Football Team Falls to 0-3
In their second game of the season, Clarkson-Leigh traveled to Howells for another matchup in the Bacon Bowl against the Howells Dodge Jaguars.
The Jaguars started out the game aggressively, scoring on their first two possessions and holding the Patriots offense scoreless in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a defensive battle as both defenses grabbed a pair of stops until the Jaguars grabbed a quick score in the final seconds of the half, putting the Jaguars up 20-0 at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Patriots rallied together and punched in a touchdown. The Patriot defense brought together big stops as well, holding the Jaguars offense back in the third quarter.
Again in the fourth quarter, the Patriots brought together a big touchdown drive and fought off the Jaguar offense on a goal-line stand.
Down one score with three minutes to go, the Patriots got the ball back, but the Jaguar defense was able to make a stop, preventing a Patriot comeback. The final score was 20-12.
Junior Wyatt Langhorst said, “Obviously we would've wanted it to go the other way. But the way the team rallied together at halftime gives me a lot of hope in our season to come.”
“It was frustrating to fall short in the Bacon Bowl,” Head Coach Jim Clarkson said. “We made too many mistakes early, but we responded really well in the second half and gave ourselves a chance. Hopefully we can use that second half as a springboard to our season going forward.”
Next up on the agenda was the Pender Pendragons on Friday, September 12 in Clarkson. The Pendragons came into the game with a record of 1-1, while the Patriots were searching for their first win.
Clarkson-Leigh came into this game with very little energy, resulting in a hot start for Pender. The Pendragons scored on their first two drives, putting the Patriots in an early 0-14 deficit. Pender extended their lead before half, scoring once in the second quarter to make the score 21-0 at halftime.
After a slow first half, the Patriots scored in the third quarter on a quarterback bootleg from Senior Wyatt Crosley. After the score, Pender answered right back with a touchdown of their own. Clarkson-Leigh’s offense could not get going the rest of the second half after the touchdown. Penders offense continued to click, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Clarkson-Leigh struggled all night with the final score ending 8-42.
Senior Brett Wemhoff said, “We didn't play well enough to get it done, but we had some good effort. We have to keep moving forward and go into district play with a new mindset.”
Head Coach Jim Clarkson said, “We had a tough game with Pender. We turned the ball over and gave up some big plays. We need to get some things cleaned up before we start district play.”
Box Score vs. H-D:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Clarkson-Leigh 0 0 6 6 14
Howells-Dodge 14 6 0 0 20
Individual Stats vs. H-D:
(Tackles, Rushing Yards, Touchdowns)
Tucker Matthies: 9, 124, 2; Blake Loseke: 2, 13, 0; Wyatt Crosley: 6, 47, 0; Jeryn Struebing: 1, 0, 0; Luke Eisenmann: 9, 0, 0; Levi Gall: 13, 0, 0; Jacob Kroeger: 3, 0, 0; Hunter Gall: 17, 0, 0; Brett Wemhoff: 2, 0, 0; Wyatt Langhorst: 2, 0, 0
Box Score vs. Pender:
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Clarkson/Leigh 0 0 8 0 8
Pender 14 7 7 14 42
Individual Stats vs. Pender
(Rushing Attempts, Total Yards, Touchdowns, Tackles)
Wyatt Crosley—18, 64, 1; Jeryn Struebing–5, 48, 0, 1; Blake Loseke—1, -1, 0, 2; Tucker Matthies—-24, 90, 0, 1; Levi Gall—0, 0, 0, 9; Brett Wemhoff—0, 0, 0, 4; Hunter Gall—0, 0, 0, 3; Luke Eisenmann—0, 0, 0, 2; Jacob Kroeger—0, 0, 0, 2