by Chanse Hall
sports@clreporter.com
Friday night saw the lights come on, but also the rain, as Webster City took on the Clear Lake Lions (4-0). The Lions hit the road to face the 3-1 Lynx on a natural grass field that proved to be slippery and muddy.
Conditions weren’t ideal which saw the Lynx collect the first score of the night, as well as their only points on the night, after a snap sailed over the head of Jaxson McIntire and out of the endzone, resulting in a safety.
Most of the night was spent in the trenches and on the ground, with a total of 13 passes thrown between the two teams and only three completed for a total of 26 yards – combined.
On the ground, the Lynx were able to rush for 148 yards, while the Lions picked up 176 on the ground.
Both teams had an interception, with the Lions seeing Sam Dodge leap through the air and picking off the Lynx throw less than a minute after the safety put the Lions behind.
Dodge seemed to be everywhere on the field to which coach Aaron Stensland noted they call him the Swiss Army Knife.
“We call him the Swiss Army Knife. He does everything. Offensively everywhere on the field, defensively everywhere on the field,” said coach Stensland. “He moved from safety to corner, he had to jump in and punt. We love that kid, we love all these kids and I wouldn’t trade this group of 72 guys for nothing. They’ve bought in, listened and they’ve learned all season.”
The interception led to seven points for the Lions after Titan Schmitt was handed the ball. After brushing off multiple tackle attempts, he found the endzone for a 54-yard score.
Schmitt recorded 19 carries for 155-yards in the contest.
The defense stayed busy and really was the bright spot on the night, collecting 42.5 tackles, one sack and six tackles for loss while also scooping up two fumbles and the one interception.
The Lions also saw multiple pass defends and played well in the red zone to keep the Lynx from scoring.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions were within field goal range and coach Stensland put his trust in kicker Kinnick Clabaugh, who knocked in a 25-yard field goal to send the Lions to 5-0 on the season after a 10-2 score.
“The credit goes to the defense, the D coaches, the D staff. I can’t explain what it is to come to this field and hold these guys to two and that wasn’t even the D, a snap got away from us on the punt team, otherwise it’s a goose egg up there,” said Stensland. “We are pretty excited about where our defense is at.”
The victory gives the Lions their first district win to put them in a good spot as district play continues.
“It’s big because this isn’t a district you want to fall behind in,” said Stensland.
“It’s ranked team after ranked team and hopefully this will give us a jump start in the race.”
Clear Lake has only allowed two points (and won) versus Iowa Falls (7-2 in 1961 and 13-2 in 1944), Eagle Grove (13-2 in 1976) and Algona (13-2 in 1941).
The Lions will host the Algona Bulldogs this Friday, September 29 with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
Stats
1 2 3 4 F
CL 0 7 0 3 10
WC 2 0 0 0 2
Team Stats
CL WC
Passing 1-5 2-8
Pass Yards 1 25
Pass TDs 0 0
Rushing 41 34
Rush Yards 176 148
Rush TDs 1 0
Tackles 42.5 42.5
Sacks 1 5
PAT 1 0
2-pt 0 0
FG 1-1 0-0
Individual Stats
Passing
Att Yds TDs
McIntire 0-1 0 0
Stephany 1-4 1 0
Rushing
Att Yds TDs
McIntire 11 8 0
Dodge 3 16 0
Hartl 2 0 0
Stephany 6 -3 0
Schmitt 19 155 1
Receiving
Rec Yds TDs
Erpedling 1 1 0
Tackles
Total Sacks TFL
McIntire 2.5 0 1
Dodge 3 0 0
Hartl 2 0 0
LeFevre 1.5 0 0
Cavett 6 0 0
Cooke 0.5 0 0
Schmitt 1.5 0 0
Larson 3 0 0
Allsbrook 5.5 0 1
Bunn 1.5 0 1
Richtsmeier 0.5 0 0
Trenary 4.5 1 1
Litzel 1 0 0
Johnson 1 0 0
Meyer 6 0 2
Fumble Recovery
Rec Yds TDs
Allsbrook 1 0 0
Meyer 1 0 0
Interceptions
Rec Yds TDs
Dodge 1 14 0
Kick Returns
Ret Yds Avg
Dodge 1 11 11
Punt Returns
Ret Yds Avg
Dodge 2 12 6
Field Goals
FG PAT
Clabaugh 1-1 1-1
