LAKEPORT — Durham High School senior running back Chris Craven had moves that pop legend Michael Jackson would have appreciated.
Craven, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 130 pounds, zig-zagged his way through the Clear Lake defense while scoring four times as the Trojans beat the Cardinals 40-10 on Friday night at Don Owens Stadium.
While spoiling the Cardinals” season opener, Craven scored on runs of 15 and 36 yards, returned a screen pass 67 yards for another touchdown, and had a 93-yard punt return for a TD.
“I would give that kid the ball every play,” Clear Lake coach Milo Meyer said of Craven, who carried the ball only 10 times for 76 yards and had just the one reception.
He also had several fine kickoff returns that gave Durham excellent field position throughout the game.
“That kid is the real deal,” Meyer said.
Durham jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Clear Lake lost a fumble on its first possession of the game and the Trojans had a 7-0 lead three plays later on a 15-yard Craven run. Durham scored again with 5:47 left in the first quarter on a 16-yard pass from quarterback Toby Auer to wide receiver Chris Giuffre.
Clear Lake closed to 14-7 on a Jacob Chapin 3-yard run that capped a 66-yard drive late in the first quarter. Durham answered three plays later as Auer dumped a short screen pass to Craven, who broke a tackle almost immediately before weaving his way down the field for a touchdown.
The Cardinals closed to 20-10 on an Omar Vazquez 31-yard field goal with 6:59 left in the first half and had a chance to get even closer later in the quarter. Clear Lake had a first down at the Durham 40-yard line with 1:40 left in the half but ended up punting.
Meyer said the Cardinals would have settled for a field goal try had they been able to move the ball another 10 yards or so.
“He (Vazquez) kicked a 55-yarder in practice the other day,” Meyer said. “If we could have gotten even three points there, I would have felt pretty good about that going into halftime.”
Durham completely dominated the third quarter as one Clear Lake player after another began to cramp up. The Cardinals had three running backs out of the game with cramps at one point.
“And they all play defense, so that didn”t help us,” Meyer said. “I”ve never seen so many cramps in my life.”
Durham scored its final 20 points in the third quarter on Craven”s second touchdown run of the night, his long punt return for a TD, and a 53-yard quarterback keeper by Auer.
“They just came out and whipped us in that third quarter,” Meyer said.
The game was marred by penalties, most notably in the first half when 16 penalties were accepted. Durham finished the game with 15 penalties for 147 yards compared to Clear Lake”s 8-for-50.
Edwards finished with 50 yards on 15 carries for Clear Lake. He also was 2-for-4 passing for 38 yards.
Durham, which forced three turnovers and had four sacks, moves to 2-0 on the season.
