Hail Mary pass helps Clovis East stay undefeated, off to best start in 16 years

For the first time in 16 years, the Clovis East High football team is undefeated after six games.

And the last time the Timberwolves started out a season so strong, Clovis East went on to win a Central Section championship back in 2006.

Does this year’s Clovis East team have similar championship pedigree?

That remains to be determined.

But on Friday, the Timberwolves, who are No. 8 in The Bee’s Top 25 rankings, showed they had clutch ability.

Or maybe it was just great luck.

With 6 seconds remaining, Clovis East sophomore quarterback Tyus Miller connected with 6-foot-3 receiver Xavier Garcia on a Hail Mary pass to score a go-ahead touchdown as the Timberwolves rallied for a 39-35 win against No. 12 Clovis North to kick off Tri-River Athletic Conference play.

“These kids never give up,” Clovis East coach Brandon Nagle said. “We have a chip on our shoulder everyday and we talk about being 1-0 in everything we do. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s TRAC football. I couldn’t be more prouder of these boys, coaches. It’s all about them.”

It was Clovis East’s most impressive win of the season so far with Clovis North (3-3) the only opponent to face the Timberwolves and have a winning record entering the game.

Friday’s TRAC victory puts Clovis East (6-0) on better footing compared to a year ago when the Timberwolves started off 4-0 but finished 4-5 on the season, including 0-3 in TRAC play.

The Broncos, who led 21-13 at halftime, nearly handed the Timberwolves their first loss.

With 4:40 remaining, Clovis North’s Mckay Madsen ran in a touchdown that put the Broncos ahead 35-32.

Of course, that was just before Clovis East’s Hail Mary magic.

Miller finished with six touchdown passes, with Garcia hauling in two scores and teammate Carson Sandoval catching three TDs.

Next up for the Timberwolves is the toughest stretch of their schedule, including next week’s showdown vs. new No. 1 Clovis West then Central the following week.

Nonetheless, Clovis East has shown it isn’t playing around this season with the Timberwolves beating their opponents a combined 280-132 while averaging more than 46 points per game.

Clovis East’s win total this season is already the program’s best since finishing 9-4 in 2009.

“It was amazing,” Miller said. “The only words that I can describe it is emotional roller coaster. My guys had my back; my linemen fought for me the whole game. It was insane.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2022 at 10:40 PM.