High school football: Clovis North comes up with big win; Clovis and Central decide it in OT

The Bee’s top-ranked Clovis North came away with an early big win in the Tri-River Athletic Conference opener against Clovis East.

But even with the win, Broncos coach Michael Jacot still wasn’t too happy after the Broncos defeated the third-ranked Timberwolves 31-21 on Friday night at Lamonica Stadium.

“Little frustrated with some of the things that we did,” Jacot said. “I felt like we were a little off on some of our communication, which was frustrating.”

Clovis North had a 14-7 lead in the second quarter after Andrew Chavez scored on a 1-yard run.

Clovis East stormed back when Tyus Miller connected with Harold Duvall on a 28-yard touchdown just before halftime.

There was no separation in the third quarter, but big plays were made by both teams, including McKay Madsen’s interception off Miller.

The turnover led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Vincent Cordoba for a 24-14 lead with 2:18 left in the third quarter.

Just when Clovis North thought it had Clovis East figured out, the Timberwolves answered as Miller hit Duvall for a 65-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-21 with 2:18 left in the third quarter.

The Broncos again countered.

Mario Cosma found Cordoba for a 64-yard touchdown with 34.5 seconds left in the third quarter and Clovis North held on, helped by an interception by Trent Rogers when the Timberwolves were driving in the fourth quarter.

“Wasn’t pretty,” Cordoba said. “Offensively, we made mistakes, but we rallied back and played as a team and that’s how we got the win.”

Rogers said he was ready for the play, saw Miller making a fade and “I knew he was going to throw it.”

There was Rogers in the end zone as he jumped in front of the Timberwolves’ Blake Mathieu to pick off Miller.

“I wanted it more than anything,” Rogers said.

Clovis East coach Brandon Nagle gave plenty of credit to Clovis North.

“They had a good game plan and they’re a tough team,” he said. “We know that we need to get better if we’re going to see those guys maybe later.”

Dramatic finish

In a wild game at Koligian Stadium, No. 7 Central decided to go for the win in overtime on a two-point try.

David Marquez threw a pass to Marcus Nolen that was knocked down by Palmer Johnson to secure 10th-ranked Clovis’ 38-37 victory.

The Cougars had a 24-7 lead at halftime, but the Grizzlies rallied in the second half and tied the score at 24 after a Marquez 1-yard run and extra point with 9 minutes remaining.

Both teams traded scores after a Deagan Rose 10-yard run for a 31-24 lead, but Central answered when Marquez found Zeb White for a 16-yard touchdown that eventually sent the game to overtime.

Washington State commit has a night

Landon Wright came up big for Clovis West.

The Washington State commit had three touchdowns to lead the fourth-ranked Golden Eagles to a 33-7 victory over No. 12 Buchanan.

Clovis West opened the game up for good in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears 14-0 for a 30-0 lead.