A Happy Homecoming

Lions improve to 2-0 in district with 28-21 win over Cardinals

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake Lions outlasted Garner-Hayfield-Ventura for an exciting Homecoming win, 28-21. 

Coach Jared DeVries noted Homecoming can be a week filled with many distractions for his student-athletes, and some of the Lion miscues in the game may support his theory.

“We had a lot of penalties and several bad exchanges between our center and quarterback that are uncharacteristic,” said DeVries.  “We also had some huge stops and forced some turnovers that were critical to the game.”

The Lions were generally out of sync at the start and produced just 17-yards of offense in the first quarter.  

The Cardinals took the ball 73-yards to the end zone on their first possession and held a 7-0 lead until a fumble recovery by Jagger Schmitt early in the second quarter put a stop to GHV’s momentum.  The Cards were on the Lion seven-yard line when quarterback Owen Pueggel fumbled and Schmitt covered the ball.  The Lions drove 94-yards for a touchdown, their longest scoring drive of the season.  A rare miss by kicker Kinnick Clabaugh left the Lions trailing, 7-6, but after the Lion defense forced the Cards to turn the ball over on downs at the 48, another touchdown followed.  Quarterback Carson Toebe found Ben Loge in the end zone for an 11-yard TD pass.  A successful two-point conversion by Toebe put the home team in front, 14-7.

GHV regained control in the second half with a quick score, followed by a fumble recovery, but again Jagger Schmitt turned the tide.  The senior stripped the ball and picked up the fumble.  A personal foul on the Cards gave the Lions the ball at mid-field and set them up a 26-yard Toebe touchdown run to put the Lions on top, 21-14.

Clear Lake’s fourth and final score came early in the fourth quarter when the Lions concluded a seven play, 79-yard drive and PAT for a 28-14 lead.

The Lion defense was tested in the final minutes, but repeatedly came up big.  

GHV, which had no penalties in the first half, suddenly had six by the time the fourth quarter started and pressure was mounting.   When Pueggel had the ball stripped for a second time, Max Deike was there for a Lion recovery.  

Unfortunately, Clear Lake’s penalty problems continued and contributed to a stalled drive, giving GHV the ball with 9:28 remaining.  The Cards drove all the way to the 15, but a powerful hit by Hunter Rieck popped the ball loose.  Schoby landed on top of the fumble, keeping Clear Lake’s two touchdown lead in tact.  But on the very next play, a bobbled exchange caused Toebe to fumble and GHV recovered on the four.  In one play the Cards 

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scored and suddenly it was 28-21 with 4:50 to play.

The Lions did their best to milk the clock, but the Cards were still able to take possession with two-minutes to go.  GHV penalties, a fumbled snap and quarterback slip kept the visitor in check and a sack by freshman Thomas Meyer was the final blow to the Cardinals.  

Clear Lake improved to 2-0 in Class 2A District 3 and are 3-2 overall.  The Cards fell to 0-2 and 0-5 overall.

“We are all in the same boat— still trying to improve and correct mistakes,” said Coach Jared DeVries about District 3 teams.  “We are getting some of our young guys valuable minutes in varsity games and that is important for developing our depth.”

Three freshmen played big minutes in Friday’s game and contributed notably. 

Thomas Meyer recorded two sacks to go along with two tackles against the Cards.  He also caught two passes for 41-yards. Aaron Richtsmeier provided size and strength on the line and Titan Schmitt handled one kickoff return for 26-yards.

The Lions finished with 352-yards of offense, compared to 286 for the Cards.  

Toebe was 14/24 passing for 157-yards.  Loge had seven receptions for 56-yards.  Meyer, Zeke Nelson and Jagger Schmitt had two catches apiece. Travaughn Luyobya caught one pass for 24-yards.

Hunter Rieck paced the Lion defense with five tackles, four assists and a sack.  Derek Erpelding was also in on a lot of plays, collecting four solo tackles, seven assists and a sack.  Jagger Schmitt also had four solo and three assists, with one tackle for a loss.  Jett Neuberger was credited with three solo and one tackle assist.  Thomas Meyer, Max Deike and Jakob Myers had two solo and two assisted tackles apiece.  Jacob Schoby also had a sack for the Lions to go with his one solo and three tackle assists.

This is the final Friday night to see the Lions play on their home field.  Clear Lake will host Forest City in a 7:30 p.m. game.  After winning their first game against Lake Mills, the Indians dropped the next four to fall to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the district.

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