Cloverdale improves to 4-1; visits Kelseyville on Friday
The Eagles enjoyed a bounce-back week in NCL-1 varsity football action on Friday, running roughshod over visiting Clear Lake, 48-14.
The victory went a long way to erase the frustration of a tough, league-opening loss to St. Helena a week earlier, evening Cloverdale’s league record at 1-1 and 4-1 on the season.
“It was a nice way to rebound after our poor performance vs. St. Helena,” CHS head coach Chad Prieskorn said. “We had a solid week of practice, and it was easy for the coaching staff to see our effort and attitude had improved. We need to keep improving every week – we’re far from perfect, but this was a good start to getting back on track.”
The Eagles will quickly turn their attention to the next task at hand, a Friday, Oct. 9 visit to Kelseyville. The Knights (0-2, 1-4) are coming off a 41-8 loss to St. Helena last week but will not be taken lightly on Friday.
“In recent years we’ve struggled with the Knights, and at this point in the season you can’t look past any opponent in the NCL-1,” cautioned Prieskorn. “If we play at a high level like we’re capable of we should have opportunities to come away with a win.”
Eagles fly past Cardinals
Cloverdale, led by leading rusher Luke Bernardi, mounted a relentless ground attack in its Oct. 2 meeting with Clear Lake, churning up some 300 yards of real estate against an over-matched Cardinal’s defense.
The Eagles had the visitors right where they wanted them following a scoreless first quarter, exploding for 34 points in a wild second period to open up a huge lead at the half.
The Cardinals never recovered from the deluge, as Cloverdale emptied its bench after intermission and cruised to a 48-14 win.
Leading offensive players included running backs Luke Bernardi (21-203 yards rushing, 3 TDs, 290 all-purpose yards), Mason Meier (3-33 yards rushing, 2 TDs), Adrian Bernardi (4-28 yards rushing, 3-20 yards receiving), Marcus Poe (2-52 yards receiving, 2 TDs) and quarterback Chris Harms (5-13, 70 yards passing, 2 TDs). Kicker Pat Ojeda made good on six of seven PAT boots.
Leading defenders were Poe (10 tackles, blocked punt), Adrian Bernardi (10 tackles), Jared Hibbeln (9 tackles), Meier (6 tackles), Ojeda (4 tackles), Jayden Mrvicka (2 tackles, INT) and Luke Bernardi (1 tackle).
