Tough Spirit Lake team ends Lion’s season in playoff showdown

(Above) It took both Andrew Formanek (9) and Thomas Gansen (52) to bring down this Spirit Lake ball carrier.   -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Spirit Lake rattled off 33 second half points and shut out Clear Lake for the first time since 2015 in a 40-0 second round Class 2A play-off game Friday night.

“It was a tough one,” said Lions Coach Jared DeVries after the dust settled.  “We didn’t play well offensively and had some assignment mistakes that didn’t allow us to get anything going.”

While the coach gave Spirit Lake (5-2) ample credit for stopping the Lions, other circumstances also played into Clear Lake’s demise.  Unbeknownst to most, quarterback Carson Toebe was injured on the Lions’ second series, virtually eliminating any passing game.

“He basically couldn’t throw the ball, but his warrior spirit wouldn’t let down,” said DeVries.  “His injury was re-evaluated at halftime and it was determined he couldn’t perform.  I should have probably pulled him sooner.”

Toebe, a junior, remained at quarterback until the fourth quarter.

Clear Lake’s defense was doing an admirable job containing the usually potent Indian offense in the first half.  Spirit Lake came into the contest averaging 33 points per game; they averaged more than 42 in the four games leading up to the playoffs.  The Indians scored on their first possession in the game on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Brent Scott to Dillon Fine, followed by a successful PAT, but that was all the Lions would allow.

Defensive strength kept the Clear Lake in the game, despite being out-gained in the first half, 126 to 24.  The halftime score was 7-0.

The Lions finally had good field position to work with midway through the second quarter after a poor Spirit Lake punt.  Despite starting on their own 45, the Lions couldn’t get anything going against a swarming Indian defense.

Spirit Lake took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored in less than two-minutes on a 46-yard pass play to Riley Reynolds.  Momentum kept building from there.  They marched 63-yards for another third quarter TD and had the Lions down 28-0 with 8:46 left in the game.

Clear Lake surprised the Indians, and gave themselves a spark, with a fake punt from their own 23 with eight-minutes to play.  Toebe took the snap on the Lion five-yard line, but instead of booting the ball, he connected with Andrew Formanek for a 27-yard gain, the Lions’ best of the night.  Unfortunately, a fumble ended the drive and left the Indians at mid-field.  In four plays the score went to 34-0.

Another Lion fumble, their third of the night, provided fuel for another Spirit Lake score to make the final, 40-0.

Scott was a machine on offense for the Indians.  The senior signal-caller was 15/23 passing for 199-yards and two touchdowns.  In addition, he carried the ball 14 times for 73-yards.

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The Lions finished with just 58-yards of offense.  Andrew Formanek’s 41-yard reception was the bulk of 43-yards gained on 5/9 passing.   Jagger Schmitt accounted for 11 of Clear Lake’s 15-yards rushing.

Sam Nelson, Thomas Gansen and Ty Fisher were the stalwarts of Clear Lake’s hard-working defensive unit.  Nelson made eight total tackles, four of them solo and two for a loss.  Four of Gansen’s six tackles were solo and two were made for a loss.  Fisher led the team in solo tackles with five.

“There was a great effort in the first half and the team kept working and fighting,” said DeVries.  “It just didn’t go our way.”

The Lions finished a most-unusual 2020 season with a record of 3-6.  After winning their opener over Aplington-Parkersburg, Clear Lake dropped five straight by a total of 12-points.  The finished the regular season with a solid victory over Roland-Story and won their Class 2A first round play-off game against Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, 35-14.

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