Another good night for the Lions

 Carter Garrington scored three touchdowns; quarterback Brock Adams set a new school passing record; and the first team defense is still unscored upon. All in all, it was another good game for the Clear Lake Lions Friday night, as they defeated Osage, 44-6, in the district opener for both schools.

The number one ranked Lions (2A) improved to 3-0, while the Green Devils dropped to 0-3. This week is Homecoming for the Lions. They will face Estherville Lincoln Central this week. Gametime is 7:30 p.m. at Lions Field.

“It was a good outing for us,” said Coach Fred Wieck after the Osage game. “There were a lot of mistakes early, but then we finally got going. A lot of kids played, and that’s always fun.”
The Lions were called for an uncharacteristic 12 penalties, most of which were procedure violations. Coming into the game they had been called for just five penalties in two games.
Clear Lake started fast, with Chandler Diercks taking a short pass from Adams and running 77-yards to score. Osage blocked the extra point and picked up a first down at midfield before the Lion defense forced a punt. Adams fumbled the snap on first down, giving the Green Devils a glimmer of hope, but a sack on the next play by a swarm of Lion defenders quickly put Osage on its heels. Two downs later they punted and Adams and the Lion offense began its onslaught.
Ernie Miszewski capped a drive which used up the first quarter with a score. The Lions led 12-0 after one quarter.
The Lion defense recorded their third sack of the night when the Green Devils tried to get something going in the second and another punt was in order. Garrington scored the first of his three scores on a four-yard straight ahead run into the end zone. Jarod Anderson’s kick was good, making the score 19-0. Five-minutes later, Garrington scored again from the seven. The seven-play, 73-yard drive put the Lions over the 300-yards of offense mark with under two-minutes to play in the first half, but they weren’t done yet.
With superb blocking, Diercks returned an Osage punt from the Lions’ 37 to the Green Devils’ 33. Garrington again pounded the ball in, this time from the one. Anderson’s PAT made the halftime score 32-0.
Rowdy Yates and Dustin King each scored touchdowns for the Lions in the third quarter to push the lead to 44-0 heading into the final frame. Yates caught a seven-yard pass to score, while King carried the ball 23-yards into the end zone.
Tanner Storbeck took over duties as quarterback and backs Brennen Doebel and Parker Pitzen gave Garrington and company a rest.
Despite a sack by Nick Eggers late in the game, Osage was able to avoid a shutout.
In the game, Adams broke his brother, Ozzie’s, career passing mark by completing 9/11 passes for 219-yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball four times for 20-yards.
“It’s fun to have (the record), but more important to keep on winning,” said Adams.
Diercks credited the offensive line with giving him room to run. He carried seven times for 63-yards and had three receptions for 108-yards and a TD. He said he worked on acceleration-- specifically his first few steps, in the off-season and thinks it has helped his game.
Garrington was the leading ground-gainer for the team with 12 carries for 106-yards. He also caught one pass for 19. King finished with 29-yards on two carries and Miszewski ran four times for 16. Miszewski had two receptions for 53-yards.
Mitchel Keeran, Makean Bang and Zach Zwiefel were a fearsome threesome on defense with seven, six and five and one-half tackles apiece. Keeran and Justin Sholly, who finished with four and one-half tackles, each made two solo tackles and a loss. Sholly had two solo sacks and Keeran made one. Tavian Coleman also had a good game with four and one-half tackles. Diercks finished with four tackles, Tamarik Lee had three and one-half, and Tim Franken and Logan Wilcke each had three.
The defense held Osage to just 131-yards in the game.