Bullard 19, Clovis 7
Clovis’s big-play offense was thoroughly stymied by the Knights. The Cougars had put up 91 total points in the team’s two wins to begin the 2019 campaign with six touchdowns of at least 50 yards.
Still, the team posted a total of 310 yards, including 211 rushing, but were only able to find the end zone once on a spectacular 51-yard touchdown catch by Grant Lake late in the second quarter.
But, the Bullard offense proved to be too much to handle for the Cougar defense. The Knights Shalom Welch scampered 46 yards for a score just three minutes into the game.
And with just two seconds in the third quarter, Bryce Weiner added another explosive play for a score on a 65-yard touchdown reception to make the score 19-7.
The Cougars had their chances to get back into the game late, but just a few yards ended up being the difference between converting a crucial fourth down on a drive that could have made it a one-score game.
With just under six minutes left in the contest, the Cougars were unable to pick up a fourth and two from the 22 on a short run play and were unable to generate another scoring opportunity.
Clovis North 38, Bellarmine 14
The Michael Jacot era of Clovis North football is off to a start that few could have imagined coming off a 2-8 2018 season. The magical ride continued in the Broncos 38-14 trouncing of the Bellarmine Bells from San Jose.
Senior defensive back Evan Almaguer put his team on the board all on his own on the team’s first defensive possession, ripping and stripping the ball out of the hands of Bellarmine’s Aizon Henry and returned it 51 yards for the score to put the Broncos up by 7.
Bellarmine answered later in the quarter on a 12-yard TD rush by Joaquin Moreno to knot the game up at 7 after one.
Clovis North QB Trenton Luera found his comfort zone passing the ball in the second quarter, firing a 28-yard strike down the seam for a touchdown to Milan Bryant, which he then followed up with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Nick Pigott to make the score 21-7 at the break.
The Broncos added a field goal by Julian Gomez in the third quarter before getting right back into the end zone twice more in the final frame of the contest.
Luera, who finished 11/22 passing, fired his third touchdown to Brennon Lamee, this also from 21 yards and running back Brenden Casto got in on the act with a 39-yard rumble for a score to make it 38-7.
Bellarmine found the end zone for the last time with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Anderson, but it was far too late to mount a comeback.