In the “B” game, the Lions gave another great effort as they defeated Algona 16-0. The scoring cameon a 51 yard run by Brennan Doebel. The two point conversion was run in by Tucker Tusha. The nexttouchdown came on a 48 yard pass from Ryan Schmalen to Jordan Hall. Tusha ran in the two pointconversion. Chanse Hollatz had a big sack for the Lions.
For the season both teams now have 3-0 records.

Final Score: Clear Lake 8 Algona 30

We ran into a tough Algona squad that had size and speed that our defense had a tough time stopping. Defensively we were led by Carter Garrington with five tackles, followed by Justin Sholly with four, Spencer Orr and Parker Pitzen each had three. Offensively we found the endzone in the second half on a pass from quarterback Parker Pitzen to Carter Garrington. Garrington caught the ball and rumbled into the endzone from 45 yards out to make the score 6-30. Zach Tatum scored the two point conversion to make the score 8-30 in favor of the Bulldogs. Picking up yards rushing on offense included: Justin Sholly had 11 carries for 54 yards, Garrington had 7 carries for 26 yards, and Tatum chipped in with 5 carries for 25 yards.

In the extra quarter with Algona we played 20 plays of offense and defense. Leading the way on offense was Jarod Anderson with 4 carries for 41 yards, Nick Holtz had 3 carries for 27 yards. Also carrying the ball were Ryan Faught, Jeremiah Colon, and Conrado Dominguez. Defensively we were led by Ryan Faught with five tackles, followed by Dalton Humberg, Mason Rapien, Nick Holtz, Colby Klipping, Zeke Branstad, and Jarod Anderson each had two tackles in the game.

Comments: As coaches we thought our effort was good by the entire team. We had some good blocking upfront on some of our offensive plays. Our defense shut down Algona in the second half but it was a tough first half that made it difficult to come back for the win. As coaches we need to make some adjustments and we will get better.

-Coach Hartwig

Final Score of the 1st Game: Clear Lake 8 Webster City 6 The 7th grade football team took on Webster City 7th grade on Tuesday, September 21st in Webster City. The Lions played well on offense and defense. On offense we had some nice gains from running backs Zach Tatum, Carter Garrington, and Justin Sholly. The Lions scored in the second quarter on a 60 yard touchdown pass from Parker Pitzen to Carter Garrington. As Garrington caught the ball it was a foot race to the endzone to make the score 6-6. Zach Tatum scored the 2 point conversion to make the score 8-6 in favor of the Lions. 8-6 proved to be the final score of the game as the Lions moved the ball to the Lynx 1 yard line late in the fourth quarter but let time expire to end the game. On defense we were led by some great plays by Lucas Kirchhoff, Ace Walton, Nick Piscopo, Nick Holtz, Jarod Anderson, Christian Donovan, Evan Applegate, Devon Reckner, Dalton Roll, Ryan Faught, Sholly, Tatum, and Garrington. The defense played better in the second half of the game as they started to stop the Lynx running game.

Final Score of the 2nd Game: Webster City 12 Clear Lake 0

The second game went well aside the score. We had some great runs by Jarod Anderson and Conrado Dominguez. Anderson had some nice gains around the right side and Dominguez had some lanes on the left side. The running backs ran well around the blocks up front by Kolby Klipping, Dalton Humberg, Reckner, Mason Rapien, Devon Barsness, Dalton Roll, Ben Hillyer, and Zach Harnish. On defense we had some great tackles from Ben Hillyer, Ryan Faught, Rapien, Roll, Zeke Branstad, Humberg, and Barsness. Overall as coaches we thought our team played well. We had a little better blocking up front in both games. Our tackling improved some from the 1st half to the second half in the first game. We had some missed tackles but as the game went on the defense started to play better in stopping their running game. In the second game we again had some missed tackels but the team resonded well to shut down the Lynx offense.

The #2 ranked Lions came out  of the gates with a purpose Friday night, scoring at will in the first half in opening up a commanding 36-6 half time lead.  The squad accumulated 343 total 1st half yards and compiled 18 first downs in that first half.  Josh Brood opened up the scoring with a 13 yard TD run with 9:53 left in the first quarter.  Brent Tarr scored on a 3 yard TD run at 5:52 in the opening period and the flood gates opened.  Paxton Farmer followed with a 6 yard TD run and Tarr added 2 more to put an exclamation point on the half.  Tarr added another TD run in the 2nd half for good measure to finish with 4 rushing TD’s for the evening.  Four lions rushed for over 40 yards on the night (Tarr with 71, Farmer with 43, Ozzie Adams with 51, and Elliott Neuberger with 42).  Michael Keeran chipped in 28 yards as well.  Adams also completed some nice passes to finish 6 of 7 for 101 yards.  Nick Krueger and Luke Monson got some valuable time in the 2nd half at the QB position as well.  The game ended with a score of 43-20.

The Lions bid for a 4th straight shutout came up short but the defense played well holding the Wildcats to 104 total yards (87 rushing, 17 passing).  Evenso, coach Wieck was less than thrilled.  “They (the Wildcats) moved the ball on us,” Wieck said. “We don’t like that. We’ll go back, watch the film and make some adjustments there. Said Jake Theobald, “Everyone on offense was blocking well, we had 300-plus yards of offense in the first half so that speaks for itself.”  “We’re thinking about Ballard,” Theobald said. “They’re going to be one of our toughest games that we’ve played this year.”

Clear Lake freshman lost their first game of the year Thursday evening to Humbolt 22-28.  Humbolt came out ready to play and scored on the first play from scrimmage on a long TD run.  Two point conversion failed and they led 0-6. Humbolt would score again early in the second quarter and convert their two point conversion to make the score 0-14.  Clear Lake would score with 4:35 left in the second on a 26 yard touchdown pass from Chase Lester to Alex Webb.  Two point conversion failed making the score 14-6.  With :07 left in the half Lester found Alex Gonzalez open on a 60 yard touchdown pass.  Lester threw a pass to Webb to convert the two point conversion to tie the score at halftime 14-14.  Clear Lake would strike again midway thru the third quarter on 4th down and 11.  Lester found Webb again on a 24 yard touchdown pass.  Gonzalez ran in the two point conversion and the Lions took the lead 22-14.  Two minutes later Humbolt answered with a touchdown and converted two point conversion to tie game at 22-22.  At the 9:14 mark of the fourth quarter Webb intercepted a Humbolt pass.  A minute later Humbolt would intercept a pass by Lester.  Humbolt would control the ball and the clock for the next six minutes and score with 2:37 left in the game.  Their two point conversion failed and they led 22-28.  The Lions started to mount a drive but Humbolt picked off a pass from Lester with :56 remaining in the game and would run out the clock from there.  Coach Mike Lester said,”It was a tough game to lose.  Down 14-0 and came back to tie it up 14-14 at the half.  Came out and took the lead in the third quarter.  A handful of costly mistakes kept us from the endzone and allowed them to put 2 more touchdowns on the board to take back the lead in the fourth  We had a total of 288 yards, just some costly mistakes kept us from winning the game.”  On offense Chase Lester was 4 for 10 passing with 110 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.  Lester also had 42 yards rushing.  Alex Gonzalez had 45 yards rushing and a 60 yard touchdown catch.  Pete Swenson had 47 yards rushing.  Alex Webb had 3 catches for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Jack Abbas was 1 for 1 passing for 33 yards.  On defense Pete Swenson had 10 solo tackles and 7 assists.  Jack Abbas had 2 solo tackles with 5 assist and an interception.  Alex Webb had 2 solo tackles with 1 assist and an interception.  The Lions are now 3-1 and play at home next on October 1st against Ballard.

On Tuesday Sept. 21st, the 8th grade Lions posted two shutout victories over the Webster City Lynx.  The score of the “A’ game was 36-0 while the score of the “B” game was 28-0.  In the “A” game, Rowdy Yates got the Lions off to a quick start as he ran 15 yards for a touchdown on the Lions 2nd play from scrimmage.  The two point conversion was good on a pass from Devin Uhlenhopp to Chandler Diercks.  After a defensive stop, the Lions quickly scored again on a 22 yard TD pass from Brock Adams to Diercks.  The 2 point conversion was good on a Diercks run.  On the first play of the 2nd quarter, the Lions scored on a 62 yard pass from Diercks to  Uhlenhopp.  The fourth Lion touchdown came on an 8 yard run by Mitch Keeran.  The two point conversion was good on a pass from Adams to Tanner Storbeck making the halftime score 30-0.   In the 3rd quarter the Lions added their final touchdown on a 21 yard run by Diercks.  The offensive line of Anthony Piscopo, Dalton Brandt, Matt Stephany, Micheal Leaman, Brock Brandt, and Logan Wilcke had a great night blocking and are getting more agressive with each game.  The defense was outstanding as they limited Webster City to 1 first down on the night.  The “A” team is now 2-0 on the season.

In the “B” game the Lions kept up the momentum with a 2 yard touchdown run by Tucker Tusha.  Two point conversion was run in by Jordan Hall.  Luke Maring scored the next TD on a 42 yard run.  The Lions scored again on a 5 yard pass from Makean Bang to Tucker Tusha.  The Lions final TD came on a 1 yard run by Ryan Schmalen.  Brock Adams had a fumble recovery which he returned 14 yards to the endzone.  The “B” team is now 2-0 on the season.

On Monday night September 21st the Clear Lake J.V. football team took on Hampton-Dumont at Lions field and defeated the Bulldogs 29-20.  The Lions controlled the ball for most of the first quarter but fumbled on the bulldog one yard line.  The second quarter would start with Hampton getting tackled in the end zone for a safety and the Lions were up 2-0.  On the first play after Hampton had to kick to the lions Gavin Sheakley would take it 80 yards on a touchdown run.  Brandon Lo’s P.A.T. was good and the Lions were up 9-0.  Hampton would get a second quarter touchdown and Aaron Boeshart would score on a 7 yard touchdown run for Lions.  Lo missed the P.A.T. and the lions went into halftime ahead 15-6.   The first play of the third quarter would be exciting as Sheakley had some pinball moves on his way to an 80 yard touchdown score with Lo’s P.A.T. being good it was 22-6.  Hampton-Dumont would not go away and a strong running game got them two touchdowns and it was 22-20 at the end of the third.  The Lions would grind it out in the fourth with their own running game and Cody Maulsby would finish off the scoring with his 15 yard touchdown run to make the final score 29-20 Lions.  The Lions were led by Sheakley’s 162 yards on 8 carries and two touchdowns.  Boeshart had 61 yards on 6 carries and a touchdown.  The J.V. Lions are now 4-0 and will travel to Humboldt on Monday September 27th to take on the Wildcats.  Game time is 5:30.

Diversity and defense were the themes of the night for the Lions varsity squad as they pounded Algona Friday night on the road.  The offense has already showed its ability to run the ball, but with ever-improving offensive line play, the Lions decided to attack through the air.  “They (Jake Theobald, Adam Buehler, Austin Kessler, Chase Crosby and Wylie Van Horn) do a nice job and they keep getting better every week” commented coach Wieck.  The protection allowed quarterback Ozzie Adams to have an impressive night throwing the ball, going 7 of 9 for 143 yards passing with TD passes of 50 (to Drew Sorenson) and 51 (to Nick Kruger) yards.  Coach Wieck said “Ozzie had a good game.  We had some guys open and we got them the ball”.  Michael Keeran added to the big plays with 2 TD runs (36 and 16 yards) and running backs Josh Brood and Gavin Sheakley also ran for touchdowns.

Defensively the lions dominated by holding the bulldogs to 97 rushing yards (2.3 yards per rush) and only 19 yards passing.  The bulldogs managed only 9 first downs.  The defense has not allowed a point in 3 straight games and has outscored its opponents 138-6 throughout the season.  The Lions move to 4-0 with their next game Friday the 24th at home against Humboldt.

The freshman Lions gained another win in a rain soaked contest Friday evening.  They beat Nevada 22-6.  It rained hard in the first quarter and neither team put any points on the board.  Clear Lake would score about midway thru the second quarter on a one yard run by Jack Abbas.  Alex Gonzalez would run in the two point conversion to take a 8-0 lead.  Nevada would find the endzone with :55 left in the second and their two point conversion failed.  The Lions scored again in the second on a play that was almost identical to a play from last week. With :06 remaining in the half  Abbas tossed a touchdown pass to receiver Alex Webb after a throw back pass from Chase Lester.  Gonzalez  would run in the two point conversion to make the halftime score 16-6. Abbas would score again in the third quarter on a 12 yard run.  The two point conversion failed.  This would be the final points for either team making the final score 22-6.  Nevada was looking to score midway thru the fourth quarter but an interception by Zach Merfeld halted their drive.  Coach Mike Lester said, “we had a well rounded offense and the defense did a great job to hold off Nevada’s offense.”  The Lions had 202 yards rushing and 65 yards passing.  Jack Abbas had two rushing and one passing touchdowns.  Abbas rushed for 21 yards and passed for 35 yards.  Chase Lester rushed for 70 yards and had 30 yards passing.  Carter Hand had 36 yards rushing.  Alex Gonzalez had 40 yards rushing.  On defense the Lions were led by Pete Swenson with 3 solo  tackles and 7 assist.  Blake Kelso, Alex Webb, Noah Holt, and Chase Lester all had 2 solo tackles with a handfull of assists.  Their record is now 3-0 and will play Thursday evening against Humbolt.

‘Tis the season for 7th grade football.  We played our first games of the season last night at Mason City taking on the Mohawks at John Adams Field.

In the first game we came out with a 14-6 win over the Mohawks.

The first score for the Lions came on a 1yd TD run by fullback Justin Sholly.  Carter Garrington added the 2pt conversion to give us the lead at 8-6.  Later in the third quarter Zach Tatum scored on a 32 yd TD run to give us a 14-6.  The conversion was stopped short and the score remained 14-6 to make it the final score of the game.  We had good blocking up front by Trapper Wubben, Nick Piscopo, Lucas Kirchhoff, Christian Donovan, Ace Walton, and Evan Applegate.  Parker Pitzen and Samuel Jones played well rotating at quarterback.  Both made some nice passes for completions to keep our offensive drives alive that allowed us to score.

On defense we had some trouble stopping the Mohawks big running back.  They only scored once so our defense started to play better when we did a better job of tackling him.  We had some good plays Carter Garrington, Zach Tatum, Justin Sholly, Ace Walton, Spencer Orr, Jarod Anderson, Nick Holtz, Chase Bacon, Evan Applegate, and Devon Recknor.

In the second game the final score was 18-0 in favor of the Mohawks.  They had a tremendous amount of depth that we had to compete against.  Our kids made some good plays both offensively and defensively.  On offense we had good runs by Jerimiah Colon and Conrado Dominguez.  Both boys did a nice job and picked up some blocks from our offensive line that included: Zach Welper, Devon Barsness, Deryck Leitner, Zach Harnish, Dalton Roll, Kaleb Froiland and Devon Recknor.

On defense we had some good plays by Dalton Roll, Jerimiah Colon, Zeke Branstad, Zach Harnish, Deryck Leitner, Devon Barsness, Ryan Faught, and Colby Klipping.

Comments on the game: I thought we started to play better in the second half of the first game.  The kids were excited to get the season started and they had some jitters but once we were able to stop their big running back we gained the confidence we needed to start playing better on both sides of the ball.  In the second game our kids played well so we were happy as coaches with their overall effort.

-Coach Hartwig