Cats hoping for another charge toward playoffs

The first step to a possible postseason berth certainly went well for Clovis High’s football team on Friday night – a 42-12 domination of Albuquerque High at Leon Williams Stadium.

Now the Wildcats (2-5) are preparing for the first of back-to-back trips to Santa Fe – separated by a bye week – when they face Santa Fe High in a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.

It will be the district opener for the Demons (1-5), who are coming off a 62-20 thrashing on Saturday at Lovington.

Clovis won last year’s matchup at home 53-0, ending it in the fourth quarter on the 50-point lead rule.

CHS coach Andrew McCraw had a chance to scout Saturday’s game, which was moved from Friday night due to storms.

Among the Demons’ better players are senior tailback/safety Alex Moss, senior running back/safety Julian Opetaia and junior wide receiver Santiago Villasenor. But McCraw said he visited with Demons coach Andrew Martinez while in Lovington and found out all three are nursing some injuries.

“They run the ball pretty well,” McCraw said. “They did that a little against us last year.

“We know what plays they like to run against certain fronts. It’s all about executing what we need to do.”

Clovis made short work of Albuquerque High, building a 35-0 lead early in the second quarter. The teams then waited out a delay for lightning just before halftime, though, and the Cats didn’t have the same spunk when play resumed.

McCraw is hoping for a better finish than last week.

“We’ve got to go out and execute,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t finish games the way we need to.”

The Cats hope to take care of the Demons this week and Santa Fe Capital on Oct. 20 to set up a showdown with Los Lunas for the district title here on Oct. 27.

That was the scenario last season when the Cats and Tigers were both 3-0 in the district heading into the finale at Los Lunas. But the Tigers rolled to a 54-0 victory and kept Clovis out of the postseason.

“It’s a long trip (to Santa Fe),” McCraw said. “Hopefully the team travels well and we can stay focused.”