The Eagles shook off 18 months of rust on Friday in their much-anticipated return to the gridiron, dismantling an over-matched Healdsburg squad in a 34-6 romp at Recreation Park.
Cloverdale, which saw its entire 2020 campaign lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, made up for lost time as it capitalized on five Healdsburg turnovers and 301 rushing yards to post an easy victory.
“I couldn’t be happier our kids finally got to play,” Eagles head coach Greg Alexander said later. “It’s been a long year and a half since we took the field and both the JV and varsity have been working extremely hard since June. Overall it was a great team win that is well deserved by our guys.”
The Eagles will now turn their attention to this Friday, Sept. 17, when they host the visiting Piner Prospectors in the home opener at newly renovated Allen Memorial Field. Kickoff times for the JV and varsity are 4:30 and 7 p.m.
The Prospectors (1-1) are coming off an 18-13 win over Willits on Sept. 10 and figure to pose a good test for Cloverdale this week.
Eagles capitalize on Hounds’ miscues
The Eagles wasted no time in taking control in Friday’s visit to Healdsburg, as return man Diesel Cavallo took the opening kickoff to the Hounds’ five yard line. The play led to a five-yard touchdown scamper by running back Dylan Muller for the early 7-0 lead.
Opportunity knocked again on the ensuing kickoff, as Muller scooped up a Hounds’ fumble and raced 60 yards for another Eagle’s touchdown. Cloverdale led 22-0 at the half.
Healdsburg struggled to move the ball against the stout Eagles’ defense in the third quarter, with one of three Cloverdale interceptions leading to a 20-yard scoring run for a 28-0 cushion.
Trailing 34-0 midway through the fourth quarter, the Hounds avoided the shutout on a seven-yard quarterback keeper by Jesus Anguiano, but the Eagles powered to an eventual, 34-6 victory.
In a game dominated by the running game, junior quarterback Caden Axell completed three of six pass attempts for 20 yards and one touchdown. Leading rushers were Diesel Cavallo (14-111 yards), Dylan Muller (7-108 yards, 2 TDs), Edgardo Ruiz (9-31 yards), Kayden Hemphill (4-22 yards) and Ayal Fitchelberg (5-29 yards). Receiver Gabe Wlodarczyk caught two passes for 20 yards and one touchdown.
Muller recorded the defensive play of the game with a 60-yard scoop and score on a fumble recovery while Ryan Moffett, Wlodarczyk and Cavallo each pulled down interceptions.
Although Friday’s win left plenty of room for improvement, the Eagles were focused and prepared, setting the tone for great things to come this season.
“We were pretty sloppy, which was somewhat expected since we had a bye and then another week off, Alexander noted. “However, we had tremendous effort and we are able to do things mentally with this team that we haven’t been able to do in previous years.”
The Cloverdale JV made it a clean sweep on Friday with a 21-16 road win over Santa Rosa.
