It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but the Rio Rancho Rams had no problem doing just that on Friday. They strolled past West Mesa with points to spare, taking the game 35-21. The win was just what Rio Rancho needed coming off of a 37-0 defeat in their prior contest.
Leading Rio Rancho to victory were Rayce Ramirez and Jj Arellano. Ramirez rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.7 yards per carry, while Arellano threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns. Ramirez was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 54 yards. Dominic Valencia did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 104 receiving yards.
Loss or not, West Mesa got some senior leadership from Elijah Brody who rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown and Marcus Sharp who gained 108 total yards and two touchdowns. Brody has been hot recently, having posted 100 or more rushing yards the last four times he's played.
Rio Rancho is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for West Mesa, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-5.
Rio Rancho will head out on the road to face off against Sandia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Sandia is on a five-game streak of home wins, Rio Rancho a three-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the field. West Mesa does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
