Cats ground Eagles, move to 2-1 in district

CLOVIS — A little sour must come with the sweet. But for Clovis High’s football team, it was only the latter on Friday night.

The Wildcats were home sweet home, playing at Leon Williams Stadium for the first time this month. And in those friendly surroundings, the ’Cats put a 47-0 hurt on District 2/5-6A rival Eldorado, improving to 2-1 district and 4-5 overall in the process.

Sweet indeed.

“It is,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “I told our team before the game we had to win offense, defense and special teams, and we won all three of those.”

“I’m so pumped,” Clovis sophomore quarterback Chance Harris said after punctuating his ninth start with four touchdown passes and a 67-yard touchdown run. “I’m so proud of my teammates, the way they performed tonight. I’m giving all the credit to my line. They did a hell of a job, the best they’ve done all season.”

“I’m very excited,” Wildcats sophomore safety Jeston Webskowski said after collecting two interceptions in Friday’s victory. “It was a really big game for us. And for us to come in and shut them out, it’s amazing.”

The Wildcats’ defense turned in a stellar performance, creating five Eldorado turnovers. In the first half alone, Clovis’ defensive unit produced interceptions by Webskowski and Montez Wright along with fumble recoveries by Ian Yruegas and Andrew Jaramillo. In the second half, Webskowski came up with another pick, this time off a Jailen Gallegos tip.

“Hats off to our dang defense, man,” Fullerton said. “When you get a shutout, you can’t lose.”

Though the Wildcats’ opening drive of the game ended with a Wright punt, their second offensive series wasn’t as fruitless. That possession began at Eldorado’s 36 after Wright returned a punt there, and the ’Cats then drove to the Eagles 8 in six plays, but were facing fourth-and-three at that yard-line.

No worries for Clovis, though. Harris threw a short leftside pass to running back DeMarco Fitch, who initially found his ankles in the grasp of an Eldorado defender at the 3, before shaking loose and staggering into the end zone.

The extra point was no good, but Clovis had a 6-0 lead with 5:12 left in the first quarter.

Eldorado’s ensuing possession was over in just two plays, thanks to Webskowski’s first interception.

“All week we’ve been looking at the post,” Webskowski said, “and we’ve known that was one of their favorite looks. And we had a good game plan. It set me up well, honestly.”

Webskowski returned his pick to Eldorado’s 8, and on first down from there, Harris lofted a fade to Jaden Phillips. Though Eagles cornerback Remsa Troy had good coverage on Phillips, the Clovis tight end concentrated on the ball, then spun around and hauled it in for a touchdown.

Jose Mendoza’s extra point stretched Clovis’ lead to 13-0 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

Eldorado’s next possession ended almost as quickly as the one prior, this time on a fumble recovery by Yruegas at the Eagles 31.

The Wildcats weren’t able to score off that turnover, nor off the one occurring on Eldorado’s next possession when Jaramillo recovered a fumble at the Eagles 46.

But Clovis did strike on the offensive series after that. It was just a one-play series, actually, as Harris slipped through an opening his blockers had created, then headed to daylight for a 67-yard touchdown run along the left side of the field.

“The line opened the hole up beautifully. The hole was huge,” Harris said. “All the credit to the line, all the credit to the line.”

Mendoza’s extra point made it 20-0, but Clovis wasn’t quite done scoring in the first half. The Wildcats’ next offensive series, in fact, ended as quickly as the one before it, as Jaramillo was the hero this time. With the ’Cats sitting at their own 23 after an Eldorado punt, Jaramillo took a handoff from Harris, broke a tackle near the line, then ran a bit before twirling away from another tackler and breaking free for a 77-yard touchdown jaunt. Mendoza’s point-after gave Clovis a 27-0 lead with 8:22 still to play in the half.

Clovis’ next possession also resulted in a touchdown, this series taking seven plays to complete. The drive was kick-started by a 20-yard Harris run from the Wildcat 38 into Eldorado territory, and ended with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Malik Phillips, who picked up most of the real estate by breaking tackles and notching yards after the catch. A play earlier, Eldorado had nearly come up with an interception, but didn’t. After that was followed by Phillips’ touchdown reception on third-and-12, a two-point conversion run was stopped, but Clovis led 33-0 with 4:38 left in the half.

The Eagles’ ensuing offensive series was halted by an athletic play by Wright. As Eldorado took to the air on first-and-10 from its own 42, Wright kept in stride with an Eagles receiver along the left sideline, zoned in on the ball, timed his jump, then went up and reeled in an interception. Clovis’ offense, however, was not able to transform the turnover into points.

The Wildcats did the rest of their scoring in the second half. Jaden Phillips showed good concentration when pulling in a 40-yard touchdown fade from Harris with nine minutes left in the third quarter. And late in the fourth, Fitch swooped right for a seven-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-one play. Mendoza’s extra points after each helped put the Wildcats up 47-0.

In between those scores, Clovis created one last turnover, this time with Eldorado at the Wildcat 31. The drive ended when Gallegos tipped a pass in the air, and an alert Webskowski grabbed it for his second interception.

“I saw the ball come up the middle,” Webskowski recalled, “and I was playing the middle. I knew that I had a chance at it.”

All in all, it was a memorable night for the Wildcats — a 47-point victory in perfect autumn weather, and no injuries.

“It’s amazing how well we play when things are going well,” Fullerton said. “And that’s not always going to be the case. We’ve still got work to do.”