A tale of two halves

Two entirely different halves of football ended with the Clear Lake Lions falling 41-27 to sixth rated (3A) Webster City in a non-district contest Friday night on the road.

The Lions did almost everything right in the first half and went into the halftime break with a 20-7 lead over the Lynx.  However, Webster City used 376-yards of offense in the second half, compared to just 89 for the Lions, to rattle off 34-points.

“We just quit doing what we were successful at in the second half,” said Coach Jared DeVries, whose team fell to 1-1.  “It was disappointing to play so poorly in the second half.  We had way too many penalties- 14.”

The Lions were feeling strong at the onset, despite the fact that the Lynx marched down the field on their opening possession and scored.  Clear Lake responded with its own score.  Speed Toyne, burst into the end zone on a nine-yard run.  A two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 7-6 midway through the first quarter.

Two-minutes later quarterback Jaylen DeVries and Zach Lester connected for a 79-yard scoring pass.  This time the two-point try was good and the Lions held a 14-7 lead.  With just 2:34 remaining in the half DeVries hit Drew Enke on another touchdown pass.  Clear Lake tacked six more points onto their score with a 24-yard reception.  The kick failed, leaving the score at 20-7 after the first half of play.

Webster City opened the second half as strongly as the first, with Zane Williams scampering 68-yards for a touchdown with little more than one-minute off the clock.  That started the ball rolling and this time the Lions were unable to stop the home team’s momentum.  Williams scored for the second time in the quarter on a 30-yard run to knot the score at 20-20.   The Lynx senior finished with 201-yards on the night.

The Lynx continued to improve their blocking for their backs as the clock ran down in the third quarter.  They picked up five first downs as they took the ball all the way to the Lion 15 before the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.

Webster City outgained Clear Lake 190-22 during the 12-minute stretch.  They finished off the drive to start the fourth quarter, capping a 63-yard drive with a touchdown pass and kick to take the lead, 27-20.

Problems on the offensive and defensive lines continued in the final period, as Clear Lake was three-and-out when they finally got the ball.  Meanwhile the Lynx pushed their scoring streak to 27-0 with a seven play, 70-yard scoring drive and kick to take firm control with a 34-20 advantage.

The Lions got a spark and pulled within seven points when Jared Penning recovered a fumble for a touchdown with 3:29 to play.  However, the Lynx withstood the pressure and took the wind out of Clear Lake’s sails for good when they scored on their next possession, putting the game out of reach as the clock ticked down.

“The kids fought hard, we just quit doing what we were doing in the first half,” said Coach DeVries.  “We still ran the ball pretty well.”

Webster City finished the game with 425-yards of offense; Clear Lake had 321-yards through the air and on the ground.

Speed Toyne supplied almost all of the Lions’ ground game with 79-yards on 21 carries.  Nick Danielson ran the ball three times for negative six-yards.

DeVries ran the ball eight times for 13-yards.  He was much more successful through the air, completing 11 of 20 pass attempts for 235-yards.

Lester grabbed three passes for 132-yards, while Danielson had four receptions for 54-yards and Enke finished with 30-yards on  two receptions.  Toyne caught two passes for 19-yards.

Rhys Glidden and Luke Eggers led the Lion defense, each with five solo tackles.  Eggers also figured in three more with assists.  Dalton Grell and Sean Wendel had four solo and one assist

[wlm_nonmember]To read more of this article, please login or sign up for our E-Edition[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]

apiece.  Joey Monson recorded three solo and two assisted tackles, while Lester had four solo takedowns.  Danielson had three solo and two tackle assists.  The defense was also help by Austin Larson with three solo tackles and Alex Snelling and Chase Stuver each with two solo tackles and one assist.

Jack Barragy recovered a Lynx fumble.

The Lions open District 2 play this week at Garner-Hayfield-Ventura (1-1).  Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at GHV.

“We’ll have to figure out a way to stop number 10 Nick Danielson,” said Coach DeVries.  “He’s a good player with a lot of complimentary pieces.”

[/wlm_ismember]