Usually, when a quarterback throws for more than 550 yards and throws six touchdown passes, his team wins.

Rio Rancho High School senior QB Tyler Baker did just that Friday night, but the host Rams (7-4), the sixth seed for this season’s Class 5A playoffs, were beaten 56-43 by 11th-seeded Hobbs (4-7).

“You know, the turnovers cost us,” coach Dave Howes lamented. “The turnovers cost us.

Dave Howes; disappointed in season's final game, a loss at home.

“All those yards are nice and all those touchdown are nice, but the turnovers cost us,” he said.

Baker threw four interceptions and three of them turned into Eagles touchdowns. He also fumbled the ball in his own end zone, which gave Hobbs a 34-21 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Eagles, who lost their opener 42-27 to the visiting Rams on Aug. 28, were led by a 289-yard rushing night by running back Patrick Smith. A relative of former Super Bowl standout Timmy Smith, who ran for a record 204 yards for the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII, Patrick Smith scored on runs of 19, 69 and twice from the 5.

“We knew we had to contain that guy and he was all over the place – there was nothing we could do to stop him,” Howes said. “They came to play and they were up and down that field and there was nothing we could do to stop them.”

Running back Reggie Mackey ran for 105 yards on 21 carries, with TD runs of 11 and 7 yards.

Hobbs scored first, but Baker connected with Anthony Moreno on a 33-yard TD pass, with Zack Rogers’ point-after giving the Rams a 7-6 lead and ended the first-period scoring.

Smith and Mackey TDs gave the Eagles a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, but a 59-yard TD pass from Baker to Tim Foley made it 21-14.

Baker found Adam Shapiro alone on the first offensive play of the second half, which turned into an 80-yard scoring strike and a deadlock at 21-all.

“We thought for sure that momentum would carry on,” Howes said. “They stayed in it and kept coming at us and we just didn’t answer.”

Smith’s 5-yard TD run then gave the Eagles the lead again, and Baker was sacked in the end zone, coughed the ball up, and Eric Ford recovered it, giving Hobbs a 34-21 edge.

Smith’s 69-yard dash to the end zone made it 42-21, but Baker and Shapiro hooked up on an 11-yarder, capping a 65-yard drive, and the Rams stayed close, 42-28, entering the fourth quarter.

Mackey picked off a Baker pass on the Rams’ next possession, and wound up plowing into the end zone from the 7 four plays later to help his team take a 49-28 lead.

The Baker-to-Shapiro connection came up with a 36-yard scoring strike, and a two-point conversion trimmed the Eagles’ lead to 49-36.

The Rams’ onside kick failed and Hobbs struck again, on Smith’s final rushing TD of the game. The Eagles led, 56-43, and just 2:09 showed on the clock.

The Rams came right back and were in the red zone when Baker had another pass picked off and the Eagles ran out what remained of the final period – and the Rams’ season.

“(The Eagles) have gotten better every week and we knew they were going to be problematic with their rushing attack and we just knew we had to contain them,” Howes said. “That’s a youthful –nine juniors on defense – but that’s no excuse. Hobbs came to play and we just couldn’t stop them.”

The Eagles attempted only four passes in the game, completing two, both in the first half. Unofficially, the Eagles ran the ball 73 times for 452 yards.

Baker finished 38 of 64 passing for 569 yards, but the four picks and fumble were the story of the game.

The home field loss marked the fourth time in six seasons that fate has befallen the Rams: Highland in 2004, Alamogordo (2005, coached then by current Hobbs coach Bruce Dollar) and Rio Grande (2006) had also pulled off upsets of the higher-seeded Rams.

RAMifications: The Eagles play La Cueva this coming weekend, in what many think will be a mismatch.

… The Rams’ 28-21 first-round victory at Hobbs in the 2007 season was RRHS’s first postseason victory. Friday’s loss left the Rams holding a 3-1 advantage over Hobbs all-time.