A new era of Clovis North football may have finally arrived as the Broncos roughed up the Pitman Pride on Friday night 34-0 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Broncos first-year head coach Michael Jacot had to have liked what he saw out of his team from the opening kickoff.
Coming off of a season in which the team finished with a paltry 2-8 record, the Broncos knew that getting a fast start would be a major key in any victory that was to be had.
And that is exactly what happened as quarterback Trenton Leura led his team’s offense with a sense of purpose. The senior called his own number to get the scoring started on the first possession of the game, scrambling into the short corner of the endzone from 14 yards out to put the Broncos ahead.
That opening drive seemed to be an auspicious start, foreshadowing the domination by the Broncos that was to come.
“When we are able to come out and take the first drive down…that sets the tone, in my opinion,” Broncos first-year head coach Michael Jacot said.
The Broncos took that momentum and brought it to the defensive side of the ball. A sack of Pitman quarterback Landyn Magina put the Pride on their heels, and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Broncos.
The scoring then went dormant for a while as both teams’ defenses gradually started to gain their early-season footing.
That is, until the Broncos regained the ball mid second quarter at their own 37 yard line.
The Clovis North offense then proceeded to march down the field, ending the drive with a five-yard touchdown scamper by Luke Bletscher, the first of his two scores, the other being a 69-yard catch and run in the third quarter that put the game out of reach for good.
Leura continued to orchestrate an offense that seemed to morph into a finely-tuned scoring machine in the second half of the game.
The senior signal caller had a game that would certainly be worthy of writing home about. Leura finished the game going 14 for 17 for 258 yards passing and two touchdown tosses to go with another two scores coming on the ground.
“I feel like Trent did a good job of managing the game, making good decisions and tucking it when he needed to run… that’s what this offense needs,” Jacot said.
A large chunk of those 258 passing yards came on an 88-yard strike to a streaking-wide-open Kaeden Eaves.
The senior tight end caught a short slant pass and outraced the Pitman defenders to paydirt, making the score 27-0. The rout was officially in full effect.
Leura capped off the scoring on the night with a 3-yard touchdown run and a dominant offensive Broncos performance was complete.
Now, with the first victory of the Michael Jacot era of Clovis North football out of the way, the Broncos will continue their quest of returning the program to prominence when they take on the Sunnyside High Panthers on the road Aug. 30.
The Panthers defeated Atascadero 30-7 Friday night, setting up a clash of two squads with no shortage of confidence.