For the first time this season, Clovis North will have a chance to prove themselves in a conference matchup. They will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Central East Bengals at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Clovis North sitting on five straight victories and Central East on three.
On Friday, Clovis North beat Frontier 41-34. The Broncos pushed the score to 34-13 by the end of the third, a deficit the Titans cut but never quite recovered from.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Clovis North to victory, but perhaps none more so than Lucas Smith, who rushed for 94 yards and two scores on only five carries, and also threw for 145 yards and three TDs. Another back making a difference was J R Cruz, who rushed for 152 yards and one touchdown.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Clovis North was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 287 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 169 rushing yards every time they've taken the field this season.
Meanwhile, it was close, but last Friday Central East sidestepped Liberty for a 35-33 win. Given the Bengals' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 33rd, while the Patriots are ranked 120th) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Clovis North better keep an eye on Jelani Dippel. He was instrumental in Central East's win, throwing for 298 yards and three TDs while picking up 11.0 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 52 yards. That's the most passing yards Dippel has posted since back in October of 2024.
Clovis North's victory bumped their record up to 5-0. As for Central East, their win bumped their record up to 4-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Clovis North has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 295 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Central East has preferred to attack from the air: they average 288 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Clovis North lost to Central East at home by a decisive 27-10 margin when the teams last played back in November of 2024. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Dippel, who rushed for 78 yards and one score on only seven carries, and also threw for 229 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Broncos know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
