La Cueva overwhelms Cats

CLOVIS - Clovis High's football team had La Cueva wobbling a bit early on in Friday's Class 6A District 2/5A matchup at Leon Williams Stadium, and thus the Bears weren't able to take advantage of a brisk breeze at their backs.

They proved quickly, though, that the wind wasn't really a factor.

Junior quarterback Aidan Armenta threw five second-quarter touchdown passes into the wind - four to junior wide receiver Exodus Ayers - and La Cueva quickly blew the game open en route to a 55-13 victory.

The Wildcats (0-4, 0-1 district), playing for the first time in three weeks, used a wildcat-style running attack with sophomore running back Kash Roberts regularly calling his own number on the first possession of the contest. They picked up three first downs and got inside the Bears' 40, but the drive ran out of steam.

After being forced to put on their first possession, Armenta quickly got the Bears rolling. La Cueva (5-1, 2-0) needed only 17 plays to do its second-quarter damage and walked into the lockerroom at halftime with a 33-0 cushion.

"It took us a while," Bears coach Brandon Back said. "They (Cats) were a little more aggressive up front than we expected, but we were able to make adjustments that put us in the right spots."

Ayers caught the first four TD passes, covering 5, 28, 24 and 54 yards. Armenta also found sophomore Jackson Hix on a 66 yard pass-and-run with two minutes to go the half.

Parts of the second half were played with a running clock due to the NMAA's 35-point lead rule. Clovis managed to mount a couple of scoring drives with senior Milo Acosta back at QB as the Bears began to go to more reserves.

Armenta was 14-for-16 for 210 yards while playing about 2 1/2 quarters, with Ayers catching seven passes for 125 yards. Backup QB Trevor Johnson added two more scoring tosses in the final stanza.

"Aidan is getting more experience each week," Back said. "For him to get another win in district, it's really a good thing."

CHS coach Cal Fullerton said his team had hoped to catch La Cueva off-guard.

"We had them on their heels early," he said. "But we kind of gave them good field position at times."

Roberts scored the Cats' first TD on a 41-yard run in the third segment, and inched over the 100-yard mark (102 on 16 totes) with a 6-yard run on the final play of the contest. Senior running back Angel Chavarria added 57 yards rushing and caught three passes for 23 yards, while junior R.J. Nora grabbed a scoring pass from Acosta in the final canto and had three catches for 43.

La Cueva, which lost to top-ranked Rio Rancho 50-0 on Aug. 27 but has outscored its other five opponents 191-53, appears to be the team to beat in the district. Back said he expects a test this Thursday, though, when the Bears take on Eldorado.

"It's week-to-week," he said of the district. "Just like with any other team, we're (potentially) an injury away from going from being a good team to (not so good)."

Meantime, the Cats host Albuquerque High in their Homecoming game on Friday. The Bulldogs (2-3, 0-1) pushed Eldorado on Friday night before dropping a 16-8 decision to the Eagles.

There are certainly winnable games remaining on the schedule for the Cats.

"You're in district play now and you're 0-1 and fighting for your life," Fullerton said. "We're going to have to be really good from Monday through Thursday (in practice) from here on.

"Our focus has to be on us. If we don't get better each and every day, it won't matter who we're playing."