Cibola pulls away from Cats in second half

ALBUQUERQUE – Clovis High’s football team broke its lengthy scoring drought on Thursday night and stayed competitive for much of the game.

In the end, the Cibola Cougars were a bit too much and walked away with a 36-12 victory at Nusenda Community Stadium.

Coming off losses against three of the better Class 6A teams in the state, the Cats had been outscored 158-0 since tallying a TD and a 2-point conversion on their first drive of the season. But early in the second stanza, the pulled to 7-6 when junior running back John Royal broke off a 60-yard touchdown run.

A bid for a 2-point conversion and the lead failed.

Cibola (2-3) then got a 2-yard touchdown run from junior Emmanuel Apodaca and a 3-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Noah Carroll. But the Cats pulled to 20-12 at halftime when sophomore linebacker Kyden Everett returned an interception 60 yards for a TD in the final minute of play.

“Kyden had a really good game on both sides of the ball,” first-year CHS coach Stan Hodges said.

That was as close as it would get. Following the second-half kickoff, the Cougars marched 64 yards for another TD. They added a field goal and another touchdown run early in the final canto to seal the verdict.

“I thought our kids played well,” Hodges said. “We had some chances to score), and we made some good plays.”

Cibola took advantage of good field position after a short Clovis punt on the first possession of the night. The Cougars went 40 yards to get to paydirt late in the opening frame.

Following the kickoff, the Cats quickly bounced back with a 79-yard drive, most of it coming on the run by Royal.

Overall, Hodges was encouraged by the outing.

“We were batting through some injuries,” Hodges said. “I think our kids played well. They had some chances (to score) and made some good plays.”

The banged-up Cats regained the services of sophomore quarterback Javier Jimenez, who had been sidelined by injury since a Week 2 loss to Rio Rancho.

Friday night, the Cats are back in Leon Williams Stadium to face longtime rival Carlsbad at 7 p.m. in their District 3-6A opener. The Cavemen (2-3, 0-1) opened district action on Thursday with a 35-13 loss at second-ranked Centennial (5-0, 1-0).