Clovis falls to Cooper in double-OT

LUBBOCK — Minutes before kickoff of Friday night’s Clovis/Lubbock-Cooper football game, the Lubbock-Cooper players came through their balloon tunnel — a big skull with horns — before bursting through a black streamer with white letters that read: “Hustle, hit, never quit.”

The Pirates adhered to that mantra, especially the third part, rallying from a three-score deficit in regulation, then from a one-score hole in overtime, and fashioned a 35-28 double overtime win over the Wildcats at First United Park’s Pirate Stadium.

For Clovis it was a bitter, bitter defeat, after squandering a 21-0 second-quarter lead, then losing a 28-21 first-overtime advantage after allowing the Pirates to convert a critical fourth-down play to stay alive.

It was Clovis’ second loss through five games this season, both setbacks coming in overtime after the Wildcats lost fourth-quarter leads. They fell 34-31 in overtime at Rio Rancho on Sept. 8.

“We just gave another one away,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “That’s what it is — mistakes, penalties and turnovers. But it’s our job as a coaching staff to have better discipline, so it’s on us. It’s not on the kids.”

With the game tied at 21 as regulation ended, Clovis had first possession in overtime, starting at the Pirates’ 25. For the second straight game, the Wildcats had senior quarterbacks Brandt Davis and Darian Goins alternating series, and it was Goins’ turn as overtime began.

On first down he handed off to senior tailback Demetrius Milton, who headed right for nine yards. The ball squirted out, but the refs ruled him down.

The next three Clovis plays were Milton runs of six, two and eight yards, the last one getting him into the end zone. Kabel Brooks supplied the extra point, and the Wildcats led 28-21.

Lubbock-Cooper’s first overtime possession began well for Clovis, when Wildcats senior defensive lineman Adam Reid tripped up Pirates running back Elijah Boyd, holding him to just a yard.

The next two downs brought incomplete passes for Lubbock-Cooper, and the ‘Cats were just one more defensive stop away from victory.

On fourth-and-nine from the 24, Pirates junior quarterback Brenden Mehl — a former Clovis resident — was in trouble, with Wildcat defenders chasing him from the pocket. He scrambled a bit, then a bit more, and finally found senior tight end Gunnar Engelhardt open for a 14-yard completion and a first down at Clovis’ 10.

The next play was a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Cameron Flotte. With Brock Thompson’s extra point, the game was tied at 28.

Lubbock-Cooper began the second overtime with possession, and though a 10-yard touchdown pass from Mehl to sophomore receiver Ty Carter was erased by an illegal-man-downfield penalty, the Pirates scored on their next play — a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mehl to junior receiver Cole Carter, who broke three tackles to reach the end zone.

Clovis desperately needed to score. And despite an 8-yard loss when the Pirates’ Gage Peters chased down Davis, the Wildcats did find their way to the 6, but faced fourth-and-goal from there. On that play, Davis’ pass over the middle was incomplete, and Lubbock-Cooper had prevailed.

Clovis had begun so well, with a 20-yard opening kickoff return by Demarco Fitch and a 34-yard pass from Goins to Aaron Heredia, putting the Wildcats in business at Lubbock-Cooper’s 27. Three plays later, a two-yard Milton touchdown run gave Clovis the lead just 1:40 into the game.

Clovis added a six-yard touchdown pass from Goins to Seth Lopez, including good after-the-catch running, with just 48 seconds elapsed in the second quarter. And another two-yard Milton touchdown run with 7:18 to go before halftime, along with Brooks’ third straight extra point, put Clovis up 21-0.

But a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mehl to Engelhardt late in the second quarter, a 51-yard scoring pass from Mehl to Carter midway through the third, and a six-yard touchdown rumble by Boyd with 9:49 left in the fourth — each followed by Thompson PATs — tied the game at 21.

After Clovis went on to fall in double overtime, Fullerton could only look to next week’s preparation for the district opener at Eldorado.

“It’s like I told them after Rio Rancho,” he said, “it’s going to show what our character is, when we get (to practice) Monday morning. Showing up on time, making it as game-like as possible as we can, and going hard on every rep."