Eldorado holds off Cats in final moments, 28-27

Sep. 17—CLOVIS — Whichever team won Friday night's matchup at Leon Williams Stadium was going to leave feeling pretty good about itself.

And whichever team lost? Well, so close and yet so far.

With Clovis High and Eldorado matching 0-4 records, the game came down to a missed extra point in the closing moments that allowed the Eagles to escape with a 28-27 victory.

Of course, in any tight game there are many swings which could turn the contest either way. At the end of the day, while the stats were relatively even, Eldorado was able to convert a few more key plays and finish a comeback from second-quarter 14-0 and 21-7 deficits.

"We've both played some pretty tough teams at the start of the year," said 16th-year Eagles coach Charlie Dotson, who said it was Eldorado's first win in Clovis since 1979. "We knew it would be tough at Leon Williams."

Senior running back/safety Mark Pacheco provided the scoring plays for the Eagles in the second half, reaching the end zone on a 17-yard run to tie the game 21-21 midway through the third quarter, then stepping in front of a Jett Stone pass and returning it 23 yards to paydirt on the opening play of the final canto.

Clovis then put together a remarkable 15-play, 67-yard scoring drive, chewing up nearly 8 1/2 minutes and capped by Stone's second 1-yard TD sneak of the contest. But junior Kash Roberts' PAT kick sailed wide left.

First-year CHS coach Andrew McCraw said he toyed with idea of going for two after the score.

"I did (think about it), but Kash has been kicking the ball well," he said. "I thought our defense was playing well and could step up and get a stop (to force overtime)."

The Eagles recovered an onside kick, then converted a fourth-and-2 with under 30 seconds left when senior Cortland Dickman carried for four yards on a fake punt.

"We played well, but we weren't as technically-sound as we needed to be," McCraw said. "And we had some penalties (10 for 88 yards)."

Eldorado outgunned Clovis 355-300, most of that coming on junior QB Brandon Olivas' 255 yards passing. Meantime, Roberts led all rushers with 120 yards on 22 attempts for the Cats.

"It was a good football game (between) two 0-4 teams," Dotson said. "The Wildcats are going to be all right. They're in a district where I think they can be competitive."

After a scoreless first quarter, the teams erupted for five tallies in the second stanza — three coming in the last 83 seconds.

Stone hit a wide-open Kohen Matus over the middle on an 83-yard scoring play a minute into the period, then capped a seven-play, 73-yard march on the Cats' next possession with his first TD sneak. That score was set up by Roberts' 38-yard run and a 26-yard completion to the the Eagles' 9 to junior tight end Josh Mondragon.

Eldorado countered with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive culminating in a 3-yard TD run by junior running back Johnpaul Ludi with 1:23 remaining in the half, but senior R.J. Nora caught the ensuing kickoff at the goal, spotted a seam to his right and burst 100 yards to re-establish the 14-point margin.

Eldorado had just enough time to counter, though, going 80 yards in three plays and helped by a pass interference penalty. Olivas found Jackson in the end zone from 28 yards out with 24 seconds left.

Now the Cats turn their attention to former district rival Roswell High (4-1), which on Friday blew out a Carlsbad squad (47-6) that had thumped Clovis the week before.

"We're close to breaking some of these plays," McCraw said. "We've just got to keep getting better."