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Central Section: Marshel Sanders leads No. 5 Clovis West past No. 11 Lemoore

Talented receiver hauls in seven passes for 243 yards and three scores as the Eagles fly to 40-14 victory in Central Section Game of the Week

LEMOORE, Calif. — If Eagles are supposed to fly, then Marshel Sanders took full flight on Friday night. 

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Clovis West junior receiver hauled in seven passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles flew past host Lemoore 40-14 in the Central Section Game of the week. 

Clovis West, ranked fifth in the SBLive Fab 15 CS rankings, improved to 3-0 while No. 11 Lemoore dropped to 2-1.

Clovis West coach Eric Brown said that he is thrilled how his team is playing through the first three games.

“This team is playing hard and feeding off each other in all three phases," he said. "We have a lot of explosive weapons and are also playing with a physical edge." 

Sanders, who has offers from Cal, Fresno State, Colorado State and Massachusetts, was the most explosive on Friday, but he had a lot of help. 

“Marshel had a great night," Brown said. "The offensive line gave (quarterback) Ryan Markarian enough time to get him the ball and he just has a knack for making people miss. 

"We also had a great game in special teams.”

The Eagles offense came out strong, jumping to an early 17-0 lead. After a field goal gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead, Markarian threw his first touchdown, connecting on a 51-yard touchdown pass to Sanders late in the first quarter. 

The duo connected again early in the second quarter, this time on an 18-yard touchdown pass.

The Tigers scored a touchdown late in the second quarter when Ty Chambers connected with Preston Scott on a 15-yard touchdown pass that cut the Eagles lead to 17-7 with 4:28 left in the first half. 

It was the first points allowed by the Eagles defense all season. 

Clovis West kicker Johnny Enriquez connected on a second field goal in the first half to give Clovis West a 20-3 halftime lead. 

Enriquez added two more field goals of 41 yard and 43-yards  in the third quarter to give Clovis West a 26-7 lead. Enriquez was 4-for-4 on field goal tries. On top of that, Enriquez had seven touchbacks on kickoffs. 

That was big because Lemoore’s Preston Scott is a game-changer. He had five return touchdowns through two games. 

“Johnny was really good," Brown said. "He has a live leg and works hard at his craft.” 

Lemoore cut the lead to 26-14, after a 2-yard touchdown run by Chambers with three minutes left in the third quarter. 

Sanders put the game away for with a 71-yard touchdown reception from Markarian with eight minutes left, giving Clovis West a 33-14 lead. 

A 25-yard touchdown run by Aidan Fortenberry closed the scoring. 

In three games, the Eagles have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 130 to 14. The Eagles defense, anchored by Brian Evans, who had four sacks in the game, held a high-powered Lemoore offense to their lowest point total of the season. 

The Tigers entered having scored a remarkable 144 points in two games. Being held to two touchdowns was a victory on its own. 

“The defense is flying around and playing physical," Brown said. "We made some mistakes but put pressure on the quarterback all night. In all I am proud of this team, and we can continue to get even better as the season goes on if we just keep putting in the effort and putting the team first.”

Sanders gave all the credit to his teammates. 

“I can’t do anything without my team, everyone was out there making plays and doing their jobs,” Sanders said. “We were just having fun out there. We go one game at a time. Our offensive line is bringing it, making it easy for our quarterbacks, then our defense ‚ they are just on fire.

“The sky is the limit for this team. We just want to get that championship ring,” 

Clovis West plays Bullard next week at McLane High Stadium in while Lemoore travels to Tom Flores Stadium to face Sanger. 

Here are photos from Friday night's game in Lemoore:

All photos by Bobby Medellin

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Clovis West Football vs Lemoore September 2, 2022 Photo-Bobby Medellin21
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