IOWA PARK — The Rams are still figuring out their new normal as they deal with injuries to begin the season, and the Iowa Park Hawks capitalized on that and outlasted the Rams in week two.

With the second quarterback in as many games, the Rams are still trying to figure out their best system alongside several new faces on this season’s offense, while still dealing with some injuries as well. The Rams started junior Javon Johnson to replace the injured Brogan Sims who broke his ankle early in the week one matchup with Fort Worth Poly, but continued to play through unaware of the severity of the injury. Johnson, making his first varsity start, finished the game with 177 passing yards, with his main target being Jaidun Fisher who caught three passes for 132 yards. Johnson also ran for a touchdown early in the game to get the Rams on the board.

Pounding the ground for the Rams was senior Jackson Hicks, making his debut this season, after suffering an injury during the final scrimmage against Springtown and having to miss the week one game at Ram Stadium. Hicks led the Rams in rushing yards with 90 and scored a touchdown in the third quarter. Just behind him on the stat sheet was Jordan Johnson, who had 88 yards on 19 carries and wrapped up the Rams scoring efforts by finding the endzone in the fourth quarter.

The Rams are determined to make this a week of lessons, and will undoubtedly make some adjustments on both the offensive side and defensive side of things, to move forward as they have some tough matchups approaching in the coming weeks. Though this was a tough loss, the Rams were aware of the speed and size of the 3A Hawks, and knew they would have their hands full. The Rams topped the Hawks in yardage, and third-down efficiency, but a few penalties and a very untimely interception hurt Mineral Wells and made a comeback difficult.

The Rams have Thursday night games this week and next, due to field sharing among Fort Worth ISD, and then will return to Friday night for homecoming on Sept. 26.