Rivalry renewed

CLOVIS - You could hear the drumbeats, literally and otherwise.

Drum practice underneath the home bleachers of Leon Williams Stadium late Monday afternoon signaled the approach of the Clovis High football team's season opener and first home game.

It meant that Week 1 is almost upon the Wildcats and their fans. Hobbs will soon be on its way northward for the grudge match. It won't be long before those Eagles and the 'Cats storm through their respective balloon tunnels. Smoke, cannon fire, the whole deal.

They're scheduled to kick off 7 p.m. Friday at Williams Stadium.

"It's here, man," Clovis' third-year head coach Cal Fullerton said after Monday's practice. "First week, and we open up with Hobbs."

Exciting for the kids and for the coaches, who are like big kids when it comes to the start of high school football season. They were excited when they trotted out onto the field as players, they're still excited now.

Fullerton is one of those big kids.

"You get chill bumps thinking about it," he said, "sleepless nights thinking about what else you can do to prepare your team to go out and be the best that they can be. It's going to be a great atmosphere for sure. Our school's hyped up, our administration's really hyped up for us. They've painted paw prints and they're trying to get it going right now with school spirit. So we're excited about it."

"Pretty excited to play on Friday," senior left cornerback Brandon Mason said Monday after practice. "We're just trying to prepare before we go out there, get the team rallied up before the game starts. Get everybody all hyped up, hopefully have a good game."

"I'm really excited," junior offensive/defensive lineman Johnny Jimenez said after Monday's practice. "I'm ready to get it on."

Clovis will be hosting a Hobbs team waking to the dawn of a new football day. Following seven seasons as Eagles head coach, Charles Gleghorn submitted his resignation in May. In steps Ken Stevens, who guided Eunice to undefeated state 2A championships in each of the past two seasons, a span in which the program went 25-0.

"So that shows you right there what kind of coach he is," Fullerton said. "I knew him from before when he was at Carlsbad and he always did a great job. He's got some great assistant coaches - Coach (Jeff) Willingham, his defensive coordinator, he's been at Artesia, been at Carlsbad as well. And (Stevens) has got some other guys in there that help offensively- and defensively-wise that are really good coaches. We've got our hands full for sure. They've got a great staff. Their kids are excited - it's a new era and new energy for those guys. So they're going to expect to come in here and play hard, and expect to beat us."

Fullerton says the Wildcats' offensive approach will be simple.

"I think we just do what we do," he said. "We get after it as hard as we can. I don't think we do anything special for 'em. We've gotta do what we've worked on, what we're known for. We're going to have to run the ball when we need to run the ball and throw it when we need to throw it. So nothing special against those guys. We're just going to have to play our game and not let them get us out of our game."

Same goes for Clovis' defensive approach.

"We're just going to have to be sound," Fullerton said. "Our kids are going to have to play for each other, be good teammates, do their job on the defensive side of the ball, don't try to do somebody else's job, do your own job. And good things will happen if we play hard."

"We've got to be more physical than them," Jimenez said. "We've got to want it more."

The team wasn't terribly pleased with how it performed in Monday's practice, after a solid prior two weeks of practices and a good scrimmage against Las Cruces last week. The solution, they know, is simple.

"Better practicing," Mason said. "Just more people flying to the ball and just working hard every practice, putting it all out there on the field."

"Our effort has to be great," Jimenez said. "Today's practice wasn't too good."

They expect to have it all together by Friday when they make that jog through the giant purple balloon Wildcat, with thousands of people waiting for them.

"It's going to real exciting," Mason said. "Everybody's going to be hyped. We've got everybody in the stands."

"It's going to be great," Jimenez said. "Everyone's going to be cheering for us. We have the town behind us, so we know that's going to help us when we go out there."