All Rich Hammond could do after the game was shake his head and praise his Clovis High Cougars for an inspired effort in their first football game in 16 months.
Then the Clovis head coach made it clear where he stood on a controversial 4th-and-2 call with a minute left in the game.
With Clovis leading 31-28 and Central needing to convert on fourth down to keep its drive alive, quarterback D.J. Stevenson tucked the ball and attempted to pick up two yards on the ground.
Hammond believed that Stevenson was short and it was a turnover on downs.
“Look, in my book, we won,” Hammond said. “I stood there, and I saw where the ball was spotted and I will never have an understanding why they didn’t measure.”
Instead, Central picked up the first down and advanced to Clovis’ 41-yard line on the next play, aided by a targeting call against the Cougars with 43 seconds left.
That’s when Stevenson rolled out to his left and uncorked a 41-yard pass into the end zone, caught by junior wide receiver Marquise Greene with 24 seconds left. That clinched Central’s season-opening 35-31 win over Clovis High on Thursday.
“From my book, I’m proud of my kids,” Hammond said. “I feel like they played well enough to win the game tonight, especially considering it’s a COVID season and we just did this in 14 practices.”
Central head coach Kyle Biggs noted the Grizzlies faced their own obstacles leading up to the season opener, mentioning the team “hadn’t been in the weight room in a long time.”
“We’re just getting into shape and it’s going to be ugly,” Biggs said. “We are going to play ugly football and find ways to win and that’s all that matters.”
The Grizzlies found a way to win, helped by a timely throw from their new starting quarterback.
“The final play, I looked at the safety and saw him come down, so I decided to roll out,” Stevenson said. “And then I saw my man deep, so I just let it go.”
It was a dramatic ending to Stevenson’s Grizzly debut. The senior quarterback transferred from Buchanan where he started in 2018 and 2019.
“He did a good job,” Biggs said. “He missed some reads, he missed some plays, but you know what, he wanted the ball. He made plays when he had to and that’s what leaders do, and he’s a leader of this football team.”
Stevenson played opposite Clovis High quarterback Nate Johnson, who showed in the first quarter why he’s received offers from the University of Michigan and other Power 5 schools.
Sophomore Jaden Carrillo returned the season-opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to give Clovis an early 7-0 lead. Central fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, putting Johnson and the Cougars’ offense deep in Central territory.
Junior running back Tristan Risley scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to push Clovis’ lead to 14-0 with 9:44 still left in the first.
Clovis forced another fumble on Central’s first offensive possession, recovered by Cougars’ defensive end Conner Price.
“Conner Price is a very, very good football player,” Hammond said. “He plays physical with his hands and punches balls out. He’s one of these guys why we wanted the season to happen.”
On Clovis’ next possession, Johnson called his own number. He kept a read option and broke through a tackle for a 6-yard touchdown run.
With five minutes left in the first quarter, Clovis opened a 21-0 lead over Central, the defending Division I-AA state champions.
“[I told the team] that we had to respond,” Biggs said. “There’s no 21-point plays. We have to respond one play at a time and to Clovis’ credit, they did a great job. We battled back.”
Central scored its first touchdown on Aidan Fortenberry’s 2-yard touchdown run, cutting Clovis’ lead to 21-7 with 5:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Clovis fumbled the kickoff return to Central, who took advantage when D.J. Stevenson ran in a 3-yard keeper to cut Clovis’ lead to 21-14 with 3:08 left in the second quarter.
“I knew once we got within seven, we had a shot,” Biggs said.
It remained a seven-point game headed into halftime, but Central tied the game on its opening drive of the second half. Junior running back Jesiah Lindsey broke a long run to put the Grizzlies deep in Cougars’ territory. Then Stevenson ran in his second touchdown of the game from two yards out.
Central’s running game spurred its comeback win on Thursday. Clovis, missing star defensive linemen Keanu Williams to Oregon and Ayden Merrihew to injury, struggled to contain Central on the ground. The Grizzlies racked up over 300 rushing yards as a team.
“We kind of took what they gave us, and we were able to run the ball,” Biggs said. “They played too high, and we were able to run the ball. That’s what it came down to.”
Ronnie Rocha kicked a 30-yard field goal, as Clovis retook a 24-21 lead with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter. Clovis’ offense was limited in the fourth, as Johnson missed most of the quarter due to cramps. Senior Isaac Garcia filled in at quarterback for Clovis and the offense relied heavily on Risley.
Central drove downfield and took its first lead of the game when Stevenson connected with Greene for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 5:05 remaining.
It took less than a minute for Clovis to respond.
Risley broke off a 38-yard touchdown run with 4:22 remaining to give the Cougars a 31-28 lead.
“Tristan Risley is the real deal. Risley absolutely ran the ball tonight and I thought we played well up front,” Hammond said.
When Central retook the lead with 24 seconds left — the fourth lead change of the fourth quarter — Clovis still had a chance to answer.
But Garcia’s first pass attempt of the drive was deflected and intercepted by Central’s Gio Lopez. Central extended its TRAC winning streak to 22 games.
“We were really getting disrespected, us being ranked number three and [Clovis] number one,” Stevenson said. “Just to come out here and show them that we are still a state championship caliber team and the work that we put in is good enough to beat anyone in the Valley.”