Cloverdale will wrap up regular season this Friday at Clear Lake
The varsity football Eagles will be gunning for a strong league finish this week when they wrap up the NCL1 schedule on Friday, Nov. 5 at Clear Lake.
The Cardinals (4-1, 6-2) are one of the top teams in the NCL1 this season, but suffered their first league loss in a 40-14 setback to St. Helena on Oct. 29. The Eagles will need to bring their “A” game to come out with a win this week.
Also on the horizon for Cloverdale is a likely North Coast Section Division 7 playoff berth, when the NCS seeding committee meets on Sunday to fill out the divisional brackets.
“Overall I think we’re playing well at the right time of year,” Cloverdale head coach Greg Alexander said. “We have some guys banged up and we will adjust accordingly. We have a great opportunity at Clear Lake, which has some talented playmakers. We need to keep the ball in front of us defensively and limit the big plays. Offensively we need to be more efficient in the pass game and continue to run the ball well,” he added.
Eagles fall to Vikings
Cloverdale (2-3, 4-4) played host to a strong Montgomery squad (2-1, 6-3) in a non-league contest in their home finale on Oct. 29. The Vikings were a last-minute fill-in for Lower Lake, which was forced to cancel their game with the Eagles due to COVID issues.
The clash with Division 2 Montgomery represented a big test for a much smaller Eagle’s squad, with Cloverdale playing up five divisions. The Eagles didn’t flinch, giving the Vikings everything they could handle in a well-played game.
“Montgomery is a heck of a team and they really have some phenomenal athletes,” Alexander noted. “Their fast guys are big and their big guys are fast. I think we played well, particularly early. Throughout the game I felt their strength and depth wore us down.”
The Eagles stayed within striking distance early in trailing 14-7, but the Vikings took advantage of some costly Cloverdale turnovers to open up a 35-13 halftime lead. Cloverdale did not pack it in after intermission, making it respectable with a late touchdown and two-point conversion en route to a 41-21 Montgomery victory.
“Offensively, we ran the ball well in between the tackles and hit a few big plays on the outside early on,” Alexander said. “However, we had some costly turnovers, including two fumbles and two interceptions. We will not win many games turning the ball over four times.”
Offensive leaders for the Eagles included quarterback Caden Axell and running backs Dylan Muller (TD), Diesel Cavallo, Hunter Jennings (TD) and Ayal Fitchelberg. Muller added a kickoff return for a score, while Jennings scored his first varsity touchdown in the fourth quarter. Defender Ryan Moffett pulled down an acrobatic interception for the Eagles.
