Lubbock Cooper outlasts Clovis

SPORTS EDITOR

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Despite losing to Texas’ No. 13 Lubbock Cooper High 24-13 Friday night, the Clovis High football team came close to pulling off what could be considered a big upset and played a sound ball game.

The final score could have been much different in either direction, with both teams dropping a large number of passes and committing numerous costly penalties.

Clovis (3-2) finished the night with seven motion penalties, sometimes back-to-back, putting a damper on several offensive drives. The Pirates (4-0) went heavier on the dropped passes side of things, easily totaling somewhere in the double-digit region.

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Clovis defensive backs Tomas Gallegos, left, and Joe Gallegos team up to bring down Lubbock Cooper receiver Zyketh Campbell in the second quarter of Friday’s game at Leon Williams Stadium.

Clovis head coach Eric Roanhaus said, “You’re always unhappy when you lose, but I’m not at all unhappy with how hard our kids played. We needed to play a little smarter a few times offensively and needed to catch a couple more balls. You can’t have those penalties putting you at first and 15 or first and 20. From an effort standpoint, our effort was great. I am really proud of these kids and I can’t say enough about them.”

Clovis’ Micah Gray celebrated his 18th birthday with two rushing touchdowns on the night, with the first a 2-yard rush in the second quarter, followed by another 2-yard run in the third. Those two scores were the first rushing touchdowns scored on the Pirates all season.

Strong safety and return man Tomas Gallegos had a standout game, making several open field tackles on Cooper’s skilled wideouts, while recording several big punt returns.

“Coach Hatley told us not to give up,” Gallegos said. “Just because we were losing it didn’t matter, we could still show pride.”

Fernando Acosta once again showed a talent for getting to the quarterback, recording two sacks along with a handful of tackles. A major turning point came with the Wildcats down 17-6, when Acosta sacked Pirate quarterback Jarret Doege on the first play of the third quarter, causing a fumble which Clovis recovered and subsequently scored on the ensuing drive.

Cooper head coach Max Kattwinkel said of the Wildcats, “Honestly, I think Clovis is a really good football team ... They’re physical up front and we we’re pretty fortunate to get out of here with the win. Sure, we had a lot of dropped balls, but a lot of that stuff you have to tip your hat to Clovis, I thought they did a really good job.”

The Wildcats have a bye next week before hosting Eldorado Oct. 7 to open their first District 2-6A season.