Slow start doesn’t faze Clovis East in season opener against Bullard
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Clovis East defeated Bullard 26-7 in George Petrissans' coaching debut for the Timberwolves.
- Strong defensive play, led by Spurgeon and Kircher, controlled Bullard’s offense.
- Timberwolves overcame a slow first half with halftime adjustments and resilience.
George Petrissans’ first game as the Clovis East football head coach was a success.
So much so that Petrissans rattled off names of defensive players who came through and limited Bullard all night.
The Bee’s No.-3 ranked Clovis East opened the season with a 26-7 victory over the ninth-ranked Knights in The Fresno Bee Game of the Week at Lamonica Stadium on Friday night.
“Jamie Spurgeon, Tristan Kircher, Caleb Slocum ... the defensive line in general, (Brandon) Bear Cervantez, Devyn DJ Perez, Jaiden McDermott, Devin Woodard, I mean, this is a really special defensive line,” Petrissans said.
“I’m just happy for these guys.”
It was Petrissans’ first game as the Timberwolves coach since taking over for Brandon Nagle, who stepped down after a 12-1 season that included a Tri-River Athletic Conference and a trip to the Division I-AA championship.
Clovis East trailed 7-6 in the first half Friday, but the Timberwolves made adjustments at halftime and sprinted to the victory.
“We were just out there competing,” said Spurgeon, who threw for three TDs and ran for one. “We started off slow in the first half, but we got back and we’re a second-half team and were able to pull out the win. Morning workouts every single day are paying off. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Petrissans noted that his team is talented, but most of the current players who were on last season’s team didn’t play much because of the senior leadership the team had.
Now, those players have a reason to celebrate after picking up the opening-season win against a formidable opponent.
“They had a tremendous team,” Petrissans said. “A lot of these guys didn’t have their chance, and this was it. There’s some touch-and-go scenarios that were happening throughout the game. Adversity was hitting us in the mouth and we responded.”
This story was originally published August 23, 2025 at 8:59 AM.
