Storm impresses again at season’s midway point
Cleveland shuts out Artesia in 2nd half
RIO RANCHO — Cleveland football coach Heath Ridenour spoke of halftime adjustments.
His defensive coordinator, Eddie Kilmer, who is about as old school as old school gets, phrased it a bit more economically: “We just played better,” he said. The Storm (5-0) shut out visiting Artesia over the final two quarters on Friday night, and Cleveland, Class 6A’s No. 1-ranked team, pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 49-14 rout of the Bulldogs.
Cleveland heads into its bye week appearing stout in every area and looking every inch New Mexico’s best team at the midway point of the season.
“I don’t evaluate other people, all I can do is evaluate our kids and see if
we’re getting better,” Ridenour said. “I was worried about our (overall) lack of experience, but we’ve done a good job of taking this one game at a time.”
Cleveland scored 37 seconds into the game and never trailed.
Sophomore quarterback Jeff Davison had a 57-yard touchdown scamper on the game’s third play, and junior tailback Dorian Lewis added a 16-yard TD run on the second drive.
Lewis has been all but unstoppable through half of Cleveland’s season. He surpassed the 1,100-yard plateau for the year after a 203-yard, 19-carry evening.
“Getting to have him in the backfield, and me being so young, it helps me put all the weight on him,” Davison said.
“It’s a challenge, because he’s one of the better guys, and he makes our defense a whole lot better,” Cleveland linebacker Dion Hunter said.
Artesia (2-3) lost starting quarterback Trent Taylor to an injury several weeks ago against Hobbs and he hopes to return to the lineup soon. Clay Houghtaling started Friday night. And he did what he could to keep the Bulldogs close.
He threw a pair of second-quarter TD passes to Alex Fernandez and Jagger Donaghe as Artesia trailed 28-14 at halftime.
But Cleveland rushed for 222 yards in the first half (139 from Lewis) to keep the Bulldogs at arm’s length.
“We had some mental errors (in the first half), people trying to do too much, but at halftime we talked about everyone just doing their job,” said Hunter, who has Division I offers from New Mexico and New Mexico State.
Lewis, with his usual array of quick bursts and spin moves, finished with four touchdowns, covering 16, 15, 31 and 10 yards.
“He’s a great back,” Artesia coach Rex Henderson said. “And he’s done that for four weeks, so you can take some comfort in that. We had our shots at him; he just makes you miss.”
The last two of Lewis’ scores were sandwiched around a blocked punt that Cleveland’s Darian Lowery recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Cleveland put up 21 points in the first 3½ minutes of the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, the Storm defense, an unheralded unit that is probably not getting near enough the credit it deserves, pitched that secondhalf shutout, and has only yielded 69 points in five games, and having faced several dynamic offenses along the way.
“Our defense works hard day in and day out,” marveled Lewis. “They know what they’re doing.”
Added Ridenour: “In an age of spread offenses, when you’re holding teams (like Artesia) to that few points, you’re doing a good job.”
Cleveland returns to the field Oct. 4 against Atrisco Heritage.