Portales defensive co-ordinator Arturo Ontiveros break down the team into different units at the start of Monday's practice session at the PHS field house.

Portales assistant coach Vic Lopez makes adjustments to sophomore Edward Alonzo's helmet Monday on the first day of football at the Portales High School field house.

Portales coach Mark McAfee runs a drill Monday with sophomore Luis Flores during Monday's opening day of football workouts at the PHS practice field.

The Portales Rams certainly don’t want a repeat of last year’s 1-9 showing, and they’re ready to do something about it.

Coach Mark McAfee welcomed around 60 prospects to Monday’s opening day of drills at the Rams’ practice facility. PHS lost eight seniors from last season, some of whom played both ways, but McAfee is determined to get things headed in the right direction.

“We were in the thick of it,” McAfee said, referring to some of last year’s losses. “We just couldn’t get over the hump.

“We’re looking to change the attitude. We’re working to be as aggressive as we can be.”

McAfee said the Rams will change their offense a bit this year, often operating out of a double-tight end look but also throwing in some spread formations.

New Mexico teams won’t be able to don pads until Thursday, but McAfee said the Rams can get a lot of work done in the interim.

“We’re able to work on our steps and blocking progressions,” he said. “Defensively, we worked on reading and on the secondary dropping (into pass coverage).

“(Monday) went real well. We had 60 that showed up, and they worked really, really hard today. It was great effort, which was nice to see.”

The Rams travel to Lubbock on Aug. 19 for a 6 p.m. scrimmage against Roosevelt High School. PHS opens its regular season on Aug. 26 against Las Vegas Robertson in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Greyhound Stadium.