Prep football: Wildcats snap losing streak, top Santa Fe 42-6

SANTA FE — For the first time in over a month, Clovis High’s football team can go to sleep on a Friday night as the winning team.

With Friday's 42-6 rout of Santa Fe at Ivan Head Stadium, the Wildcats snapped their losing streak at three, improved to 4-4, and won their first road game of the season.

From the time senior running back Seth Lopez broke loose for a 79-yard touchdown run just inside the seven-minute mark of the first quarter, the Wildcats were off and running. And they kept running ... and running ... and running.

“Yeah we did,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “We got a bunch of people in the end zone. We got a lot of kids playing. That was pretty good because that was our goal going in. ... So we got that accomplished. Did what we needed to do. Finally got a win on a road trip. So that’s a big deal.”

Lopez bolted for the first of two touchdown runs with 6:56 to go in the opening quarter. It may have seemed mildly surprising to some that Clovis took even that long to score against a team that began the night 0-8 and on a 32-game losing skid.

“We came out just a little flat,” Fullerton said. “The Santa Fe kids were pretty amped. ... I thought they did a really good job coming out ready to play. Hats off to those guys. They haven’t won a game in a really long time and came out fighting.”

Once the Wildcats got rolling, though, there was no stopping them.

Before the quarter was over, senior running back Demerious Milton added a 13-yard touchdown run. Kabel Brooks tacked on his second extra point of the night and it was a 14-0 game.

Just 41 seconds into the next quarter, junior running back Andrew Jaramillo rumbled 53 yards for a score, and with another Brooks point-after, the Wildcats were up 21-0.

It took the ’Cats just 13 seconds to score again, getting a 22-yard pick-six from Elijah Cobb after Santa Fe had taken over again. Brooks then made himself 4-for-4 on PATs, stretching Clovis’ lead to 28-0.

Late in the second quarter, Demons quarterback Levi Lopez connected with Isaiah Fordham on a 40-yard scoring pass, narrowing the difference to 28-6 with 3:23 to go before the break.

Milton added his second touchdown run of the game, a 35-yarder, with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter. Lopez made his second visit to the end zone with 4:06 left in the third, getting there on a nine-yard run. Brooks completed his 6-for-6 night on extra points, helping Clovis grab a 42-6 advantage.

The Wildcats’ lopsided victory was expected, but Santa Fe didn’t roll over.

“They just seemed like they had a lot of energy, more than we’d seen on film,” Fullerton said. “They were battling the whole game.”

The ’Cats didn’t turn the ball over, avoiding something that has plagued them all season. They didn’t, however, avoid everything that has been plaguing them.

“We still had too many penalties — false starts, holding, stuff like that, stuff that’s kinda dogged us all year,” Fullerton said.

Still, it was solid effort, one they had to have. “We had lost three in a row,” Fullerton said. “It was a big deal getting that losing streak off our chests. It’ll be good to go into practice Monday with a little confidence, get these kids motivated a little bit.”

Clovis will host District 2-6A rival Sandia next Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are still in search of their first district win (0-2 so far) as they chase a spot in next month’s state playoffs. So are the Matadors, who were routed 49-13 by La Cueva Friday.

“We told them the most important game of their lives, our lives, is Sandia next week,” Fullerton said. “That’s kind of the way we look at it.”