Portales coach Andy Correll, right, and his staff review plays during a meeting on Thursday. The Rams' coaches have decided to limit the amount of two-way activity for their players during the rest of the season.

Whether the move was made to provide immediate improvements or with an eye to the future, the Portales football team certainly isn’t standing pat during its off week.

The Rams’ coaching staff has made the decision to put an end for this season to players starting on both offense and defense.

Six players were going both ways for Portales (1-4) through its first five games. During a 46-7 loss to Goddard, Rams coach Andy Correll and his staff began substituting more liberally.

Giving some thought to the situation after the game, Correll has opted to start a larger number of players.

“We looked at last Friday’s situation and, when that game was done, we were pretty much two-platoon,” Correll said. “So, we’ve gone ahead and made the decision to go completely two-platoon.

“There may be a time here or there where we may have someone step over and help us out, but we’ve ‘personnel-ed’ it to where everybody’s getting a rep.”

Among the players going both ways for the first half of the season were seniors Shawn Carrasco, Garth Dotson and Willie Porter.

Now, Carrasco will just play at wide receiver and backup quarterback and rest when the defense is on the field. Dotson will just play defense and Porter is slated to be on the field only when the offense is.

“When it comes crunch time, players like Willie will still come in and play some linebacker, but it will be only sparingly,” the Portales coach said.

Correll initially gave a one-word answer when asked why the decision was made.

“Insanity,” he said. “We just kept doing the same thing and expected different results. We just decided to change it up.”

Though his former two-way players will almost certainly be less fatigued, that wasn’t one of the primary factors for the move.

“It wasn’t so much that they were tired, but we had a couple go down with injuries Friday night and we were scrambling,” Correll said. “I totally think that what we’re doing, the direction we’re going, is going to make us better.”

Portales will next be in action next Saturday afternoon when the Rams play at St. Michael’s in Santa Fe.

Junior Jeffery Collins, who started the last two games at quarterback, said the past week has been far from normal.

“We have our first-team ‘D’ and our first-team ‘O’ going against each other in practice now,” Collins said. “Some people got mad, but you know, it’s the way life is. It’s a lot more challenging and I think it’s going to get us a lot better.”