Plain shocking: Clovis tops Monterey

CLOVIS — When the Clovis and Monterey football teams met last year in Lubbock, Monterey’s offense was able to move the ball up and down the field with ease against the Wildcats. Friday at Leon Williams Stadium, it was the other way around.

And then some.

Clovis’ offensive unit moved the ball at will against the Plainsmen, fueled by great blocking and a big night from junior quarterback Chance Harris, to win 60-27.

In the offensive deluge, Harris passed for school records of 439 yards and six touchdowns, and also rushed for a score.

And Clovis’ defense played better than the 27 Monterey points and 361 Coreon Bailey passing yards indicate. The game reached track-meet level fairly early, with Clovis already holding a 30-7 lead by halftime and making it 36-7 with 8:35 still to go in the third quarter. And even those 27 points Monterey ultimately scored were an upgrade over the 48 surrendered by Clovis last week at Rio Rancho.

Overall, a dominant night for the Wildcats.

“We practiced harder than last week. ... This week we wanted to make a statement and do better than last week,” said Clovis senior receiver/defensive back Malik Phillips, whose big all-around night included a school-record five touchdown receptions, a two-point conversion catch and an interception. “It feels great, especially against a Lubbock team who comes down here and thinks they’re going to stomp on us.”

“Our offensive line did terrific tonight. They did so good,” Harris said, moving the spotlight away from his own achievements. “Our defense was phenomenal.”

“We came together. We had good practices all week,” said Wildcats senior defensive end Ivan Hamilton, who had two sacks and fired through the line almost untouched on another tackle-for-loss.

“You know, I ... I ... I’m really kind of at a loss for words,” Clovis head coach Cal Fullerton said. “I’m just so impressed with how hard our kids played tonight. I knew practice was good this week, but after last week — defensively, that was the most points we’ve given up since 2015 — Coach (Drew) Hatley (the Wildcats defensive coordinator) challenged our kids. And just the way we swarmed to the football tonight and defended, they put us in great positions all night. And our offense was clicking; we kinda did whatever we wanted to. Hats off to our kids, man. They made plays.”

Monterey head coach Wayne Hutchinson was equally impressed — with Clovis.

“I thought they outplayed us in every phase of the game,” Hutchinson said. “Give Clovis a lot of credit; they came to play and we didn’t. And it showed on the scoreboard.”

Clovis received the game-opening kickoff and went to work right away, needing just seven plays to score a touchdown. The seventh play was a second-and-10 from Monterey’s 18, on which Harris swung a pass out right to Phillips, who ran needle-threading style through two Plainsmen defenders and darted down the right sideline into the end zone.

Junior running back Jeston Webskowski, a game-time decision due to a barking ankle, ran in the two-point conversion, giving Clovis an 8-0 lead with just 2:59 gone by in the game.

Monterey’s first possession ended with a botched snap on a 22-yard field goal attempt, keeping the Plainsmen off the board.

Clovis had to punt on its next offensive series, but it was mishandled by Monterey returner Dee Wright and recovered by the Wildcats’ Brandon Mason at the Plainsmen’s 40. On the next play, Harris dropped back, pumped once, then found Phillips open by a step or two at the Monterey 15, and the latter went the rest of the way for the score. Another two-point conversion try was no good, but Clovis led 14-0 with 5:27 still remaining in the first quarter.

Monterey’s next possession also ended with an unsuccessful field-goal attempt, this one missed by Enoch Garcia from 39 yards out with 2:22 left in the first quarter. The Plainsmen, though, did score on their next offensive series, needing just four plays to do so and capping it with Trenton A. White’s 38-yard touchdown run. Garcia’s extra point made it a 14-7 game with 1:04 to go in the first.

Clovis responded with a 74-yard, nine-play drive that began late in the first quarter and ended on a two-yard Harris touchdown run with an even 10 minutes left in the second. Webskowski again ran in for two, handing the Wildcats a 22-7 advantage.

Shortly before halftime, Clovis struck again. Facing third-and-goal from the Monterey 3 on a drive that had begun 10 plays earlier back at the Wildcats own 13, Webskowski took a handoff from Harris and ran left. He was met at the goal line by Wright, but put his shoulder down and whacked into Wright, freeing himself enough to be able to cross into the end zone.

Webskowski — who had kept the drive going with a five-yard carry on fourth-and-two from the Monterey 14 — also ran in the two-point conversion, increasing Clovis’ lead to 30-7 with 1:44 left before the half’s end.

On the first series of the new half, Clovis’ defense held a fourth-and-seven Bailey-to-Ty Williams pass to just six yards. And after Clovis’ offense took over at its own 40, the Wildcats went in for a score in just four plays. The drive’s third play was a one-handed Jaden Phillips catch at Monterey’s 16. The next was a Harris leftside pass to Malik Phillips, who eluded two tacklers to find the end zone.

Clovis was in control by then. After that, it was just a matter of offenses trading blows, with the Wildcats’ O continually able to easily move all over the field. The remaining scores, in order were: an 80-yard Bailey touchdown pass to Tyrie Tipton, featuring mostly yards-after-the catch from Tipton; a five-yard scoring dart from Harris to a diving Martavious Daniels; a 28-yard Bailey touchdown pass to White; a 19-yard scoring pass from Harris to Malik Phillips on a fourth-and-two play; a 12-yard touchdown pass from Zyion Martin to the quarterback Bailey (a la Nick Foles in Super Bowl LII); a 46-yard scoring pass from Harris to Malik Phillips, featuring about 25 yards-after-the-catch by Phillips; and a Wildcats safety when an errant Monterey punt snap went out of the end zone.

When the game had finally ended around 10 p.m., when the 87 points and 800 passing yards had been tallied, the Plainsmen had endured their first loss of the season, dropping to 2-1. The Wildcats, meanwhile, had improved to 3-1 for the fourth time in five years and notched their first win over a Texas team since 2007.

And they had done it this year against a Lubbock team.

“It’s a special feat for sure for these guys,” Fullerton said. “We talked about how powerful our offense could be all year, and we’ve shown it at times. We hadn’t put four quarters offensively together yet, and I think we really did tonight. So I think that shows our kids what happens when we play four quarters as hard as we did.”