Clovis football team routs Rockets

CLOVIS — Like flies at a picnic, those pesky Clovis turnovers just won't go away.

But the Wildcats' football team feasted on Goddard anyway Friday night at Leon Williams Stadium.

Unlike a week earlier at Rio Rancho, Clovis was able to dominate enough against the Rockets that turnovers didn't really matter, as the 'Cats cruised 41-0 — the program's largest margin of victory against Goddard since 1982.

With that rout, Clovis improved to 3-1. Turnovers aside, just getting back in a winning mode felt great for the Wildcats.

"For sure, it does," Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. "After last week's tough loss, obviously we want to get better each week, like we always say. But getting a win after last week and getting to 3-1, that's a big boost for these kids."

"It feels good. We worked our butts off all week to get it right," senior running back Demerious Milton said after leading a multi-pronged Clovis rushing attack with 159 yards, including 142 yards and both of his scores in the first half.

"It feels great, because everybody's been working hard," said senior running back Adrian Fitch, who showed off the depth of Clovis' backfield with 18 rushing yards on the Wildcats' final possession of the game.

Still, there were those turnovers, a reminder that some housekeeping needs to be done.

"Those are going to haunt us, man, if we can't get 'em fixed," Fullerton said. "We've got to take care of the football."

The separation that lessened Friday's miscues came early. The three plays of Clovis' opening possession were: an offsides call against Goddard, a 24-yard screen pass from Brandt Davis to Seth Lopez, and a 48-yard touchdown run from Milton.

The Rockets' offense at first looked solid on their initial possession, driving from their 20 to their 49, thanks in large part to Tyler Hoover's 25 yards rushing on four carries. The series ended, though, when a bad exchange resulted in the ball coming loose, recovered by Clovis' Rheal Kuchta at Goddard's 38.

Fullerton alternated Davis with senior quarterback Darian Goins throughout the game, and Goins engineered a five-play 62-yard touchdown drive on Clovis' second offensive series, contributing himself with a four-yard run to start the drive and a 13-yard pass to Montez Wright, who also had a 19-yard run to the 1. Seth Lopez took it in from there, and Kabel Brooks' second PAT made it a 14-0 game with 6:08 still to go in the first.

Goddard's next possession was one-and-done when on first down from the Rockets' 20, a Hoover fumble was recovered by Clovis' Johnathon Avila at the 27.

Davis soon made Clovis three-for-three in scoring touchdowns on possessions with a keeper from about the one-inch line. With Brooks' point-after it was 21-0; 3:29 still remained in the quarter.

With 4:37 to go in the second, Milton scored from about half a yard out. Clovis added a 22-yard Davis touchdown pass to Efren Boceanegra III (including about 10 yards after the catch) in the third quarter, and Andrew Jaramillo rushed in from 6 yards out in the fourth, completing the scoring.

"They took advantage of us every way that a team could," Goddard head coach Chris White said. "They're a good, well-rounded football team. ... I think, if not the top team in 6A, I'll bet there aren't two others that are better."

Clovis 41, Goddard 0

G 0 0 0 0 - 0

C 21 7 6 7 - 41

Scoring summary

First quarter

C - Demerious Milton 48 run (Kabel Brooks kick), 11:35

C - Seth Lopez 1 run (Brooks kick), 6:08

C - Brandt Davis 1 run (Brooks kick), 3:29

Second quarter

C - Milton 1 run (Brooks kick), 4:37

Third quarter

C - Efren Boceanegra III 22 pass from Davis (kick failed), 4:34

Fourth quarter

C - Andrew Jaramillo 6 run (Brooks kick), 10:57

Team statistics

G C

First downs 9 29

Rushes-Yards 44-145 38-377

Passing Yards 5 135

Total Yards 150 512

Comp/Att/INT 1-3-0 8-12-0

Punts-Avg. 3-31.3 0-0.0

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-3

Penalties-Yards 9-57 6-57

Individual statistics

Rushing - Goddard, Tyler Hoover 24-90, Robert Aragon 16-46, Trey Lewis 4-9, Devyn Werts 1-10. Clovis, Milton 12-159, Andrew Jaramillo 6-53, Adrian Fitch 4-18, Lopez 4-10, Darian Goins 3-42, Caden Zarikta 3-38, DeMarco Fitch 3-26, Davis 2-12, Montez Wright 1-19.

Passing - Goddard, Robert Aragon 1-3-0-5-0. Clovis, Davis 5-8-0-69-1, Goins 3-4-0-66-0.

Receiving - Goddard, Sam Ramirez 1-5. Clovis, Aaron Heredia 4-76, Lopez 2-24, Efren Boceanegra III 1-22, Wright 1-13.

Records - Goddard 1-3, Clovis 3-1.