Lightning ends Cats' scrimmage

ROSWELL — One of the Clovis football team’s toughest adversaries in Friday night’s three-team scrimmage was lightning.

Two lightning sightings affected the scrimmage at Roswell’s Wool Bowl. The first occurred roughly 45 minutes in, causing a delay; the second came about halfway through the scrimmage, causing it to be ended.

“We decided we didn’t want to leave here at 10 or 10:30 p.m.,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said Friday night.

Aside from the weather, Fullerton was encouraged by how his team fared against Mayfield and Roswell. The offense looked crisp, the defense was aggressive, perhaps a little too aggressive, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in Fullerton’s eyes.

The Wildcats are getting closer to next Friday’s season opener against Hobbs, and it looks as though things are coming together.

“We were pretty pleased with what we saw,” Fullerton said. “We had a lot of question marks. I really thought we were the most excited out of the three teams and played the hardest out of the three teams.”

Fullerton says his offense started like dynamos against Mayfield’s defense. “Our linemen came off the ball really good,” he said. “Our running backs ran really hard. Brandt (Davis) had a good series at quarterback. We were really pleased with the way we came out.”

The offense also played well against Roswell, scoring twice early, with senior quarterback Darien Goins under center. “Again, up front we looked really good,” Fullerton said. “Our running backs ran hard, and Darien (Goins) did a decent job as well.”

Defensively, the Wildcats held Roswell without a first down.

“We were flying around,” Fullerton said. “Our intensity was really good.”

So, what still needs the most work between now and next Friday?

“I think it’s got to be mental mistakes,” Fullerton said. “I can’t complain at all about the effort and the intensity we had. At times we were playing too fast and running past things. When they overrun a play, it’s hard to get on kids for doing what we told them to do.”

Fullerton says the defense will have to be a little tighter against Hobbs.

“They spread you out and get it to their skill kids, and they do a good job of it,” he said. “They’re always tough. The scary thing about Hobbs, if they get ahead, it’s tough to get in a scoring match with those guys because they’re so good offensively.”