Clear Lake outlasts Osage, 39-32

(Above) Jagger Schmitt dodges a tackle in Friday night’s game against Osage.  Schmitt rushed for 231-yards on 28 carries to lead the team.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Friday night was the start of a new season for the Lions and they made the most of it.  Clear Lake is now 1-0 in Class 2A District 3 after outlasting Osage on the road, 39-32.

After their first three games this season, in which the Lions went 1-2, Head Coach Jared DeVries said he needed his team to learn how to respond to adversity and sustain a high level of effort heading into district play.  Despite what he called “one and one-half days of poor practice,” the Lions turned it around and took a big step forward in Osage.

The first quarter was a back and forth battle, with the Green Devils scoring first on a 67-yard drive for a 7-0 lead.

The home team had barely finished celebrating before Jagger Schmitt broke away for an 81-yard touchdown run.  Kinnick Clabaugh’s PAT was good to even the score, 7-7.

The Lions kept their foot on the gas, as Schmitt intercepted an Osage pass to put the Lion offense quickly back in business at the 45.  One play later Carson Toebe found Travaughn Luyobya for a 43-yard touchdown.  A Clabaugh kick had the Lions back out in front, 14-7.  The Lion defense forced two Green Devil punts and just before the end of the quarter the Lions scored again.  This time Toebe carried the ball in himself from the 11 to give the team a 21-7 lead.

Clear Lake’s fast and furious scoring came to a halt in the second quarter.  The Lions coughed the ball up on their first drive of the quarter.  Then the defense was tested by a drive which took the Green Devils all the way to the 12-yard line.  On fourth and goal, Clear Lake’s Jett Neuberger stopped the bleeding with an interception.  But on the very next play Osage returned the favor and intercepted Toebe at the 42-yard line.  Five plays later they pulled within a touchdown.

Defenses stiffened on both sides as the clock ticked toward halftime until, with 2:35 remaining, the Green Devils’  Brayden Onken slipped past the Lion defense and tabled 47-yards to the end zone, pulling Osage within one, 21-20.  

Momentum stayed with the home team in the final minute of the half.  After forcing the Lions three-and-out, they needed just two plays to go 57-yards for a touchdown.  The two-point attempt failed, but the Green Devils took a 26-21 lead into the break.

The loss of a two-touchdown lead might have had the Lions hanging their heads earlier in the season, but not this time.  Their defense shut down Osage’s first possession after the break.  Tucker Jones recorded the first of his two blocked punts in the game and the Lions had the ball on the Green Devil 31.  In four plays they scored and another successful PAT put them back in the lead, 28-26.

Both teams’ defenses rose to the occasion for the remainder of third quarter.  Osage went for it on fourth and 11 at the Lion 41, but failed to make a first down.  Likewise, Clear Lake faced fourth and goal at the 20 and were turned away. 

Jones recorded another blocked punt to give the Lions another prime scoring opportunity at the 10-yard line in the final minutes of the third period.  However, when they weren’t able to get across the goal line Clabaugh booted a 24-yard field goal to extend the Lions’ lead to 31-26.

But Osage wasn’t about to give in.  The Green Devils used nine plays to move 68-yards for a score and the lead early in the final period.  Knowing that Clear Lake had a capable kicker, they opted to go for a two-point conversion which