Lions top Falcons, 54-21

Tyres Green-Harrington makes a catch that he ran in for a touchdown.  Green-Harrington had three touchdown receptions in the game. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Talk about a perfect football night.

Clear Lake fans, anxious to kick off the sports season and get a glimpse of the newly renovated Lions Field Friday night, were treated to an exceptional game.  The Lions dominated Aplington-Parkersburg, 54-21,

“We played really well— with great emotion.  I was proud of the hustle, fight and effort,” said Head Coach Jared DeVries.

Carson Toebe stepped into the quarterback position and the junior delivered in a big way.  Toebe completed 12 of 17 pass attempts for 292-yards and four touchdowns.  He deftly dodged tacklers to run for two scores.

Senior running back Jaden O’Brien-Green racked up 121-yards on 11 carries and scored one touchdown, while senior receiver Tyres Green-Harrington used blazing speed to break away for three touchdown receptions. His four catches in the game covered 139-yards.  Junior Jagger Schmitt scored two Lions touchdowns.

Clear Lake wasted no time in asserting itself as the better team.  The Lions won the toss and deferred, giving the Falcons the ball.  But on the first play of the game the Lion defense forced a fumble and Carson Odor recovered it.  From there, O’Brien-Green scampered 25-yards for the touchdown, giving the Lions a 6-0 lead just 13-seconds into the game.  Eric Ritter kicked the first of four PATs in the game for a 7-0 Lion advantage.

The Falcons struggled to get any offense going against the Lion defense.  They were held without a first down until the second quarter and only had four in the game.  Their numbers improved when the Clear Lake starters sat down in the third quarter and they were able to score on a 49-yard pass play and a fumble recovery made deep in Lion territory to make the score 41-14.

The Lions used quick formations and a blend of the run and pass to move the ball down the field from their own 13 on their second possession.  The eight play, 93-yard drive was capped by a Toebe to Green-Harrington pass in the end zone.  The kick was blocked, 13-0.

In the final two-minutes of the first quarter Toebe again found Green-Harrington sprinting to the end zone and giving the Lions a 20-0 lead after one.

Three-minutes later it was 28-0, as Max Deike recovered a fumble at the A-P 26-yard line.  This time Toebe focused on receiver Andrew Formanek to lay the course to the end zone.  The 6’6”, 220-pound Formanek caught three consecutive passes to begin the march. He finished with six catches in the game for 58-yards.  O’Brien-Green and Toebe followed with runs, resulting in a seven play, 74-yard touchdown drive.  Toebe was successful in the two-point conversion for a 28-0 lead.

A running clock was started midway through the second quarter after Toebe completed a 32-yard pass to Tyres Green-Harrington for a 35-0 score.

The second half started much the same as the first, as O’Brien-Green broke loose for another big gain.  He races 49-yards to set up a score.  Jagger Schmitt took a pitch from Toebe into the endzone to make it 41-0 with 9:52 remaining in the third.

After A-P’s two scores, Clear Lake starters returned to action and got the running clock started again with a 15 play, 74-yard fourth quarter touchdown drive, 47-14.  The final nail in the coffin was an 80-yard TD pass to Schmitt.  With 6:15 remaining, the score was 54-14.  The Falcons tacked on a late touchdown for the 54-21 final.

Senior Ty Fisher was the heart of the Lion defense, finishing with 10.5 tackles, eight of them solo.  He also recorded a quarterback sack and one tackle for loss.  Teammate Thomas Gansen was also a leader, with 6.5 tackles, six of them solo and two for loss.  Formanek made four solo and one assisted tackle, while Jett Neuberger and Max Deike  finished with 3.5 tackles. Josh Blaha had three, Sam Nelson and Hunter Reick 2.5 apiece, and Austin Warnke, Trimel Christian, and Jacob Schoby two tackles each.

The Lions’ strong start against a quality program like A-P’s has Coach DeVries feeling especially optimistic about the season.  The Lions typically take part in a number of camps, but this year because of strict COVID restrictions in place for baseball and softball, there was no contact with players until August.

“In the pre-season, the players bought in and worked hard and it got us off to a good start,” said DeVries.  “Right now, we only have about one-third of the playbook in, but we ran it very well.  Our offensive and defensive lines played extremely well and essentially shut A-P out.  I think our speed will be our X-factor most of the year.”

The Lions (1-0) are home again this Friday for another non-district contest against Osage, a Class 1A competitor.  Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.