When it rains it pours. Quite literally last Friday night in Humboldt as the Clear Lake Lions (7-0) took to the road to face the Humboldt Wildcats (4-3) in a district matchup that could have clinched the title, but the Wildcat defense stayed true and shut out the Lions in a 34-0 loss for the previously undefeated Clear Lake team.
“Hopefully if there is a lesson to learn from this we learned it tonight and not a couple weeks down the road,” said head coach Aaron Stensland. “We have to come ready to play every night.”
Clear Lake had 265 yards total in the contest, while Humboldt ran for 224 and passed for 23 for a total of 247 yards of offense. The Lions outpaced the Wildcats in terms of offensive yards, Clear Lake struggled to get into the endzone.
The first drive for Clear Lake came after a punt from Humboldt pinned the Lions back at their own six yardline.
That drive only traveled five yards. The next drive would see much of the same, but instead of three-and-out the Lions did see a first down at around their own 30.
The first quarter would see no score, but a productive second quarter saw the Wildcats find their footing on a rain-soaked field.
Starting from the Clear Lake 42 and in good position, the Wildcats took the drive down to the three before launching themselves into the endzone to put the first points on the board.
The Lions faced another three-and-out and the Wildcats would, once again, march down the field to score on a quarterback keeper by Coen Matson.
Down 14-0 with just over six minutes to go in the half, the Lions were still searching for offensive production.
Unfortunately, the misfortune continued and a fumble deep in their own territory set the Wildcats up for yet another score.
The Lions saw a glimpse of hope as Sam Dodge broke loose down the sideline on a rush that was ultimately called back as he stepped out at the Lion 26.
In another flicker of hope, the Lions saw Titan Schmitt actually break one loose. The Wildcat defense brought him down by his collar which was flagged as a horse collar tackle. Schmitt and company sat at the Wildcat three-yard line with just seconds remaining in the half.
Holding strong, the Wildcat defense kept the Lions out of the endzone in the first and the three-yard line was as close as the Clear Lake guys would get.
The second half played much like the first half.
No score in the third quarter kept the Lions within reach, but the final 12 minutes of play saw Humboldt put two more scores on the board to put the game to bed and came away with a big upset against the Clear Lake Lions.
“We said since day one that anybody can beat anybody in this district and we found that out tonight,” said Stensland. “We didn’t really come ready to go and we got behind and in these conditions it’s hard to come back.”
The field conditions were soupy, especially at midfield with the Wildcat logo a mess.
“It is what it is. As the season goes on conditions get worse, weather is going to get worse,” said Stensland. “We have to find a way to play in it, get through it and play above it. We will get back and learn from this and be better next week from this. We fought much better in the second half, just didn’t bring our best game tonight.”
The Lions are once again on the road, this time against Charles City, which will see the end of the regular season.
The Lions can still claim the title with a win over the Comets and a Humboldt loss to Webster City.
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
CL 0 0 0 0 0
WC 0 21 0 13 34
Team Stats
CL WC
Passing 0/2 1/4
Pass Yards 0 23
Pass TDs 0 0
Rushing 50 37
Rush Yards 265 224
Rush TDs 0 5
Tackles 45 56
Sacks 0 1
PAT 0 4/5
2-pt 0 0
FG 0 0
Individual Stats
Passing
Att Yds TDs
Stephany 0-2 0 0
Rushing
Att Yds TDs
Dodge 2 5 0
Hartl 13 66 0
Stephany 6 15 0
Schmitt 29 181 0
Tackles
Total Sacks TFL
Dodge 7.5 0 0
Hartl 7 0 2
LeFevre 1.5 0 0
Cavett 2 0 0
Kerr 2 0 0
Enke 1.5 0 0
Schmitt 3 0 0
Ainley 1 0 0
Larson 1 0 0
Allsbrook 1.5 0 0
Bieber 1 0 0
Richtsmeier 0.5 0 0
Trenary 1 0 0
Litzel 2 0 0
Johnson 1.5 0 0
Meyer 10 0 5
Kick Returns
Ret Yds Avg
Dodge 3 42 14
Fuhrman 2 30 15
Schmitt 1 0 0
