Cats take on Tascosa

Clovis running back Mark Repolgle tries to find a hole during the second half of Saturday’s game in Albuquerque. Clovis had 260 yards on the ground in rolling to a 42-0 win. Photo by Eric Kluth

Scouting the Clovis High football team this year, for opposing coaches, has been a matter of the believability of any single contest.

Viewing game film from Clovis’ decisive losses to Mayfield and Highland, for instance, can give an entirely different perception than one garnered from the Wildcats’ two blowout victories.

Amarillo Tascosa coach Ron Rogers saw Clovis’ 43-0 demolition of Roswell High earlier this season in person. So, don’t look for the Rebels to enter Leon Williams Stadium with diminished expectations of what the Cats will be able to do when they host Tascosa (1-3) in a 7:30 p.m. interstate battle today at Leon Williams Stadium.

“They’ve got a really good football team, a good program. Offensively, their quarterback (John Props) does a really good job executing the offense," said Rogers, who saw Props in his first start as the Clovis signal-caller. “They’re patient and don’t get into any hurry — typical of a (Wildcats coach Eric) Roanhaus team. They’re real solid and don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Last year in Amarillo, Clovis pulled out a 23-20 double-overtime victory over the Rebels.

This season, Tascosa won its opener over Dumas before dropping the next three games to Amarillo Palo Duro (20-13), Hereford (28-21 in overtime) and, last week, Canyon Randall (40-13).

While the Rebels were losing, the Wildcats bounced back from a 33-13 loss at the hands of Highland by clobbering Valley 42-0.

Clovis players like Mark Young, who blocked a Valley field goal attempt last Saturday in Albuquerque, are looking forward to showing the home crowd the “good” Wildcats squad.

“We kind of got embarrassed the last time at home (against Highland), so now we want to prove to our fans that we can play at home so they’ll come out and watch us,” Young said. “We’re starting to come together as a team, and everybody’s starting to follow through with what they’re supposed to do.”

A pair of young running backs, sophomore fullback Ken Timmons (5-10, 230 pounds) and junior tailback Terance Young (5-9, 175) lead the Tascosa offensive attack. Clovis defensive coordinator Darren Kelley said the Cats will also keep an eye on wide receiver Watt Matthews, a favorite target of Rebels quarterback William Chappell.

“Somewhere along the way, we’ve got to play good against a good team,” Kelley said. “And Tascosa is a good team. They’re big — they’re huge. They average a little over 260 pounds along the front. That’s probably the biggest thing about Tascosa.”

While Clovis would like to pick up a home win to placate the locals, Rogers indicated that Tascosa is equally bent on ending its three-game losing streak.

“We need to win a game,” he said. “Our mental state and our heart state are probably not very good right now.”