/OLB So.
42 Lucas Banda QB/DB So.
43 Erik Searle WR/OLB Jr.
44 Matt Craig RB/ILB Jr.
45 Nick Bliss WR Sr.
48 Ryan Hay WR/DB So.
50 Humberto Molina OT/DT So.
54 William Porter G/ILB Jr.
55 Eric Aguilar T/DE Sr.
56 Sid Duran T/DE Sr.
60 Junior Olivas G/DE Sr.
61 Justin Strawn C/DT So.
62 Garth Dotson G/DE Jr.
65 Jamaal Howard G/DE So.
66 Adrian Gutierrez T/ILB Sr.
67 Ethan Grubbs G/DT Sr.
68 Kendall Moore G/DE So.
70 Devon Stinson G/DT Sr.
72 Seth Hailer T/DE Sr.
76 Pablo Urioste C/DT Sr.
79 Nathan Windsor T/DE So.
80 Michael Banda WR/DE Jr.
81 Raul Santibanez WR/DB Sr.
83 Jacob Rutherford WR/OLB Jr.
84 Cameron Carling WR/OLB Jr.
85 Garrett Hancock WR/ILB So.
86 Lukas Pickard WR/OLB Sr.
88 Chris Carby WR/OLB Jr.
Head coach: Andy Correll. Assistsant coaches: Chris Bachicha, Mark McAfee, Jeremy Berry, Art Ontiveros, Mark Kemp, Patrick Crowley, Christopher Smith.
Results (10-3)
at Robertson W 51-7
at Muleshoe L 35-63
Clovis JV W 22-0
at Raton W 64-21
Roswell Goddard L 19-64
St. Michael’s W 35-0
at Roswell High W 33-24
at Lovington L 14-17
Albuquerque Academy W 60-20
Ruidoso W 48-24
Class 3A playoffs
Cobre W 40-13
Bloomfield W 42-26
Lovington W 48-10
View a photo gallery of Portales vs. Bloomfield
View a photo gallery of Portales vs. Cobre
View a photo gallery of Portales vs. Ruidoso
View a photo gallery of Portales vs. Albuquerque Academy
View a photo gallery of Portales vs. Muleshoe
