Five years of futility against the Clovis Wildcats came to an end Friday night at Rio Rancho Stadium, after junior defensive back thwarted a ‘Cats comeback by intercepting a second-down pass in the end zone.

Foley said all the Rams knew Rio Rancho had been beaten five times in as many previous meetings with Clovis (3-2),

“Coaches have been talking all year, this could be the year we can make history,” Foley said. “No team from Rio Rancho has beaten Clovis. We knew that we were going to come through and we were going to make history, that we were the better team and we were better coached.”

The Rams celebrate their hard-fought victory as the band plays the school's fight song Friday night.

The game was a memorable one, with a roller-coaster second half.

In the first half, Clovis intercepted two Tyler Baker passes and turned them into 10 points.

Baker, meanwhile, chucked 30- and 10-yard scoring passes to Adam Shapiro in the second quarter, which ended with the Rams (3-2) owning a 14-10 lead.

Rio Rancho kicked off to start the second half, and on the Wildcats’ first play, Quran Wiggins — limited to less than 20 yards on 10 first-half carries – broke free for a 70-yard gallop into the end zone. The point-after gave the visitors a 17-14 lead.

The Rams went nowhere on their four third-period possessions, making only one first down.

Clovis had the ball as the fourth quarter began and marched southward from their own 8 to the Rams’ 30, where they faced fourth-and-five.

A pass that may have been caught, juggled by a Clovis receiver, was ruled incomplete and the Rams took over after that errant 14-play possession.

Nine plays later, Baker had the Rams in the end zone, finding Zack Rogers all alone in the back of the end zone and hooking up with him on a 26-yard strike for a 20-14 lead. And, as he had done after the Rams’ first two TDs, Rogers nailed the PAT.

Less than four minutes remained in the game and the ‘Cats again drove downfield, aided by a 15-yard pass interference call and entering the red zone with little more than a minute to play.

After a first-down pass fell incomplete, the Wildcats tried for a TD pass, which Foley picked off.

Baker took a knee three plays in a row to exhaust the clock and the Rams had won.

“We kind of put it together tonight and I thought our defense played a fantastic game tonight. I can’t ask anymore from these guys,” lauded first-year head coach Dave Howes. “We put in some pretty complex things on Tuesday.

Stopping the run was the key, he said, after opposing teams have pretty much been running at will through the Rams’ defense.

Howes said the Wildcats netted only 58 rushing yards in the first half, so Wiggins’ long run could have been a back-breaker.

“We knew other than one busted play, that first play (in the second half) sure didn’t look good, but we knew we had them sniffed out on the run,” Howes said. “So we knew they would have to go to the air and we felt comfortable with a running Clovis team to try to put it in the air, and they did. I thought our DBs did a great job.”

Jerod Baker, promoted from the junior varsity, and Chris Sierra had first-half interceptions for the Rams, who had lost 20-14 and 38-8 games with the Wildcats in Rio Rancho in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

RAMifications: The Rams face No. 2 Manzano Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Wilson Stadium. It’s a Tyler Showdown, the Rams’ Tyler Baker squaring off against Monarchs QB Tyler Krueger. The Rams and Monarchs have split four previous meetings.

…Senior linebacker Jake Pearson said he’s been cleared to return to action Thursday against the Monarchs. He’s been plagued with a leg injury, suffered in the opener at Hobbs. Unfortunately, defensive back and punter Gino Satriana Jr. suffered an apparent ACL injury and may be lost for the rest of the season.