Cloverdale opens North Coast Section tourney at Arcata
The Eagles lost the battle but won the war this week, achieving a preseason goal in landing a spot in the North Coast Section playoffs.
Although Cloverdale dropped a hard-fought 49-20 decision at Middletown in Friday’s league finale, all was forgiven when the NCS seeding committee rewarded the team with the #8 seed in the 13-team Division 5 playoff tournament.
The Eagles will open the playoffs this Friday, Nov. 2 when they visit #9 seeded Arcata at Humboldt State University in a 7 p.m. kickoff. A win would advance Cloverdale into the NCS quarterfinals at #1 seeded Kelseyville.
“Our guys are rejuvenated and excited about making playoffs and we have a fantastic opportunity to go play at Humboldt State against a good Arcata team,” CHS head coach Greg Alexander said. “In order to win we need to get back to playing good solid fundamental football. Our attention to detail has been poor the past few weeks, but I’m confident that we can play with anyone in our bracket, as we’ve had glimpses over the year,” he added.
Mustangs ground Eagles
Cloverdale drew a tough assignment in the league finale at Middletown on Friday, staying within striking distance in the first two periods to trail 19-13 at the half.
Middletown gained separation in the decisive third quarter to open up a 35-20 cushion, and added a pair of insurance touchdowns in the final period in powering to a 49-20 win.
“We played Middletown tough through the first half but then they wore us down and we could not stop their run game,” Alexander noted. “Seems to be the story for us the past few weeks. Offensively we were pretty stagnant and moved the ball well but could never finish drives.”
Quarterback Shayne Turner finished a solid night under center with 13 completions on 21 pass attempts for 126 yards and a touchdown, adding 10 carries for 67 yards on the ground. Leading rushers included Jone Wesele (10-55 yards, TD), Anthonie Robottaro (11-20 yards, TD), Cesar Buenrostro (3-25 yards) and Colby Furia (1-5 yards). Leading pass catchers were Buenrostro (7-94 yards, TD), Garrett Robertson (3-17 yards), Jesus Maciel (1-7 yards) and Drew Edens (1-4 yards).
