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Storm's a-coming to Clovis

CLOVIS — There is no place Clovis High’s football team would rather be.

It’s the third week of November, only four teams remain in the state 6A playoffs. Clovis is one of them, still something to practice for, still something to play for.

And there is no place the second-seeded Wildcats would rather play this weekend’s 6A semifinal against third-seeded Cleveland than at Leon Williams Stadium, which the ’Cats will do this Friday, beginning at 7 p.m.

Then throw in the early-week practice weather, Monday’s installment of which seeming almost like it was specially ordered straight from a catalog (kids, ask your parents what a catalog is).

Thanks to all of the above, it’s good to be a Wildcat this week.

“It is,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said after Monday’s practice at Clovis High School. “I told our kids — we had our offensive meetings, scout-team stuff, before we went out and practiced — and I talked to them about there only being four teams left. You think about how each one of those teams has 50 or so kids; there are about 200 kids in 6A still playing football in the state of New Mexico right now, and our team is one of them. So, you feel really blessed and really lucky that you’re still playing.”

“Yeah, it’s really fun,” Wildcats junior quarterback Chance Harris said after Monday’s practice. “It’s always a blessing to play in front of our home crowd, especially when it’s packed like it was the other night. All of us are really excited.”

“It’s fun,” Clovis senior defensive back Brandon Mason said after the practice. “These are all my brothers, this is my family. I just love playing with them in the environment we have. Everybody’s always happy at practice; we bring each other up.”

Now there’s that little matter of Clovis (8-3) trying to beat Cleveland (9-2). No easy trick.

“It’s going to be a tough football game,” Fullerton said. “Those guys have been in the state championship and were in the semis the year before that. They won it a couple of years ago, so they’re always playing at this time of year and they know how to win at this time of the year.”

The Cleveland player defenses have most needed to watch out for this season — and have had the most trouble doing so — is senior Dorian Lewis, who rushed for 1,038 yards on 145 carries (7.2 yards per carry) during the 10-game regular season. That was out of a total 1,895 team rushing yards during that span, meaning Lewis accounted for 55 percent of the Storm’s regular-season ground game.

“One of the best running backs in the state,” Fullerton said.

The Storm had two junior quarterbacks rack up a combined 1,942 passing yards during the regular season — 1,169 by Jeff Davison, 773 by Trey Ortega.

And that’s not even the half of it.

“They’re really good everywhere. There’s really not a weak link,” Fullerton said. “They’re good up front, the linebackers are good, the secondary’s good. And on the other side of the ball they’ve got weapons all over the field. Out at receiver they’ve got a lot of speed, some height. ... And some tough offensive linemen.”

All factors considered, the Wildcats have drawn a challenging opponent for their semifinal. This week is about preparing to oust that opponent.

“It’s going to take a great defensive game plan. A lot of effort from everybody,” Mason said. “We’ve got to stop the running game, mostly.”

While Mason and the defense work on that, the Wildcats’ offense has to figure out how best to attack Cleveland.

“Maybe the run game,” said Harris, who had a 13-yard rushing touchdown in last Friday’s 37-17 quarterfinal win over La Cueva. “I’m not really sure because they give us a bunch of different looks. It’s really hard to tell what they’re in some of the time. But we’ll prepare for it throughout the week.”

The Wildcats were encouraged that they began their practice week Monday with a crackle.

“The kids practiced like they knew that this was an important game,” Fullerton said. “Those guys are happy to still be playing at this time of year, so they know the importance of the game is huge, and they practiced like it today.”

“It was really good,” Harris said. “The line blocked really well, the running backs and receivers ran the ball and caught the ball well. Everybody was executing pretty good today.”

When it’s time to stop practicing and start playing for a spot in the 6A title game, the Wildcats will get to do it at the place where they’re 6-0 so far this season. Beats a long bus ride to Rio Rancho any day.

“Yeah, that’s definitely a relief,” Harris said. “We play better at home.”

“It’s just great to play at home,” Mason said.

However, Fullerton said Cleveland head coach Heath Ridenour, a good friend and a former Clovis assistant, jokingly suggested another option for the site.

“We were talking the other day,” Fullerton said. “He asked if we wanted to meet in Santa Rosa, and I told him, ‘No, I think we’ll go ahead and play this one in Clovis.’”