Clovis ekes by Bears for 2/5-6A title

ALBUQUERQUE — A football team is trying to win its first district championship in four years. The team is at the 10-yard line and calls timeout with 14 seconds left, and takes a shot at the end zone rather than trying a field goal. The pass hangs in the air, seeming to some like it’s in slow-motion. A star receiver playing his last-ever regular-season high school game fakes his way open in the end zone and reels in the touchdown catch as he’s falling down, putting his team ahead with under 10 seconds to go.

And, the player who threw the touchdown pass was seeing his first action in over a month after recovering from an ankle injury.

If that was pitched as a movie script, a producer might reject it. ‘Yeah, right,’ the producer might say, ‘I’m sure it would all happen just like that.’

Well, it did happen for the Clovis High football team Friday night when playing on the road against La Cueva for the District 2/5-6A championship. The Wildcats did rally for a 35-30 victory against the defending district and state champions on Malik Phillips’ 10-yard touchdown reception from Chance Harris to capture the program’s first district title since 2015, the first for Cal Fullerton in his three seasons as Clovis head coach.

And, it was no movie, unless you count game film.

“I’m so proud of our kids and our coaches,” Fullerton said. “I can’t really put into words how special it was (Friday) night for our kids overcoming adversity. I was proud of our offense, defense and special teams, but I was most proud of our sideline. They were into the game, cheering for everybody. You don’t get to see those kids (playing), but what they do during the week, they help get us prepared. So, just a great all-around effort.”

With a great itinerant fan base there rooting the team to victory.

“I sure appreciate all the students, the parents and the fans that came up there,” Fullerton said. “It was pretty loud. It was a special night.”

Saturday night, Clovis was awarded the No. 2 seed in the state 6A playoffs and will have a bye for next weekend's opening round. The Wildcats will host the winner between No. 7 La Cueva and No. 10 Eldorado during the weekend of Nov. 15-16 at Leon Williams Stadium.

Freaky Friday

Clovis had fallen behind late in Friday night's fourth quarter after a La Cueva touchdown and two-point conversion made it 30-29 with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

After a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats set up shop at their own 20 with 1:40 remaining in the fourth. They began with a 37-yard pass from Harris to Jaden Phillips, making it first-and-10 at La Cueva’s 43.

Jeston Webskowski ran four yards to the 39, followed by an incomplete pass that targeted Malik Phillips.

So, up came third-and-six from the 39, converted by a 19-yard pass from Harris to Jaden Phillips. On first-and-10 from the 20, Harris connected with Blake Muscato for 10 yards.

It was then first-and-goal, 14 seconds to play. Timeout Clovis.

Fullerton was planning to send Jose Mendoza out there for a 27-yard field goal attempt, looking to win it without risking a turnover. Assistant coach Drew Hatley had other ideas.

“Coach Hatley grabbed me and said, ‘Man, we’ve got a chance. Let’s give our dogs one chance to win the game. ... Let’s let ’em finish this.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s a dang good point, Coach.’ ... I’m thankful to have assistants like that to talk some sense into me.”

So, Fullerton decided to ‘Chance’ it, decided to give his offense an opportunity to pull out the district title.

Harris took the snap and rolled out right. Everybody was rolling, Clovis’ offensive players and La Cueva’s defenders trying to stay with them. Malik Phillips initially rolled too, taking a few steps right. Phillips’ man decided to track Ethan Culiver, who had been playing backside but came back over. That gave Phillips the window to sneak left and get about three yards into the end zone. Harris saw Phillips, tossed the ball to him, and Phillips fell down backwards while making the go-ahead catch.

“It was the only play the whole night that was in slow-motion for me,” Fullerton said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh, he’s going to be open’. ... The ball seemed like it was in the air for like 15 seconds.”

Not quite. There wasn’t much time remaining, four seconds, but enough for La Cueva to receive the kickoff and try one play from scrimmage. The Bears started in great field position at their own 40 after the kickoff went out of bounds, and on the last-ditch play, they tried laterals to reach the end zone. Clovis’ defense, though, was able to drive the play out of bounds with no time left, and the district crown belonged to the purple and white.

“It was wild,” Fullerton said. “I’ll tell ya.”

The game had seen momentum shifts, with Clovis building a 15-0 lead on 45- and 35-yard Jaden Phillips touchdown catches in the first quarter. The ’Cats were close to adding more, driving into a fourth-and-one situation at La Cueva’s 6, so close to taking a three-score advantage. A false start backed Clovis up, making it fourth-and-six from the 11, resulting in a 28-yard field-goal attempt that the refs called wide, though Fullerton and his staff thought had gone through.

But the call was the call, and Clovis’ lead remained 15-0. The missed Wildcat opportunity seemed to spark the Bears, who came back to forge a 15-all tie by halftime.

“All the momentum changed,” Fullerton said. “It could’ve been 22-0, but it’s tied up at 15.”

And La Cueva took a 22-15 lead in the third quarter before Webskowski bolted for an 80-yard touchdown which, when followed by Mendoza’s extra point, tied the game at 22.

In the fourth quarter, Clovis went on a seven-and-a-half-minute drive that Fullerton thinks wore down La Cueva’s defense. It helped that the drive ended with a nine-yard Webskowski touchdown run and another Mendoza extra point to give Clovis a 29-22 advantage.

And when La Cueva went ahead 30-29, the Wildcats were able to move the ball swiftly against that tired Bears defense.

Harris engineered the game-winning drive, showing no signs of pain in his once-injured right ankle. His left ankle did get hit earlier, but he shook it off and kept playing, eventually leading the ’Cats to their biggest win of the season thus far.

That victory ended their regular season at 7-3, 4-0 district, and sent them into the state tournament on a four-game winning streak. Clovis has not tasted defeat since Sept. 27 at Lubbock Cooper.

“We haven’t lost a game to any New Mexico team since Rio Rancho in Week 3,” Fullerton noted. “So we’ve got a lot of confidence now. The kids are practicing hard now, they’ve got a lot of confidence that we can win big games.”