High school football: Clovis East pulls away from Clovis West, Clovis North rolls in TRAC
It was all about being physical for the Clovis East High football team.
Running the football was the recipe for success for the Timberwolves on Friday night.
Airing it out with quarterback Tyus Miller helps, too.
They all got it done in convincing style as The Bee’s fourth-ranked Clovis East rolled to a 42-22 victory over No. 3 Clovis West in a Tri-River Athletic Conference high school football game at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
“Have that presence, being physical,” Clovis East coach Brandon Nagle said. “I thought as the game went on it got better and better.”
It took a little time for the Timberwolves (6-1, 1-1) to figure it out and get a win over Clovis West for the first time since the COVID 2020-2021 season.
Clovis West (5-2, 1-1) led 15-7 in the first quarter.
That was short-lived as Clovis East got a touchdown by Caleb Slocum on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to trim the lead to 15-14 after an extra point.
The Timberwolves’ Lindsey Graves had a long run to the Clovis West 30 before Tyus Miller scored on a 10-yard run to give Clovis East its first lead.
Clovis East never trailed again.
The Timberwolves scored 21 unanswered points before a Clovis West touchdown in the third quarter.
The other big factor for Clovis East was a strong defense.
The Timberwolves generated five turnovers (four interceptions and a fumble recovery).
“I thought that was the key,” Nagle said. “When you play a great offense like that ... you gotta cause turnovers and give us extra possessions.”
Clovis North’s defense leads the way
No. 1 Clovis North was in a battle with No. 7 Clovis at Lamonica Stadium.
The Broncos’ strong defense helped hold the high-scoring Cougars at bay after giving up a first-quarter touchdown.
Clovis North (7-0, 1-0) trailed 7-0 before reeling off 24 unanswered points for a 24-7 victory.
“I thought we came out ready to play,” Broncos coach Michael Jacot said. “We knew we would be challenged by their size and we tried to attack the perimeter early and I thought our guys did a nice job.”
Maybe a little halftime adjustment got the Broncos going, as Jacot said they attacked Clovis (5-2, 1-1) “more vertical.”
Clovis North figures it will only keep getting tougher in the TRAC.
“We know we are going to get everyone’s A-game each week,” he said. “Our guys are learning it’s a little different when you are playing from the front.”
Central rebounds
David Marquez almost did it all for No. 10 Central.
Marquez passed for three touchdowns and ran for a score to lead No. 10 Central to a 27-6 victory over No. 13 Buchanan (2-5, 0-2) on Thursday night.
It wasn’t just Marquez that caught Grizzlies coach Kyle Biggs’ eye.
“The defense played really well,” he said. “All game long. We got stops on third down. It kept us in the game because we did not play well offensively at all.”
Central’s offense was stagnant in the first half.
The Grizzlies (5-2, 1-1) played Earl Riley and Marquez at quarterback.
Marquez provided the boost that they needed.
“Defense kept us in the game and made plays,” Biggs said. “Kept their offense in check. They were able to do what they had to do to keep the game close and the offense finally figured it out in the second half and we got rolling.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
