Ram rampage: Rio Rancho shuts out Clovis 55-0

RIO RANCHO — A Ram Rampage.

Coming off a 52-12 victory, Rio Rancho one-upped their season opener with a 55-0 shutout over Clovis in week two.

Head Coach Nate Pino’s defense came out on a mission, racking up a fumble, an interception and a blocked punt all in the first quarter.

A stout defensive start set up quarterback Micah Takahashi and the Rams' offense to catch fire, scoring 42 first-half points.

“(Defense) absolutely set the tone,” Pino said. “It creates opportunities for the offense. We're playing on short fields, which helps us out a ton. They were flying around, great energy from the start.”

While it is hard to top a game where you won by 40 points, the Rams did just that on Friday night. Not just by scoreboard margin, but by the fundamentals.

“We had a lot of penalties last week, so we wanted to focus on those details. Take care of the little things; big things happen,” Pino said. “I thought we did a great job of that. Penalties were way down, created a bunch of turnovers, and offensively, we had a balanced attack.”

That balanced offense included senior receiver Parker Miller putting on a career-high three-touchdown night, with senior running back Ethan Rolon adding two touchdowns on the ground. Takahashi and senior receiver Jace Lee added scores as well, with senior Ryder Sibley bringing the game to a close with a rushing touchdown.

TOUCHDOWN: Rio RanchoMake it three for Miller on the night (his second TD on fourth down)PAT is good, 42-0 RR18 seconds left in the half (there’s those fireworks!)@RRObserver pic.twitter.com/4GvkF2xxFI

— Dan Allison (@danlallison) August 30, 2025

Senior cornerback Quintenn McKinley hauled in his third interception through only two games in the Rams’ defensive clinic. For reference, he had just one pick in all of the 2024 season.

Firing on all cylinders, the Rams will look to pack this energy with them on the bus down to Las Cruces on Thursday. Rio Rancho and the Bulldawgs are set for a 7 p.m. kick at the Field of Dreams.

“We got a darn good Las Cruces team that we're gonna go visit,” Pino said. “That'll give us a little bit of a barometer to see where we're at, because they're a top-tier team, for sure.”

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