Clovis gets set for Lubbock three-step

CLOVIS — The bad thing about football is that the games are spread a week apart. Losses can tend to get stuck in the craw for awhile.

The good thing about football is that teams have that week to work the bugs out, learn from those losses, try to avoid the mistakes going forward. And of course, time to heal the bruises always helps.

Clovis began its practice week Monday with both the good and bad factors in play. The Wildcats were still smarting from their first loss of the season — a 48-28 road setback at Rio Rancho last Friday — while eager to dive into their practices and try to be as prepared as possible when Lubbock Monterey visits Leon Williams Stadium this Friday.

It’s the start of a challenging three-game stretch against Lubbock teams — Monterey at home, Coronado and Cooper on the road. Same stretch as last year, except the game sites are reversed.

“It’s by far the toughest stretch in our schedule, if you want to look at it three weeks in a row,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “But it’s on our schedule, that’s who we play. And that’s who we’ve got to prepare for, so we’re going to go at it like it’s anybody else.”

Monterey heads into Clovis at 2-0. The Wildcats are trying to start 3-1 for the fourth time in the past five seasons. Last week at this time, the ’Cats had high hopes for their first 3-0 start since 2015, but after surrendering just 31 points combined in their first two games against Hobbs and Los Lunas, they gave up nearly 50 at Rio Rancho last week.

That, and the losing in general, was the part still lodged in their craws on Monday.

“You could tell after film they were disappointed in their performance,” Fullerton said. “They had a team meeting in the locker room, just players, and I think some people got called out by some of the seniors. And practice was up-tempo today.”

The players were ready Monday to start getting things right, start working on the improvements.

“Oh yeah, we turned it around real well,” junior quarterback Chance Harris said. “Offensive line looked great, running backs looked great, receivers, everybody.”

Despite the loss at Rio Rancho, Harris had his best game of the season so far, throwing 88-, 65- and 60-yard touchdown passes. He also rushed for an 80-yard score, factoring into all four Clovis touchdowns. The Wildcats’ big-strike capability was clearly on display, but could be viewed as much a negative as it was a positive.

“You always like having big plays offensively,” Fullerton said, “and we had four or five really big plays. But other than those four or five plays, we didn’t have good, sustainable drives.”

Which Fullerton thinks they will need to beat Monterey.

“We’re going to have to take care of the football and take some time off the clock, keep our defense off the field,” Fullerton said. “We weren’t able to do that (at Rio Rancho) the other night.”

Keeping the Wildcats’ defense off the field would also mean keeping Monterey’s offense off it. Last year’s matchup in Lubbock saw the Plainsmen jump out to a 21-0 halftime lead and go on for a 34-21 victory. And the players who stung the ’Cats most throughout that game are back as seniors this year.

Quarterback Coreon Bailey rushed for 49- and 13-yard touchdowns in last year’s game and he seems as good as ever in this, his senior season. In the Plainsmen’s two games thus far, Bailey has completed 37-of-48 passes for 650 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception, with a 149.3 QB rating. He’s also rushed for 72 yards on 11 carries.

Ty Williams — who rushed for a pair of touchdowns against Clovis last year — and Damontrareis Lacy — who ran for one score against the Wildcats — are both seniors this season. Williams is Monterey’s leading rusher so far with 176 yards on 16 carries, averaging 11 yards per rush.

Overall, the Plainsmen are a dangerous bunch.

“The first thing that comes to your mind — they’re athletic as can be,” Fullerton said. “They’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong, they’re well-coached. ... They’re just the all-around package. They’ve got good kids everywhere, they do what they’re supposed to do. ... You can’t say enough good things about them.”

“They’re definitely hard to beat,” Harris said. “They have a really good quarterback, a really good secondary. Their defensive line is solid also.”

So, what will it take for the Wildcats beat Monterey this time?

“Execution, discipline,” Harris said. “Just playing all out, man.”