The freshman lost to Boone 38-20 on Friday Oct. 22.  It was a defensive battle for the first half.  Boone scored the only touchdown of the half in the second quarter.  Boone converted their two point conversion and would lead at halftime 8-0.  In the third quarter the Lions got things going on offense when Carter Hand scored on a 1 yard run.  Two point conversion failed making the score 8-6.  The Lions would create a turnover late in the third quarter when Chase Lester recovered a fumble.  The Lions would score a minute later on a 46 yard run by Lester.  Two point failed and Lions led 12-8.  Boone would score with 2:12 left in the third and convert two point conversion to take back the lead 16-12.  With :38 left in the third Clear Lake would score again on a 79 yard run by Lester.  Two point conversion attempt was good on a run by Lester.  Clear Lake took the lead going into the fourth quarter 20-16.  Boone got their running game going in the fourth and scored three touchdowns.  Boone converted two of their two point conversions off of those scores.  They would hold Clear Lake scoreless in the fourth making the final score 38-20.  On offense the Lions were led by Lester with 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns.  Lester also had 20 passing yards  Hand had 18 yards rushing and one touchdown.  Alex Gonzalez had 28 yards rushing.  Jack Abbas had 15 yards rushing.  On defense the Lions were led by Lester with 8 solo tackles, sack, and fumble recovery.  Alex Webb had 3 solo tackles and 8 assists.  Pete Swenson had 2 solo tackles and 7 assists.  Carter hand had 2 solo tackles and 3 assists.  Mitchell Jordan had 2 solo tackles and 5 assists.  On special teams Logan Kracht had a successful onside kick attempt recovered by Lester.  Coach Mike Lester said, “It was a tough way to end the year.  A few mistakes kept us from winning this game.  We came back strong after the half but just wasn’t enough.  Coach Mac and I are proud of the way these boys performed this year.  Look for them to have an outstanding sophomore, junior, and senior year.  Thanks for all the support from parents, coaching staff, and everyone who is part of Clear Lake football!”  The freshman ended the year with 5 wins and 3 losses.

The #2 ranked Lions football team advanced to the 2nd round of the state playoffs Wednesday evening with a 21-7 victory over Oelwein.  The cold and wind challenged both teams at times throughout the game.  They don’t count style points in the playoffs, a win is all that mattters, and the Lions did just that.  “It was a dog fight,” said Coach Wieck, who has the Lions in the playoffs for the 13th straight year. “Hats off to Oelwein.”  Both teams battled back and forth throught the game with the Lions trailing 7-6 heading into the 4th quarter.   The Lions took the lead 14-7 with 6:08 remaining in the contest when Ozzie Adams tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Brent Tarr on a fourth-and-two.  “It was a good call by coach Wieck,” Tarr said. “They were sending a lot of pressure on the edge because we kept running power, power, power.  “So we ran a set up play for it and I was wide open. It was a good pass by Ozzie (Adams).”  The lions rushed for 386 yards in the contest with Paxton Farmer accounting for a career high 161 yards, Adams for 137, Elliot Neuberger 49, and Tarr 40.  The Lions host a West Delaware team Monday night at 7 that was second in Class 3A, District 4.  “We have to improve if we’re going to advance after Monday,” Wieck said.

The Clear Lake Lions varsity football team wrapped up its 3rd regular season in a row without a defeat with a win over Boone on Friday by a final score of 26-7.  The lions used a ball control offense and smothering defense to frustrate the Toreadors.  The first half alone saw the Lions run 43 offensive plays and compile 14 first downs compared to 13 plays and two first downs for Boone.  First half scores by Ozzie Adams (10 yard run) and Paxton Farmer (6 yard run) made the score 14-0 at the half.  Adams scored on another run of 25 yards in the 3rd quarter and Brent Tarr finished off the scoring in the 4th with a 3 yard scamper.  Michael Keeran had a strong night on the receiving end catching 6 balls from Adams for 26 yards.

Defensively, the lions hounded the Toreadors all night.  Boone rushed the ball 17 times for -4 yards.  “The pass rush was obviously tremendous,” Coach Wieck said. “Their quarterback stood in their and took some shots.”  The #2 ranked Lions host Oelwein (5-4) Wednesday night in their playoff opener.  “We’ve done it before,” Wieck said of the short turnaround before the playoffs begin. “We know what we have to do.  “It’s different for these kids. It’s a grind and I think they’ll hang in there. We’ll prepare realizing that every game could be the last if we don’t take care of business.”

On Thursday night October 22nd the Clear Lake J.V. team headed to Boone and suffered a heart breaking defeat to the Torreadors 36-33.  Clear Lake started the game well taking the opening kickoff and drove right down the field to take the lead on Brice Wilcke’s 3 yard touchdown run.  Brandon Lo’s PAT was good and the Lions were up 7-0.   It would stay 7-0 after the first quarter and the 2nd quarter fireworks started.  Boone would score 22 points with their big play passing game.  Chase Lester scored on his first carry of the game, a 70 yard run and Lester would throw a 50 yard touchdown to Zack Huey.  Both conversions were no good for the Lions and Boone led at the half 22-19.  The Lions would get the only score of the third quarter on another big Chase Lester touchdown run of 55 yard and Lester would score the 2 point conversion.  Lions 27-22.   Boone would strike first on a short field after a Lions fumble in the fourth to take the lead 28-27.   Boone tried to run out some clock and time outs by the Lions forced them to punt.  The snap was bad and the Lions recovered on the Boone 44.  On their first play the Lions Cody Maulsby got outside and tap danced the sideline 44 yards to the end zone.  The 2 pt. conversion was no good.  33-28 Lions with 1:18 left in the game.  Boone did not quit and would strike on a 30 yard touchdown pass with 18 seconds left to defeat the Lions 36-33.   The Lions J.V. finished the season with a 5-3 record this year.  Coaches Feuerbach, Puttman, and Hamilton want to thank the players for great effort every week and adapting to changes every week it seemed.  We look forward to seeing you keep improving at the varsity level in the coming years.

The Freshman team beat Hampton 43-20 Friday evening.  The Lions got things going late in the first quarter.  Pete Swenson would recover a fumble and minutes later Alex Gonzalez would run in from 7 yards out for the first score of the game.  Gonzalez ran in the two point conversion making the score 8-0.  Hampton would score a minute later and their two point conversion failed so this made the score 8-6.  Clear Lake would score 20 points in the second quarter.  Gonzalez would find the endzone on a run at the 7:52 mark of the second quarter and two point conversion failed making the score 14-6.  On the kickoff Logan Kracht’s onside kick was successful when Chris Bowden recovered.  The Lions wasted no time to score another touchdown.  The next play Chase Lester tossed a 45 yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez.  Gonzalez ran in the two point conversion making the score 22-6.  Clear Lake scored again in the second on a 5 yard run by Jack Abbas.  Two point conversion failed and Lions led 28-6 at halftime.  Clear Lake scored in the third quarter on a 2 yard run by Carter Hand.  The extra point try was good off the foot of Abbas and the Lions led 35-6.  In the fourth quarter the Lions had a trick play up their sleeve.  Lester would intentionally bounce a pass to Abbas and he then passed it to Alex Webb for a 55 yard touchdown pass.  Gonzalez ran in the two point conversion making the score  43-6.  Hampton would score twice in the fourth quarter and convert a two point conversion.  This made the final score Clear Lake 43 and Hampton 20.  Coach Mike Lester said, “It was a well played game from start to fininsh.  The boys started off strong and played hard all game to get a nice 43-20 win on the road.  We are looking to finish strong at our last game of the year against Boone this Friday.”  Clear Lake had 405 yards of offense for the game.  Lester had 166 yards rushing.  Lester was 3-7 passing for 65 yards and one touchdown pass.  Gonzalez had 57 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns.  Gonzalez also had a 45 yard touchdown catch.  Abbas had 23 yards rushing with one rushing touchdown and was 1-1 passing with a 55 yard touchdown pass.  Abbas also had a 20 yard catch.  Hand had 23 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.  Webb had a 55 yard touchdown catch.  On defense Pete Swenson had 3 solo tackles, 6 assists and a fumble recovery.  Lester had 3 solo tackles and 2 assists.  Abbas had 6 assists.  Connor Nosbisch, Blake Kelso, and Mitchell Jordan all had 3 assists.  Freshman record is now 5-2.  The Freshman finish the season at home on Friday against Boone at 4:45

It was a tale of two halves Friday night as the Lions used a strong second half to defeat the Hampton-Dumont Bulldogs by a score of 48-12.  With the win the Lions secured the Class 3A, district 3 title.  It was the 25th straight district game win for the team, and they will try for a 3rd straight undefeated regular season in a home game versus a tough Boone squad.

The game tonight was evenly contested in the first half.  Paxton Farmer continued his stellar play, providing a 14 yard TD run and a 15 yard TD reception from Ozzie Adams which accounted for all of the first half scoring.  With the score 13-12 at half time, the Lions clamped down both offensively and defensively.  The 3rd quarter proved to be pivotal with the Lions defense forcing 5 turnovers alone in the period.  The offense took advantage by scoring 28 3rd quarter points to put the game out of reach.  “We all knew we had to step up in the second half,” Farmer said. “We were embarassed.  “That’s not what Clear Lake football is usually like. We had to step up and it happened.”  The lions got 3rd quarter scores from Brent Tarr (2 TD runs), Paxton Farmer (run TD), and a 25 yard TD reception by Elliot Neuberger from Ozzie Adams.  The scoring was capped off in the 4th quarter with a 29 yard TD reception by Nick Kruger from Adams.  The 2 TD’s by Tarr pushed him up to 6th place in Lion history on the TD list.  “Every year you have to win the district,” said Clear Lake coach Fred Wieck, whose team moved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the district. “Now, we get to play the No. 4 team from the northeast Iowa district.  “Next week, we get to figure out for fun who that could be and I think it could be about five teams. We have to beat Boone next week and that’s the No. 1 goal.”

The final game of the 7th grade football season ended on a positive note as the young Lions racked up a 42-8 win against the Iowa Falls/Alden Cadets.  Leading the way on the ground for the Lions was Carter Garrington who had a total of 230 yards for the game.  Garrington scored three touchdowns for the game.  His longest came on a 84 yard interception returned for the score.  Zach Tatum had 6 carries for a total of 79 yards including a 29 yard rumble to the endzone while breaking several tackles for the score.  Tatum also chipped in 3, 2 point conversions for the game.  Fullback Justin Sholly had 2 carries for a total of 60 yard, breaking away for a 61 yard touchdown run on his second carry.  Nick Holtz hauled in a pass from quarterback Sam Jones one handed and raced to the endzone for a score.  The offensive line did a nice job of blocking up front to creat holes for the backs to run.  Those on the offensive line included: Evan Applegate, Devon Reckner, Nick Piscopo, Trapper Wubben, Lucas Kirchhoff, and Ace Walton.  The defense did a nice job of stopping the Cadets during the game.  Defensively we were led by Ace Walton with 9 tackles, followed by Sholly with 8, Garrington with 8, Reese Barracks with 6, and Evan Applegate with 5.  Nick Piscopo recovered a fumble for the Lions.

On Monday night October 11th the Lions J.V. team defeated Webster City 34-14 at Lions field.  The Lions got on the board early with a nice opening drive capped off by Brice Wilcke’s one yard plunge.  Brandon Lo added the PAT and it was 7-0 Lions.  The Lions were stopped deep in Webster City territory on their second possession and it was 7-0 at the end of 1.  Hunter Bruns got his first of 2 interceptions to start the 2nd quarter to stop a Lynx drive.  Chase Lester took a quarterback keep 80 yards to a score and it was 13-0 Lions.  Webster City came right back with a big pass play to cut it to 13-7.  Zack Huey would close out the first half on a nice cut back run and Cody Maulsby got the two point conversion to end the half 21-7 Lions.  Maulsby would get in the end zone in the third quarter and Wilcke would score in the fourth for the final of 34-14.  Wilcke led the rushers for the night 74 yards on 13 carries and 2 touchdowns.  Defensively the Lions were led by Steven Akers who had 8 tackles and a sack from his linebacker position.  The Lions are now 5-2 on the season and will travel to Boone on Thursday night October 21st to take on the toreadors.  Game time is 5:30.  Coach Feuerbach and Puttman were very pleased with all of the kids efforts on both sides of the ball against Webster City.  We hope to finish on a positive note against Boone.

The Lions got down by a large margin in the first half and it was too much to overcome.  They lost to Webster City 46-26.  Webster City scored the first five touchdowns of the game and converted all of their two point conversions to lead 40-0 at halftime.  Clear Lake came out ready to play in the second half.  Moments into the third quarter the Lions would score their first touchdown on a 55 yard pass from Chase Lester to Alex Webb.  The two point conversion failed.  The defense would create a turnover on the next Webster City possesion with Alex Gonzalez picking off a pass.  The Lions would capitalize on the turnover and score on a 11 yard touchdown pass from Lester to Gonzalez.  Two point conversion failed.  The Lions would score one more in the third quarter on a 1 yard run by Carter Hand.  Lester ran in the two point conversion making the score 40-20.  On the next play an onside kick attempt off of the foot of Logan Kracht was successful when recoverd by Chris Bowden.  The teams would exchange possesions a few times during the fourth quarter.  The Lions also forced another turnover with Davis Dieken knocking the ball loose and recovering.  Clear Lake would find the endzone again with 1:43 remaining in the game on a 9 yard pass from Lester to Webb.  Two point conversion failed making the score 40-26.  On the next play Kracht would have another successful onside kick as Lester came up with the football.  With 1:12 left Webster City intercepted a pass by Lester.  Webster City would score with :03 left in the fourth quarter to make the final score 46-26.  The freshman record is now 4-2.  They play next at Hampton Dumont on Friday October 15 at 4:45.

The 7th grade Lions Football Team ran into a tough opponent in the Hampton-Dumont Bulldogs.  Carter Garrington led the Lions on offense with a total of 276 all purpose yards including a 60 kickoff returned for a touchdown.  Garrington had a total of 4 touchdowns on the night.  Fullback Justin Sholly chipped in with 66 yards rushing on 10 attempts.  Zach Tatum gained 80 yards on 9 attempts and scored a pair of 2 point conversions.  Defensively the Lions were led by Garringtion and Jarod Anderson with 4 tackles each followed by Spencer Orr who had 3.  Zach Tatum, Reese Barracks, Chase Bacon, and Ace Walton each had 2 tackels for the game.  The Bulldogs ran the ball well during the game that the Lions had a tough time stopping.  Hampton scored 46 points in the first half which included a fumble returned for a touchdown and a kickoff returned for a touchdown.  The final score for the first game was 60-28 in favor of Hampton. In the second game the Lions were lead on offense by Nick Holtz.  Holtz had 155 yards of all purpose yards including a 40 yard catch for a touchdown.  Also adding yards on the ground for the Lions was Jeremiah Colon who had 27 yards on 4 carries and Conrado Dominguez who had 14 yards on 4 carries.  The Holtz scored 2 touchdowns on the evening and Dominguez added one 2 point conversion.  Defensively we Dalton Roll had 4 tackels on the night followed by Zeke Branstad with 3, Jarod Anderson had 2, and Colon added 2 as well.  Ben Hillyer, Ryan Faught, Austin Kobes, Devon Recknor, Mason Rapien, and Zack Harnish each had one tackle defesively for the Lions.  In the second game the Lions posted the win of 20-0. Comments: As coaches we thought our effort could have been a little better in the first half.  That half proved too much to overcome the rest of the game.  In the second half we gave up 14 points.  The second half we played a little better and scored some points so that gave us some confidence.  In the second game we thought our kids played very well.  We connected on pass plays that set up scores for us.  On the defensive side of the ball the kids tackled well and made some good plays.  We were happy to come away with a win there.