Clovis senior Quran Wiggins looks for open field as a teammate blocks defender Armando Lopez during Thursday’s Wildcat football practice. Clovis scrimmages against La Cueva at 4:30 p.m. today at Alamogordo High School.

Carlos Garza might not have thought much of an event like this last year.

This time around, a scrimmage — and everything else in his senior season — is something the center is looking forward to.

“I took everything for granted more than I do now,” said Garza, who had a solid start to his junior year before going down with a knee injury three games into the 2009 season.

Clovis travels to Alamogordo today for a 4:30 p.m. scrimmage against Las Cruces High.

The teams scrimmage annually, and change neutral sites because there isn’t a good midway point between the Class 5A schools.

The Bulldawgs were the No. 7 seed in last year’s Class 5A bracket, but were upset 38-14 by 10th-ranked Sandia.

“They will be a good matchup for us,” Clovis assistant Darren Kelley said. “because they’ve got a good quarterback (senior Jeremy Buurma) and running back, and they’re very athletic.”

The Wildcats went 9-3, and lost to Mayfield in the Class 5A semifinals. They return all of their starting backfield from last season, and Jordan Hill moves into fulltime duty at quarterback. Hill, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior, split time last season with Kyler Brewer-Hill.

It’s up to Garza and the rest of the line to protect and create lanes for the backfield.

“We do our job, they’re going to break a lot of big runs for us,” Garza said.

Clovis hosts Alamogordo 7 p.m. Friday to open the regular season. Kelley said the Tigers will be scrimmaging against St. Pius, but the teams are facing each other in Albuquerque.

For Friday, Kelley said, “The biggest key is not getting anyone hurt.”