Portales' senior quarterback Shawn Carrasco goes airborne trying to escape the tackle of Muleshoe junior defensive end Cooper Washington in first-quarter action. Muleshoe went on the win 55-14.

Muleshoe may have suffered an interception on its first offensive play from scrimmage, but there wasn’t much stopping the Mules.

Portales fell at home 55-14 to the defending Class 2A state champs from Texas.

At Greyhound Stadium, the visitors scored on three straight possessions in the first half to go up 21-0.

A 39-yard pass from Mules’ quarterback Jared Skipworth to standout junior Cooper Washington helped set up a 3-yard run by Juan Sanchez to put Muleshoe (2-0) up by a 7-0 count in the first quarter.

Late in the opening period, the Mules got another one when Skipworth ran up the middle 41 yards to paydirt on a quarterback draw.

The big plays continued for Muleshoe when Washington, on an inside screen pass from Skipworth, raced 50 yards for a TD with 6:16 left in the second quarter.

“Graduating so many playmakers, we’re finding out who can make plays. We’re trying to put people in the right position — it was a really good outing for us,” Muleshoe coach David Wood said.

“They’re still powerful. They’re extremely powerful and they’re going to make another deep run, if not winning it all again,” said Portales coach Andy Correll, sizing up the Mules after the game.

“They’re young, too. By the time they get to district and the playoffs, they’re going to be pretty tough.”

Portales (1-1) got a touchdown back when Jesus Davalos — who finished with 146 yards rushing — broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown jaunt midway through the second quarter.

Davalos shook off a pair of Muleshoe tacklers at the line-of-scrimmage before bouncing free to the left, making the score 21-7.

Whatever momentum the Rams gained before intermission was squashed when senior Larry Richardson ran back the opening kickoff of the second half 85 yards to give Muleshoe a 27-7 advantage.

After that play, Portales got the ball back and was able to get a pair of first downs and penetrate into Muleshoe territory.

But the Rams’ drive stalled out. The Mules promptly drove 55 yards in seven plays and scored on a 2-yard run by Sanchez to go up 35-7.

“That’s our youthfulness. We’re not sustaining drives and, when we get down to the red zone, we’ve got to score,” Correll said. “That’s something else we’ve got to work on. We’ve got to put our kids in that situation more in practice.”

Washington, who plays defensive end as well as wide receiver for the Mules, said that his team paid a little extra attention to Davalos — who rambled for more than 300 yards rushing the week before against Robertson.

“We chased the guards and tackles, if they pulled, we tightened out splits, we ran stunts,” said Washington, listing a variety of remedies to keep track of the Rams’ running back. “I felt like we did a good job. We could do better, because he had those runs, but overall I think we did.”

Muleshoe may have suffered an interception on its first offensive play from scrimmage, but there wasn’t much stopping the Mules after that as Portales fell at home 55-14 to the defending Class 2A state champs from Texas.

At Greyhound Stadium, the visitors scored on three straight possessions in the first half to go up 21-0. Portales (1-1) got one back when Jesus Davalos, who finished with 146 yards rushing, broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown jaunt midway through the second quarter.

Whatever momentum the Rams gained was squashed when senior Larry Richardson ran back the opening kickoff of the second half 85 yards to give Muleshoe a 27-7 advantage.