Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
SPORTS EDITOR
In a game of extreme highs and lows, the Clovis High football team managed to hold off La Cueva in the final minutes of the contest Friday night for a 21-18 win.
The win will hand the Wildcats (7-3, 4-1 district) a second-place finish in District 6-2A, and presumably a first-round home game in the state playoffs once seeding is announced. La Cueva (6-4, 3-2 district) will still probably make the playoffs, even if it’s as a bottom-four seed.
With a Bears field goal, followed by a touchdown early in the second quarter, the Wildcats found themselves behind by 10 with their offense struggling for anything up field. It wasn’t until two-thirds of the way through the second that Clovis finally put a first down and some positive yardage in the book, with Sebastian Roanhaus throwing a 37-yard deep ball to Seth Lopez.
Uncharacteristically, the Wildcats were forced to go to the air most of the match, throwing the ball more than handing it off. Sebastian Roanhaus finished the game going 15-of-26, throwing for over 200 and one touchdown. Unfortunately for the senior, three of those passes ended up in the hands of the Bears.
Head coach Eric Roanhaus said, “They would put seven or eight in the box and we couldn’t block them, so we had to loosen them up passing. They were going to make us throw the ball to beat them, and we didn’t do a very good job the first half. It’s a number game when you run the ball.”
The second half saw Clovis’ run game come back to life, emphasized in the form of a 37-yard rush from Micah Gray to take a 14-10 lead mid way through the third. After a difficult first half rushing, Gray finished the night with one touchdown and 67 yards on 21 carries.
One of Roanhaus’ favorite targets on the night, Lane Kelley, finished with seven receptions for 109 yards.
“It makes me feel good knowing we have a home game after this,” Kelley said. “All the hard work we put in over the summer, it builds up to this ... I just want to be dependable, when Sebastian needs me, when coach Roanhaus needs me. I just always want to be there.”
For most of the season Clovis has found themselves struggling at the start of their games, especially on the road, and Friday was no different. Luckily a staunch defense kept La Cueva in check for the most part, while the offense could find its legs and get going.
“We did what we had to do,” coach Roanhaus said as he listed the numerous games where the Wildcats had to come from behind to win. “We’ve been a second-half team most of the year.”
