Coronado cruises past Cats

CLOVIS — If Clovis High’s football team could bottle up its first defensive and offensive series from Friday night’s game against Lubbock Coronado, play like that going forward, the Wildcats would likely be successful for the rest of the season.

Clovis’ defense began Friday’s game at Leon Williams Stadium by turning what appeared to be a sure-fire Coronado touchdown drive into just a field goal. The Wildcats’ offense then embarked on a crisp 66-yard touchdown drive.

But it was steadily downhill from there. Coronado’s persistent offense wore at the Wildcats, and the Mustangs’ defense contained them after the early touchdown and even scored a touchdown of its own — a 100-yard pick-six by senior Blair Conwright — all leading to a 34-7 Mustangs win.

Clovis, meanwhile, endured its third straight loss after a 2-0 start.

“I thought we carried over from the (second half) of the Monterey game (last week), looked really good in the first quarter,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “I even thought throughout the game we played well. We moved the ball pretty good at times. We were only down 20-7 at half.”

But most of the second half belonged to the Mustangs, who improved to 3-1.

“It was a good game for us,” Coronado head coach Seth Parr said. “I tell them, ‘You come to Clovis and you get a really competitive game.’ And they did a really good job; I’m really proud of our group of guys.”

The crucial play, the one that seemed to seal Coronado’s victory and Clovis’ fate, was Conright’s interception return for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

Down 20-7, Clovis was on the move. After receiving the second-half kickoff, the Wildcats had begun at their own 30, then had driven steadily to the Coronado 10. Clovis was on the verge of making it a 20-14 contest, a one-score affair.

But, after an incomplete pass on first-and-goal from the 10, Harris was sacked on second-and-goal, pushing the ’Cats all the way back to Coronado’s 23. Harris reclaimed four yards on third-and-goal when he completed a pass to Jailen Gallegos.

Then, the play of the game occurred.

Harris was looking toward the right side of the end zone, but the only one there to catch his pass was Coronado’s Conwright 6 yards deep in the end zone. What happened next was incredible.

Conwright started to run out of the end zone, even stepped out of it a bit. He then ran back in, ran one way, ran the other, ran around some more. He then ran toward his left, suddenly found a seam and ran through it, bringing the ball out of the end zone.

Conwright still needed to reach at least the 20 to make the whole trip worthwhile. But he kept running and got there. He kept running some more and found daylight down the left sideline, soaring all the way for a score. Penalty flags flew but they were against Clovis, so the infraction was of course declined.

Later, Conwright recalled his memorable play.

“I thought I was going to get a safety if I did fall down, because I went back, in and out of the end zone,” Conwright said. “So I was just like, ‘Aw, I gotta try something.’”

Once he exited the end zone for good, Conwright initially thought he might be stopped close to the goal line.

“I was like, ‘Alright, I’m at the 5.’ The dude dove for my leg and I was like, ‘Alright, he got me.’ And then I just kept running, so I was like, ‘I might as well cut back and try to score this, because I’m already out.’”

What had been 10 yards away from being 20-14, and then an end-zone tackle away from being 20-9, became 27-7 after Cooper Hamilton’s extra point with 5:45 left in the third quarter.

“That’s on me,” Fullerton said of the pick-six. “I called a play that we hadn’t worked on much. They had (jersey) No. 1 sitting back there and he picked it off and made an amazing run. The sail blew out of us a little bit and I take all that responsibility. That ain’t on our quarterback, that ain’t on the receiver, that’s strictly on me. I shouldn’t have called that play at that time.”

Early in the fourth, Coronado added some insurance when quarterback Sawyer Robertson connected with Conwright on a 65-yard touchdown pass.

An unhappy end for a Clovis defense that had held Coronado to a field goal on its opening series after driving to the Wildcats 8.

After the ensuing kickoff, Clovis went to work at its own 34 and drove deep into Coronado territory, a drive fueled by a 31-yard pass play from Harris to Jaden Phillips that included some nice after-the-catch running while converting a third-and-six.

Phillips reached up to snare a third-and-eight pass later in the drive, collecting 16 more yards to the 13. Malik Phillips then added 12 more with his own catch-and-run, setting up a 1-yard Montez Wright touchdown run which — when followed by Xavier De La Rosa’s extra point — made it 7-3 Clovis.

Coronado, though, answered right away with a drive that end on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Robertson to Jon Hernandez, including mostly yards after the catch. And the Mustangs led from then on.

Their next touchdown came in the second quarter, after Clovis’ Jeremiah Lucero had tipped a Robertson pass at the goal line, but Hernandez still somehow reeled it in.

Hamilton’s second field goal of the night — a 35-yarder — completed the first-half scoring. Though still a competitive game, the Mustangs were on their way to an impressive victory. Clovis, meanwhile, lost another tough pre-district game.

“When we start districts we’ll be battle-tested,” Fullerton said, “and go from there.”