Clovis North wins first Central Section D-I title since 2012. ‘Just proud of our guys’
Big plays propelled the Clovis North football team to its first Central Section Division I championship in over a decade.
McKay Madsen scored three touchdowns to lead the top-seeded Broncos to a 24-14 victory over No. 7 Central at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday night for the school’s first section title since 2012, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
“I don’t know if I have many words,” Broncos coach Mike Jacot said. “I’m just proud of our guys. I’m proud of our coaches and our community.”
In a game where Clovis North trailed 14-7 at halftime, the Broncos evened the game at 14 after Madsen’s 47-yard touchdown run after pushing away a Grizzlies defender.
Clovis North kept the momentum going even after pushing and shoving that resulted in Broncos’ Ross Cinfel being thrown out for an unsportsmanlike penalty.
The Grizzlies had the ball but David Marquez threw an interception that was picked off by Mon’Trell Beasley. The interception led to a Madsen 3-yard touchdown run.
The Broncos never looked back and held on for the win.
“I’m so proud of everybody making big plays,” Madsen said. “We got play-makers on our team, and we can rely on them and they showed out when they needed to. That allowed us to win the game.”
Jacot said Beasley had confidence issues during the season, but the interception made Beasley feel a lot better.
Beasley said he wanted a pick-6, but will take a Madsen touchdown.
“I get a little too anxious,” he said. “Tonight, just get them low, hit them to the ground and make a play happen and tonight I did that.”
Another huge play happened for Clovis North.
Central were threatening to score early in the fourth quarter, getting the ball down to the Broncos’ 5-yard line.
Marquez looked left to a receiver, fired off a pass that was deflected by Darious Storey and snagged the ball out of the air and returned it for 12 yards, stalling the Grizzlies’ drive.
Batting down passes is nothing new for Storey.
“At practice, I kept batting down passes and (tonight) I just went up for it and batted it down and tried to run it to the crib,” Storey said.
“It felt great. Just being able to stop them in a tight game and we scored after, which is great.”
The Broncos later added a 20-yard field goal by Leo Valdivia after Storey’s interception.
It’s Jacot’s first section title and the Broncos’ third.
“We take one game at a time, one season at a time” Jacot said. “I’m just proud of this group and we’re going to enjoy this.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 11:38 PM.
