Crunch time for Clovis, Sandia football squads

CLOVIS — You don't need to be a math whiz to look at the numbers and understand how important tonight's game is for the Clovis High football team.

The Wildcats and their opponent, Sandia, each head into Leon Williams Stadium with 4-4 records. But more importantly, they're each 0-2 against District 2-6A opponents. And it's almost November, meaning each team is desperate for a district win as the playoff chase intensifies.

Gee, no pressure or anything.

"Both teams are in the same boat, trying to get in the playoffs," Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said after Thursday afternoon's practice. "Both of us have to win. We consider this a must-win. We feel the loser of this game will get left out of the playoffs. We've prepared this week like it's win or go home, and the kids have responded well. We've seen a sense of urgency in them."

"This is our game," Wildcats junior linebacker/defensive back Jaylen Mason said after the practice. "We need this game. ... Obviously, (Sandia is) battling to be in the playoffs, too, but this is our game. It's got to be our game. We've got to execute on every snap, every play."

Aside from the playoff stakes, a win would move the Wildcats back on the fun side of .500 for the first time since Oct. 7, when they headed into Eldorado at 3-2 before heading out with a loss. It would also be Clovis' second straight win, a feat the 'Cats haven't pulled off since beating Hobbs and Carlsbad in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.

They split their last two games against top-ranked Manzano and Santa Fe. Manzano presented Clovis with a formidable opponent, Santa Fe a struggling one. Sandia is somewhere in between, which should make for a decent match-up tonight because 'somewhere in between' is a good way to describe the Wildcats right now. Aside from their identical records, overall and district, both teams jumped out to great starts — Sandia at 3-0 and Clovis at 3-1 — only to hit rough patches over the past month.

The 'Cats seem to have several advantages. There is, of course, home field on their side. There's also momentum. While Sandia was on the business end of a 49-13 thumping against La Cueva last weekend, the Wildcats were picking up a fairly unsurprising 42-6 victory in the capital.

"We've got to carry that momentum from last week to this week," Mason said. "Play hard ... win the battle."

Clovis also seems to have advantages on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Wildcats might flourish against a Sandia defense that has allowed a combined 140 points in its last three games against Rio Rancho, Eldorado and La Cueva, an average of 46.7 per game. The Matadors surrendered 49 in each of their last two games.

"If we can cut down on the penalties that we can control — our false starts and stuff like that — I think our offense has a chance to have a good night," Fullerton said. "We can't put ourselves in first-and-15, first-and-20 situations."

Clovis also has more experience at the most key offensive position, quarterback. Fullerton says senior Darian Goins will make his fourth consecutive start under center. If need be, Brandt Davis is available to play, and he too is an experienced senior.

Sandia has a sophomore quarterback, a first-year varsity starter, Junior Silva. Despite his relative inexperience, Silva has put up solid numbers, passing for 795 yards so far this season, with 13 touchdown strikes and six interceptions. His season-high for yardage was 134 in Week 2, in a 33-14 win over Valley. Silva can also run some, with 98 rushing yards to his credit.

Silva took over this season for three-year starter Jacob Archibeque, who graduated.

"He's following in that kid's footsteps," Fullerton said, "and he's done a pretty good job. He throws the ball decent, runs it pretty good."

Still, a sophomore is a sophomore. The last time the Wildcats faced a sophomore quarterback was against Goddard on Sept. 15, and they wound up with a 41-0 victory.

That's where Clovis' defensive edge comes in. The 'Cats hope to take advantage of Silva's youth.

"We've got a lot of seniors on our defense that know our schemes, know our stunt packages," Fullerton said. "We plan on disguising some of our stuff and coming after him a little bit."

"He looked good on film," Mason said, "but we can stop him. He isn't really that big a threat to us."

Another factor could be weather. For the first time all season, the Wildcats will play in some bona fide frosty football conditions. As of Thursday afternoon, the forecast was calling for a temperature of 41 degrees at kickoff time, expected to drop into the 30s from there. Fortunately, that same forecast stated there was a zero percent chance of precipitation.

But those temps might have Leon Williams Stadium feeling a bit Lambeau-ish.

"We pride ourselves on being tough," Fullerton said. "We also say, 'Wildcat weather is cold weather.' Hopefully, our kids take to that."

"It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be cold," Mason said. "But we've got to play through it, not even think about it. We can't let the cold faze us in any way. Our heads have got to be in the game."

The wind isn't forecast to be that bad tonight, but you never know. If it does start picking up, both teams could be affected. At Thursday's practice, though conditions were sunny and warm, the wind was gusty. At one point, senior Kabel Brooks was set to kick off when the ball blew off the tee and he had to re-set it.

"I think it affects special teams a lot," Fullerton said. "We need to win all three phases — offense, defense and special teams. I think special teams is a really big factor when it gets cold."

So, if the Wildcats can overcome Sandia and the chilly weather tonight, it could bode well for them. After all, a win could mean they'll be playing well into November.