Lions roll over ELC, 35-7

[caption id="attachment_12906" align="alignleft" width="270"] JAROD ANDERSON[/caption]

Friday night the Clear Lake Lions rambled 207-yards and rolled over Estherville-Lincoln Central (1-3), 35-7.  The win improved the Lions to 2-2 overall; they are off to a 2-0 start in Class 2A District 2 play.

The Lions had a scoreless first quarter on the road, but broke loose for 27 points in the second quarter and held a 27-0 lead at the halftime break.

Coach Jared DeVries said his team excelled in several areas of the game and he is pleased with the progress he has seen on the field.

“We have to get better at all the little things,” said DeVries.  “I tell the kids to pick out one thing to get better at and we’ll improve as a team.”

Jarod Anderson got things going for the Lions.  The senior scored Clear Lake’s first two touchdowns.  The first was on a seven-yard pass from Zach Lester and the second was a 14-yard run.  Since PAT failed on the first score, the Lions went for two after the second TD.  Lester scored the conversion on a run.

Then it was Halston Southwick’s turn.  The junior had scoring runs of 15 and nine-yards to lift the Lions even further.  One out of two PATs went through the uprights for a 27-0 score.

Zach Tatum punctuated his night with a fourth quarter touchdown.  The senior’s one-yard scoring run and two-point conversion contributed to his 102-yards on 14 carries total.

Clear Lake’s offense wasn’t the only positive in the game.  Its defense held E-LC to 159-yards of total offense.  In addition, blocked punts by Parker Crispin and Cody Matz, and a fumble recovery by Justin Sholly gave the Lions great field position.  Sholly was also among the teams’ tackle leaders with three solo and four assisted tackles.  Pitzen made two solo and one assist.

Thomas Storbeck and Joey Monson were among the defensive leaders with four and three solo tackles respectively.  Two of Storbeck’s solo tackles were for a loss.  Sophomore Dalton Grell also got into the scorebook with a solo sack of quarterback Evan Olesen.

E-LC’s lone score of the game came in the fourth quarter when Olesen connected on an 16-yard pass play with Mark Paulson.

Lion quarterback Zach Lester completed three of eight pass attempts for 22-yards.  He ran the ball five times for -13-yards.  Storbeck was 0/2 passing and ran once for one-yard.

Fullback Carter Garrington was a workhorse, toting the rock 15 times for 44-yards.  Anderson finished with 33-yards on three carries and Southwick had 31-yards on three rushes.  Pitzen rushed four times for eight-yards.  Nick Eggers carried twice for one-yard.

“Our offensive line did a better job blocking, which allowed everyone to share in the wealth,” said DeVries.

This week the Lions host Clarion-Goldfield-Dows/CAL (1-3, 0-1).  Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Lions Field.