Second half dooms Carlsbad in home opener

CARLSBAD – After a thrilling first half, Carlsbad dealt with a few too many bad breaks and collapsed in the second half against Clovis.

Wildcats senior running back Micah Gray broke the game open with a pair of deep touchdown runs. Meanwhile, the Cavemen again struggled to convert on third and fourth down, and the game quickly got away from them – resulting in a 34-14 loss.

"We had some breakdowns. We beat ourselves, that's for sure," senior quarterback Jonah Leyva said.

Despite struggling to move beyond their own 20 yard line during their first couple possessions, the Cavemen soon got their ground game rolling with some sizable gains down the field. Finding those open gaps and taking off, including plays like a 64-yard run by Leyva in the second quarter, helped set up two short touchdown passes off of boot legs in the red zone.

"Jonah's going to make things happen. He's a heck of an athlete, and he's going to make big plays like that all year," coach Gary Bradley said.

Senior running back Dominic Rodriguez had the first touchdown reception, and senior tight end Isaiah Perez tacked on the second.

Carlsbad led 14-13 at halftime, and then things went downhill.

Gray bolted to the end zone twice on 72 and 43 yard scores, giving Clovis a 27-14 lead entering the fourth quarter.

"He got out in the open, and that's exactly what we didn't want to let happen. He's tough to deal with," Bradley said.

As the second half went on, some of Carlsbad's familiar demons resurfaced. The Cavemen again struggled to convert on some critical and third and fourth downs and had some trouble protecting the football, resulting in a couple fumbles going the other way.

Carlsbad had moments where it was on the brink of scoring additional touchdowns. Such moments included a pass of more than 40 yards into the red zone which ended with a holding call on the Cavemen.

"We just let things get away from us," Bradley said.

Leyva said it was rough to have those things happen, given the momentum Carlsbad had in the first half.

"We had a lot of fourth downs, four-and-1s. We were close. We've just got to have that mentality to get there," Leyva said. "It's tough to have those bad breaks. It's a game of inches. We've just got to keep fighting and stay together."

Carlsbad (0-2) will host Goddard on Homecoming night at 7 p.m. next Friday.

SUMMARY

CLOVIS 34, CARLSBAD 14

Clovis     7 6   14 7 – 34

Carlsbad 0 14  0 0 – 14

First quarter

Clovis – Micah Gray 2 run (extra point good), 7:21

Second quarter

CHS – Dominic Rodriguez 7 reception (extra point good), 6:11

Clovis – Gray 23 run (extra point no good, due to bad snap), 2:01

CHS – Isaiah Perez 2 reception (extra point good),:02

Third quarter

Clovis – Gray 72 run (extra point good), 11:45

Clovis – Gray 43 run (extra point good), 2:33

Fourth quarter

Clovis – Seth Lopez 29 run (extra point good), 1:42

Up next for Carlsbad: 7 p.m. next Friday vs. Goddard

Up next for Clovis: 7 p.m. next Friday vs. Rio Rancho

Current-Argus Sports Editor Matt Hollinshead may be reached at 575-628-5518, mhollinshead@currentargus.com and @MattH_717 on Twitter.