Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
GRANTS — Clovis’ longest road trip of the season turned out to be its easiest, by far.
The Wildcats overpowered struggling Grants, posting 367 yards on the ground n a 50-0 drubbing to snap a four-game losing streak in their final pre-district tuneup. The game ended with just under six minutes to play in the third on the New Mexico Activities Association’s 50-point mercy rule.
Sophomore Micah Gray led the way with 169 yards on 14 carries, including touchdown runs of 32, 2 and 3 yards. Senior Juan San Juan rushed for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Clovis defense even got in on the act with Estevan Romero scoring a safety on a quarterback sack.
Clovis had a pair of interceptions of junior Brandon Hernandez, including one returned 51 yards by Jordan Holguin to the Grants 2, and just missed three others.
“Our whole goal coming into the game was putting up a goose egg,” Holguin said. “They had some good plays, they moved the ball a little, but we did what we needed to do.”
The Pirates, who suffered a trio of injuries to starters against a physical Clovis defense, totaled eight first downs and 71 yards — at one point late in the first half having just 20 yards of offense and 18 yards of penalties.
“I feel like we played well,” Grants coach Rio Thompson said, noting the Pirates were overmatched before losing a trio of starters to injuries against a physical Clovis defense. “Our team depth got depleted, and some kids who were seeing the field for the first time on varsity had to do it against a team like Clovis. That’s really an eye-opener.”
The 290-mile trip — Clovis’ longest since a 1996 trip to Clovis, Calif., that required three flights — seemed to have little impact on the Wildcats, who needed just four offensive plays to take the early 14-0 advantage.
“We hadn’t won a game on the road, and that’s what kept our focus for that six-hour trip,” senior defensive back Antonio Hicks said. “We needed to get that win on the road.”
The turnovers and safety helped the Wildcats get the mercy-ruled win early, but Clovis coach Eric Roanhaus thought Grants’ offensive strategy helped.
“What played right into our hands was that when they were on offense, they kept throwing incomplete, and that was a long first half,” Roanhaus said. “If you run the ball three times and punt (you run some clock), but you throw incomplete three times you only take 20 seconds off the clock.”
Clovis’ other scores came on a 15-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Sebastian Roanhaus and a 39-yard third-quarter run by Jaquan Franklin that ended matters early.
