Wildcats extend winning streak into playoffs

Patience is paying off for Phillip Williams.

It wasn’t an easy lesson though as the Clovis senior set out this season to prove he is the best running back in the state.

After a slow start, he’s put himself in the running.

Ignoring a cold drizzle that turned the ball and the field slick, Williams darted for 229 yards rushing and two touchdowns while leading the Wildcats to a 21-6 win over Cibola in a District 4-5A contest Friday at Leon Williams Stadium.

With a style built around quickness and cutting ability rather than pure speed, the 5-foot-10, 177-pound speedster has rushed for 200 or more yards in four of the last seven games, pushing his season total to 1,513 yards.

“I realized that I was trying too hard to break the big one,” Williams said. “I have to just be patient and let it happen.”

As 4-5A champs, Clovis (7-3) will host Mayfield (9-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Las Cruces stunned crosstown rival and previously unbeaten Mayfield 31-10 Friday in a showdown for the District 3-5A title.

The win was the Wildcats’ sixth straight, and the 250th in coach Eric Roanhaus’ 27-year career at Clovis that includes 10 state titles.

“It was nice to get Eric his 250th win tonight,” said Clovis defensive coordinator Darren Kelley, who also played for Roanhaus during the Wildcats’ string of five state titles from 1981-85. “It’s not something we talked about during the week because Eric didn’t want to take anything away from the players.”

With the district title already in hand, Clovis jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead on touchdowns by Williams and Tanner Fickling, but was unable to put the Cougars (4-6, 1-3) away until Williams bolted 43 yards for his second touchdown with 3:28 left in the game.

“We came out and got up 14-0 early and with the cold we thought we could relax and decide to just kind of hang out for a bit,” Kelley said. “Then we had to fight to the end.”

Cibola, which was eliminated from playoff contention last week, received a Herculean effort from spunky senior running back Michael Carrasco.

Carrasco finished with 126 yards on 22 carries despite taking a pounding from the Wildcat defense, including a huge hit early in the second quarter by defensive end Jason Burns that left him woozy.

“He’s pretty tough,” Clovis senior defensive tackle Jacob Teofilio said. “He took some hits and kept getting up. He’s got some guts.”

Carrasco’s 8-yard run with five minutes left in the fourth quarter pulled Cibola within 14-6 with five minutes left in the game. The score capped an 86-yard, 15-play drive that included four third-down conversions.

Cibola attempted an onside kick, which Clovis recovered near midfield.

Facing third-and-13 at the Cibola 43 and the prospect of punting the ball back to Cibola with more than three minutes left in the game, the Wildcats needed a big play, and who better to turn to than Williams.

After a first half that included runs of 58 and 31 yards, Williams had been held in check in the second half by a stunting Cougars defense that packed eight defenders within two yards of the line of scrimmage to take away the run.

Taking a handoff deep in the backfield, Williams cut to the right, made a sharp cut to beat the last defense, and race into the end zone untouched to cap off Clovis’ unbeaten district season.

“I was getting a little frustrated,” Williams said. “The play was designed to go left, but when we practiced against what Cibola does this week, a hole kept opening on the weakside so that’s where I looked. I had one guy to beat and when I cut toward the middle he slipped and all I had to do was take it to the end zone.”