TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

After Stockdale lost 37-6 at home to Clovis on Friday night, Mustangs coach Mike Snow wasn't even sure how many turnovers his team had committed, and he didn't much care.

"What was it, 10? 12? 6?" Snow said. "It was too many, that's all I know."

Technically, the box score will say Stockdale committed only four. But that doesn't include an early blocked field goal that was returned 51 yards to set up a Clovis field goal, and it doesn't include the two times the Mustangs lost the ball on downs.

In all, the Mustangs reached the Clovis 30-yard line six times and only came away with points once -- on a 1-yard D.J. Martin touchdown run midway through the third quarter. That cut the Cougars' lead to 16-6, but an errant pass derailed the two-point conversion, and Clovis answered quickly, with Garrett Olson's 47-yard touchdown run ballooning the lead up to 23-6. Olson also finished with six receptions for 47 yards.

Martin, one of the top running backs on the West Coast, finished with 111 yards on 18 carries, but he wasn't immune to the turnover bug, either. He lost a fumble in each half.

"We have to stop doing that," Snow said. "Our first two games, we had zero turnovers. Tonight, we had (four). If you turn it over that many times, against our schedule, you're going to struggle, and I don't care who you're playing."

Clovis (3-1) deserves plenty of credit for being opportunistic. In a scoreless game, Jason Black scooped up the blocked field goal and returned it all the way back to the Stockdale 26, setting up a Jake Poindexter field goal for the game's first points.

Later in the half, Jordan Harper intercepted Stockdale quarterback Drew Allen near midfield and took the ball down to the Mustangs 23. This time, it took the Cougars four plays to cash in on Jaye Rositas' 11-yard touchdown run.

Clovis later added a 2-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback R.J. Hartmann as time expired on the first half clock.

Even with a missed extra point, that made it 16-0 Clovis — though Stockdale held a 179-143 edge in total yards at the half.

“That pretty much tells the story,” Snow said.

While mistakes gave Clovis a lead in the first half, they turned the game into a rout after the break.

A turnover on downs and then lost fumbles on consecutive possessions led to 14 more Clovis points and a lopsided final score even though Stockdale finished with a 349-323 edge in yardage from scrimmage.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, over and over,” Snow said. “I kept thinking we'd run out of bullets, but we just kept shooting. But it's only Game 3.

“We've got to get better, but we want to be playing our best in November, not now."