Cats, Eldorado seeking first win on Friday

CLOVIS — First-year Clovis High coach Andrew McCraw has remained upbeat as the Wildcats have struggled through the early portion of their schedule.

One thing’s for sure — either the Cats or Eldorado will taste victory for the first time when the teams match up at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Leon Williams Stadium.

“I fully expect a tough, physical game,” McCraw said of the clash between 0-4 teams. “They need a win — and we do, too.”

Both squads took it on the chin again last week — the Cats losing at Carlsbad 55-14 on Friday while the Eagles were drilled at Piedra Vista 46-7 on Thursday. For the season, Clovis has been outscored 178-37, compared to 173-86 for Eldorado.

“I felt like the last couple of games we’ve moved the ball pretty well, but we’ve struggled to finish,” McCraw said. “And then, we always seem to have one bad quarter.

“Offensively and defensively, I thought we did some good things the other night. We just haven’t been able to turn that corner.”

He said the Eagles have a talented receiver in 6-foot-3 junior Joshua Jackson and a good running back in senior Nathan Velez.

“They went out and competed real well with Rio Rancho (a 34-17 loss) in the second week,” McCraw said. “I don’t know if somebody got hurt or what, but they’ve struggled since then.”

Junior Kash Roberts scored both TDs for the Cats last week, including a 73-yard run in the opening stanza. McCraw said a key this week will be to block Eldorado’s linebackers.

“Hopefully, we can get outside on them,” he said.

It’s the first of back-to-back home games to close out the Cats’ pre-district slate. Next week, they entertain Roswell High.

Rams hit the road again — After pulling out a last-minute, 34-28 win against Valencia last week, Portales High’s football squad faces its third consecutive road outing with a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff against St. Pius in Albuquerque.

“They’re 1-3, but they’re improving,” Rams coach Jaime Ramirez said of the Sartans, who routed winless Del Norte 48-8 last week to break into the victory column. “They’ve played everybody close except for Bloomfield (61-20) in their opener.”

Actually, the teams have one common opponent. While the Rams (4-0) dispatched Highland 31-16 in their opener at Greyhound Stadium, the Sartans dropped a 38-14 road verdict to the Hornets the following week.

PHS plans to leave around 6:45 a.m. Saturday, but Ramirez said he doesn’t think the early-morning departure will be much of a factor.

“It’s important that we have a good week of practice so we can play good from the beginning,” he said.

Sophomore quarterback Paxton Culpepper’s 8-yard run with 10 seconds left erased a 28-27 deficit against the Jaguars in a seesaw final quarter where the lead changed hands four times.

“I thought that was a good win for us,” Ramirez said. “We showed a lot of heart (in) coming back.

“I think we played well in spots on both sides of the ball, but we didn’t have a complete game. If anything last week, our special teams were pretty good.”

It’ll be the third consecutive season the sides have met. In the previous two, both at Greyhound Stadium, the Rams won 6-0 in the COVID-delayed 2021 spring campaign before St. Pius returned the favor by pulling out a 21-20 verdict last fall.