Wildcats peaking at right time

It sure seems like a long time since the Clovis High football team was 2-5 and mired in a five-game losing streak.

The Wildcats continued their late-season roll on Friday night, subduing Atrisco Heritage 47-21 in a first-round Class 5A playoff game at Leon Williams Stadium behind 343 rushing yards and five touchdowns from junior running back Kamal Cass.

CMI staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis line coach Chuck Jordan diagrams a play on the sidelines during the first half of Friday's game against Atrisco Heritage Academy.

Atrisco Heritage (8-3), in its third year of varsity competition and first year in 5A, gave the Cats a pretty good run for a half or so before Clovis simply wore the Albuquerque-based Jaguars down.

"We're in the 'third' season," veteran CHS coach Eric Roanhaus said after collecting his 316th win at the school. "It's the playoff season, and there's a finality about that.

"The kids have worked hard in the last four games to get where they are."

Cass scored on runs of 3, 70, 13, 92 and 36 yards. It seemed like any time the Cats were in a bit of trouble, he found a way to break one.

"All I really did was follow my blocks," said the 5-foot-9, 165-pounder. "I just trust that (the linemen) can hold their blocks, and after that I was off to the races."

Cass had 177 yards and three touchdowns by halftime, but the Cats needed his 13-yard run in the final minute to open a 21-14 lead.

"We knew they were going to come out playing," senior fullback-linebacker Marcos Trujillo said of the Jaguars. "But we played as a team. I thought we handled adversity pretty good."

Trujillo said the Jaguars caught the Cats off-guard at times with their option attack, led by senior quarterback Nathanial Goode, who rushed for 144 yards on 23 carries.

"They gave us a lot of false keys," he said. "Their guards would block down, and they'd run to the opposite side."

Atrisco had excellent field position early after a Cass fumble and a recovered onside kick, but the Clovis defense managed to hold the Jaguars to field goals of 38 and 21 yards by senior Cristian Garcia.

CMI staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis junior Shaprei Bryant takes down Atrisco Heritage Academy senior Nathaniel Goode in the first half

Clovis went 54 yards in seven plays following the second-half kickoff. Cass carried on the first five plays, and junior Shaprei Bryant made it 27-14 on a 9-yard run with 8:38 left in the third period.

"We turned it over twice in the first half, and we dropped a (potential) touchdown pass," said Roanhaus, also counting the onside kick as a turnover. "The two turnovers turned into field goals, which was good.

"I thought the first series of the second half, it was important for us to go down and score."

The Jaguars closed to 34-21 when sophomore running back Ricci Alvidrez went in from three yards out on the first play of the final quarter, but Cass' last TD and a 49-yard interception return for a score by Bryant put the game out of reach.

"It's our first year in 5A, and it kind of showed today," said Atrisco coach Patrick Johnson, who was the team's defensive coordinator the past two seasons when the Jaguars competed in Class 4A. "They're just a stronger team than we are right now."

The Cats scrimmage Cruces every year in preseason, so they should have a pretty good idea about the Bulldawgs.

"They're a good team," Cass said. "We just weren't ready the first time (in the scrimmage). We were a little nervous because a lot of our skill people are underclassmen and hadn't played much."