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Clovis Christian tried to keep up with No. 1-ranked Melrose, but it was pretty evident early on that the Eagles were in over their heads.
Junior quarterback Clint Barnard rushed for 202 yards and scored five touchdowns and the Buffaloes (8-0) opened 8-man District 3 play with an 82-22 rout of the Eagles on Friday night at Yucca Middle School.
Melrose scored on all but two possessions — one of which resulted in a safety — and led 68-22 at halftime before the second half breezed by with a running clock.
“Clovis Christian’s got the speed we thought they did,” Buffs coach Dickie Roybal said. “Our kids did a good job of containing them, but when they got outside there was no catching them.”
Barnard scored on a 31-yard run on Melrose’s first possession. The Eagles (4-3) answered with a touchdown drive of their own, capped by freshman quarterback Kevin Naceanceno’s 5-yard TD pass to Cody Wilhoit to make it 6-6, but it was all Melrose after that.
Barnard added TD runs of 24 and 10 yards later in the first quarter, which ended with Melrose leading 36-6. He added scores from two yards and one yard out in the second period.
Senior Lane Draper chipped in a pair of scoring runs for the Buffs and also caught three passes for 47 yards from Barnard, who finished 6-of-6 for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
“Give credit to Clovis Christian,” Draper said. “They’re better than the scoreboard shows. We may see them again if they make the playoffs.
“Every game we really come in focused, and we need to continue doing that until the end of the year.”
Junior Shane Mitchell rushed twice for 53 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards for CCS. Also, sophomore Mike Urioste caught five passes for 49 yards and returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown late in the half.
“We came out firing, but I don’t know what happened,” Eagles coach Jason Swann said. “They’re a good team; they have good speed.
“We have a lot of speed, but the difference is they have speed and size.”
