Early struggles, recovery highlight Clovis football campaign

CLOVIS — Clovis High’s head football coach Cal Fullerton thought last Saturday’s 24-21 season-ending loss to Las Cruces was a microcosm of the season.

For a while, it was hard to tell which direction the Wildcats were headed, how things would turn out. It got rough in the middle, but the ’Cats kept playing hard.

Saturday, Las Cruces took a 14-0 lead on Clovis. “I thought our kids could’ve thrown the towel in right then,” Fullerton said.

But it was 14-14 before halftime. The Wildcats ran a reverse on the second half’s opening kickoff, set themselves up well, then drove to the Las Cruces 12, only to fumble two plays later.

Clovis stayed in it, though, but came up just short at the end. That’s how Fullerton saw this season overall.

“It was kind of like that game,” he said. “We had ups and downs all year. We went through a streak of really tough games and I thought it showed going into districts how relentless our kids were.”

Clovis jumped out to a 2-0 start for the second year in a row. But unlike last season, the Wildcats earned this 2-0 start on the road, with wins at Hobbs and Aztec.

Then came a close loss to Rio Rancho. And then three straight losses against Lubbock teams.

“After that Lubbock stretch, we could’ve thrown in the towel on the season,” Fullerton said. “Our kids stayed together, our kids stayed focused, practiced well. I thought we battled.”

They went 2-2 in district with shutouts against Sandia (39-0) and Eldorado (47-0), along with a shutout loss to Manzano (19-0) and a 10-7 heartbreaker against La Cueva, a game the Wildcats had numerous chances to win.

Eight days after the La Cueva loss came Saturday’s three-point loss at Las Cruces.

“For us to lose our last two games by a total of six points, it showed a lot of character in our kids.”

With the season now in the books at 4-7, Clovis has to look forward. The Wildcats lose 20 seniors, including three starters on offense, five on defense.

Among those returning on offense is quarterback Chance Harris, who will be a junior in 2019. The player who made his 11th-straight varsity start under center on Saturday seemed a different, more poised, than the one who made his first varsity start against Hobbs on Aug. 24.

“I think that’s part on Chance, him just getting older and getting more game experience,” Fullerton said. “But I think a lot of it was our offensive line, too. I think our offensive line made huge strides during the year. It’s hard for a quarterback to throw when he’s on his back. I think our offensive line got the most better than any other unit on the team.”

What progressed the least this season, according to Fullerton, was his team’s ability to play all four quarters.

“To finish football games, to finish close football games,” Fullerton said. “I don’t think we ever developed that killer instinct when something went bad, when things weren’t going really well. We didn’t do a good job of having a lot of energy; I think we waited for someone else to make a big play for us.”

Though the ink is barely dry on the stat books, the Wildcats’ offseason begins soon.

“We’ll give the varsity a week off,” Fullerton said. “Some will go to basketball, but we’ll start right into the weight room next week. The kids on the jayvee team have already started that.”

They’ll eventually go three days a week in the weight room. In January, they will be working on agility in the mornings. In February, Fullerton says they will “do something that revolves around football one day out of the week; March, two days out of the week.”

Fullerton expects to have meetings with the skill kids, expects defensive coordinator Drew Hatley to have meetings with the defensive players. There will be lots of film to watch and absorb. “Break down some of the stuff we did well and carry that into the next season,” Fullerton said. “And break down some of the things we did bad and find out why it was bad.”

In the spring, there will be a lift-a-thon. In the summer, scrimmaging. Before long, the 2019 season will be on the horizon, with players like Harris, Jeston Webskowski and Jaden Phillips — impact players in 2018 — leading a good core of young returnees.

“I think our future’s really bright,” Fullerton said. “At one time we started five sophomores and about three other sophomores got playing time. We don’t expect them to be juniors next year, to have one year of experience next year. Hopefully, they’ll play like seniors next year.”