Storm oust Clovis in 6A semifinals

CLOVIS — It seemed fitting Friday night that high school basketball season is on its way.

Because the 6A football semifinal game between third-seeded Cleveland and second-seeded Clovis at Leon Williams Stadium ended in a high school basketball score, 56-43 Cleveland.

It was back-and-forth all night, like basketball teams pushing the tempo, scoring end to end. But ultimately, the Storm had one last offensive surge in the fourth quarter and were able to end Clovis High’s season at 8-4.

Cleveland (10-2), as a result, is now headed to the 6A title game.

“Oh man, any time you go play in the state championship game you’ve got to be just elated, just excited,” said Cleveland head coach Heath Ridenour, a former Clovis assistant. “I’m excited for our kids; they worked really hard.”

The Wildcats, who were on a five-game winning streak coming in, saw their season end abruptly. They did reach the 6A final four, but it was one game and two victories short of what they had hoped, which third-year head coach Cal Fullerton discussed with them after the loss.

“I told our kids, ‘You worked so hard from the end of last season and all the way through the summer, all the way through the football season,’” Fullerton recounted. “‘And all of a sudden, one single night, it’s over.’”

But what an exciting way to go out. The Wildcats were a state semifinalist for the first time since 2009 and had the town in a frenzy. By Friday night, when the ’Cats exploded through their balloon tunnel and onto the Leon Williams Stadium field, the place was rocking.

Some of the air came out when Cleveland needed just three minutes and 20 seconds to take the game-opening possession 80 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Clovis’ defense had stiffened after the Storm worked its way to first-and-goal at the Wildcats’ 7, allowing just a three-yard Dorian Lewis run, then a two-yard run by quarterback Jeff Davison, setting up third-and-goal from the 2.

Lewis tried leaping over the pile on that down, but was stopped inside the 1-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, however, he ran up the middle for the score, and Trey Ortega’s extra point made it 7-0 with 8:40 to play in the first quarter.

Clovis had an answer on its first possession of the night, going 76 yards in 16 plays, but the answer was a 22-yard Jose Mendoza field goal after the Wildcats were stalled at Cleveland’s 5. So with 1:56 left in the opening quarter, the ’Cats still trailed 7-3.

“When you get into a game like that and it’s going to be high scoring, when somebody kicks a field goal the defense gets a victory on that possession,” Fullerton said.

Which seemed to hand Cleveland’s offense some momentum because on the Storm’s ensuing series, they went 81 yards in just seven plays — helped greatly by a 25-yard pass from Davison to Zavier Walker and a 15-yard pass interference penalty — and scored on a 15-yard Lewis run before the first quarter was even over.

Ortega booted another extra point, and Cleveland was up 14-3 with 1.5 seconds left in the first.

Clovis began the second quarter with a one-play drive, consisting only of Jeston Webskowski bolting for a 78-yard touchdown. After having taken the handoff from quarterback Chance Harris, Webskowski had run right and broken a tackle just past the line of scrimmage, before breaking free.

A two-point conversion run by Webskowski was stopped short, but the Wildcats had pulled to within 14-9 just 14 seconds into the new quarter.

Cleveland’s next offensive series was halted six plays in by a Braiden Romero interception near Clovis’ 15-yard line, and he returned it all the way to the Wildcats’ 47.

That set up a six-play Clovis scoring drive, topped off by a two-yard Webskowski touchdown run.

Another two-point conversion run failed, but the Wildcats owned their first lead of the night, 15-14, with 7:05 left in the half.

A football shootout was officially on. The fourth play of Cleveland’s next possession was a 68-yard touchdown pass from Davison to Luke Wysong, which was followed by another Ortega point-after, giving the Storm a 21-15 edge with 6:01 to go before halftime.

Clovis’ next possession after that was a seven-yard drive that ended with Harris completing a 24-yard, third-down touchdown pass to a diving Malik Phillips with 1:55 remaining in the second quarter. Mendoza’s extra point handed the ’Cats a 22-21 lead.

And before the halftime horn, Davison threw a 27-yard scoring pass to a diving Ortega, followed by Ortega’s extra point that put the Storm up 28-22 with 35.6 seconds left in the half.

So, in a six-and-a-half minute second-quarter span, the teams had combined to score 27 points. They totaled 33 points in the second quarter overall.

The third quarter brought more end-to-end action. Webskowski polished off Clovis’ half-opening possession with a 50-yard touchdown run followed by a Mendoza extra point, quickly answered by a four-yard Lewis scoring run and an Ortega extra point, quickly answered by a five-yard Webskowski touchdown run and a Mendoza extra point, quickly answered by a 23-yard Lewis scoring run and an Ortega extra point.

When the metaphoric dust had settled on all that, Cleveland had a 42-36 lead with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter. The dizzying stretch’s tally was 28 total points in just under nine minutes.

Finally, Clovis’ next possession ended in a punt, the first of the night, occurring inside the last minute of the third period.

In the fourth quarter, Cleveland scored consecutive touchdowns for the first time since the opening quarter, getting a two-yard Davison scoring run followed by another Ortega extra point to build a 49-36 advantage with 9:02 left in the game.

The Wildcats answered right back on their next possession with a two-yard Webskowski run and Mendoza extra point that drew them within 49-43 with six minutes flat left in the fourth quarter.

A defensive stop by Clovis was needed, and seemed like it might be near when Cleveland faced second-and-24 at its own 30 with less than three minutes to go. The Storm, however, then executed in the clutch. Davison looked deep for Ortega, and lofted a pass to him at around the Clovis 30. Ortega came up with the catch and ran the rest of the way for a score, completing a 70-yard play.

Ortega then booted his eighth extra point to give Cleveland a 56-43 lead with just 2:19 left in the fourth.

Clovis still tried to inch closer. Even when time was almost gone and the Wildcats were clearly headed for a season-ending defeat, they kept battling. Dominic Vasquez’s end-zone interception on the game’s final play made Cleveland’s spot in the title game official.

For Ridenour, it was a happy return to the place he had once called his coaching home.

“It’s good, man,” he said. “I set some deep roots here in the short five years that I was here, and I love a lot of people here, and it was good to be able to hug some people and see them again. These are the people that I vacation with in the summer. So coming back was good, it was good to see them. It’s just tough to be in this big of a game and one of us having to go home.”

For Clovis, it was even tougher. But Fullerton saw some positives.

“I think play for play that was one of the best games I’ve ever been involved with because of how hard both teams played,” he said. “We hate to see our kids lose obviously, but I couldn’t be prouder of our kids and our coaches. Our town was unbelievable and rallied together. ... We came up just a little bit short.”