Despite great effort Lions fall to West Marshall

(Above) Clear Lake’s Jagger Schmitt gained some ground with the help of Jakob Myers.  The Lions fell to West Marshall, 21-13 on the road.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway 

Clear Lake held West Marshall 40 points below its offensive average, but the Lions fell, 21-13, to the ninth ranked (2A) Trojans on the road.

“The kids played really hard.  That’s what I am most proud of,” said Coach Jared DeVries, who saw his team slip to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in District 3.  The Lions will host 0-5 Roland-Story this Friday at Lions Field.  The matchup is the final regular season game before all teams enter playoffs Friday, Oct. 16.

“We need to get it going offensively against Roland-Story,” said DeVries.  “We have to clean up our mistakes and turnovers, but if we play with this kind of effort we will be a dangerous football team.”

The Clear Lake coaching staff has had to be creative to fill positions left empty by injury and non-disciplinary reasons.  The return of senior Andrew Formanek to the lineup against West Marshall was a huge positive for the team  and provided some options, said DeVries.

“Andrew played his first game at linebacker and led the team in tackles,” he noted.

Formanek, along with Ty Fisher, recorded seven solo tackles in the defensive battle.  Fisher finished with 11.5 total tackles, while Formanek had nine.

The Lion defense was kept busy in pursuit of impressive junior back Preston Pope.  Pope was a key part of West Marshall’s opening drive, which traveled 70-yards for a score.  Pope accounted for all but 66 of the Trojans’ 215-yards rushing in the game.

After the opening drive, the Lion defense held West Marshall in check until the final four-minutes of the second half when another Pope-fueled drive resulted in another score.  West Marshall went into halftime with a solid 14-0 lead.

The Lions reached pay dirt for the first time in the fourth quarter.  With 7:34 remaining, quarterback Carson Toebe, who was back in the lineup after missing last week, followed his blockers into the end zone to cap a 13-play, 78-yard drive. Eric Ritter’s kick was good to make the score 14-7.

The Lions had West Marshall on the ropes, making mistakes and incurring costly penalties, as the clock ticked down under four-minutes.  Clear Lake got the ball back with 2:46 remaining with a chance to tie or go ahead.

On second and five from their own 13-yard line a Toebe pass attempt was picked off and returned for a two touchdown Trojan lead.

But the Lions weren’t willing to give up.  A Toebe to Tyres Green-Harrington completion on fourth down had the Lions in business at the Trojan 17.  Unfortunately, a second interception, this time in the end zone, gave the Trojans the ball, and seemingly the win.

The Lions refused to fold, even with less than one-minute to play.

On the Trojans’ first play from the 20-yard line Formanek was able to strip the ball and the Lions recovered.  A dead ball unsportsmanlike call against West Marshall gave the Lions possession at the seven with less than one-minute to play.  On fourth and goal Formanek got the call and pulled the ball in for a Lion TD with seven-seconds left, making the final score 21-13.

Formanek finished with four receptions for 51-yards.  Toebe was 11/13 passing for 108-yards. He also ran the ball 13 times for 35-yards.  Green had five catches for 50-yards.

Jagger Schmitt led the Lion ground attack.  He compiled 102-yards on 19 carries.  Andrew Crane rushed one time for 18-yards and Green ran once for seven.

Green-Harrington was also among the defensive leaders for the team with 4.5 total tackles, four of them solo.  Thomas Gansen also had 4.5 tackles, three solo, and Jacob Schoby made four total tackles, two of them solo. Crane was credited with the fumble recovery to go with his two 2.5 tackles, two solo.