No. 2 Hawks blank Cats 49-0

Clovis High figured out a way to move the ball against Class 6A second-ranked Centennial on Friday night. The Wildcats just couldn't push it in the end zone.

Suffice it to say, the Hawks could. They scored on their first seven possessions, all of them needing five plays or less, before backing off in the second half and claiming a 49-0 District 3-6A victory at Leon Williams Stadium.

Prior to the game, the field at the stadium was named in honor of legendary CHS football coach Eric Roanhaus, who remains New Mexico's all-time winningest coach (343-141-5). In 38 seasons, Roanhaus led the Cats to 19 large-school state championship games, winning 10 of them.

If the Hawks (9-0, 5-0 district) were looking ahead to this week's showdown for the district title against city rival Las Cruces High, it sure didn't show.

That said, the Cats (0-9, 0-5) had first-half possessions of 13, eight and 10 plays. Their opening drive chewed up most of the first quarter, but the Hawks made it 14-0 on the first play of the second stanza and went on to lead 35-0 at halftime, invoking a running clock five minutes before the break.

Centennial added two touchdowns – on five plays – to start the second half and came within a point of the 50-point lead rule before coach Aaron Ocampo turned the game over to his younger players.

"We've got good athletes on our team, and we've got a good coaching staff," Ocampo said. "It's important to us.

"We have a lot of kids who work hard and deserve to play, and if they get a chance we want them to play."

Senior running back Rudy Rios rushed for 91 yards on just seven carries and scored twice. He also went 7-for-7 on PAT kicks.

All told, the Hawks needed just 20 plays to rack up seven tallies. Senior QB Zaiden Davis threw only four times, but had a pair of TD passes and also rushed for a score.

"I saw a lot of good things," first-year CHS coach Stan Hodges said of his undermanned squad, adding that the effort was not lacking. "Their defensive line was really tough for us to block."

Clovis finished with 14 first downs and 245 total yards. Sophomore quarterback Javier Jimenez went 15-for-29 for 123 yards and also ran five times for 67, including three totes of at least 17 yards.

"The quarterback is good," Ocampo said of Jimenez. "They're doing all the right things and playing a lot of young kids."

Junior Matthew Ochoa, filling in at running back for the injured John Royal, was a bit of a workhorse, especially early, and finished with 39 yards on 18 attempts.

"Matt did a good job carrying the ball for us," Hodges said. "Their defense is good; they're not that big, but they're good at coming off the blocks."

The Cats wrap up their campaign on Friday night at Alamogordo (1-8, 0-5) with a chance to escape the district cellar. But the Tigers have been competitive at times – three of their losses were by eight points or less.

Hodges said the long journey shouldn't affect his squad that much.

"We've gone to Farmington, to Las Cruces and Albuquerque," he said. "We'll be fine as far as that goes.

"Hopefully, our kids will be prepared mentally. You always want to win the last game of the season."