Cloverdale will host Lower Lake on Friday in Homecoming Game
After taking a wait and see approach for the first month of the football season, it’s now official – the Cloverdale Eagles are league contenders.
The Eagles are off to their best start in three years after claiming another victim on Friday, this one in the form of a 38-15 road romp at Willits. The win kept Cloverdale tied with Kelseyville atop the NCL 1 standings at 2-0 and 4-1 overall.
In logging their best offensive effort of the campaign to date, the Eagles churned up 483 yards in total offense, overwhelming the Wolverines with a strong push up front that effectively controlled the line of scrimmage and clock.
Despite the lopsided score and dominance on both sides of the ball, Cloverdale head coach Greg Alexander knows his team has yet to play its best football.
“We played decent but had way too many penalty yards and need to clean that up,” he said. “We were able to start fast and scored on our first three possessions. We threw the ball fairly well and spread it around to our guys.”
Cloverdale will now turn its attention to the next task at hand, a Friday, Sept. 28 clash with visiting Lower Lake in the annual Homecoming Game. Kickoff times for the JV and varsity are 5 and 7:30 p.m.
The Trojans fell to 0-2 in league (2-3 overall) on Friday in a 38-12 loss to Fort Bragg, but will not be overlooked in the Eagle’s preparation this week.
“Lower Lake will present some challenges as they throw the ball a ton and will test our secondary,” Alexander noted. “Our formula will stay the same; we need to run the ball and not turn it over. Lower Lake will bring a lot of pressure on defense and give us some challenges in protection and blocking run blitzes.”
Fast start lifts Eagles
Cloverdale wasted no time in its Sept. 14 visit to Willits, marching up and down the field for an early 13-0 lead. The Wolverines had no answer for Eagle’s quarterback Shayne Turner, receiver Cesar Buenrostro and running back Jone Wesele in the second quarter, as the trio shreded the Willits defense for another pair of unanswered touchdowns and a 26-0 halftime lead.
The carnage continued in the third quarter as the Cloverdale defense dug in while the offensive unit proceeded to pile up points. The Eagles increased the cushion to 38-0 by the end of three before settling for an eventual 38-15 victory.
Turner led the offensive assault with 11 pass completions on 16 attempts for 198 yards and one touchdown, adding 43 yards and one score on the ground. Sophomore Colby Furia also cashed in on one pass for a 73-yard touchdown.
Leading ground-gainers were Wesele (15-113 yards, 2 TDs), Anthonie Robottaro (10-30 yards rushing) and Jesus Maciel (1-15 yards). Top receivers included Buenrostro (5-155 yards, TD), Maciel (4-93 yards), Garrett Robertson (2-14 yards, TD) and Wesele (1-11 yards).
