Sean McChesney provided a spark to the Lion offense with 127 yards rushing and helped to lead Clear Lake to an important win over Decorah Friday, Oct. 5.
McChesney, who was forced by injury to sit out in Clear Lake’s loss to Waverly-Shell Rock, and only played defense the following week against Forest City, was the leading rusher for the Lions and caught two passes for 19 yards Friday. The senior scored Clear Lake’s second TD on the night when he carried the ball in from two yards out to make the score 13-6. He also was a key player defensively, snatching an interception at the Lion five to stop a Viking scoring drive in the third quarter.
Clear Lake got its first score from Drew Dickson, who also broke the 100 yard mark rushing. Dickson carried the ball 22 times for 107 yards and a TD.
The Lions started with possession of the ball in the third quarter and they did their best to keep the pressure on the Vikings. The drive was highlighted by a first down pass play from Justin Uhlenhopp to Charlie Peterson. The 22 yard completion gave the Lions the ball at the Viking 33. Clear Lake drove the ball to the 10 before stalling. A field goal attempt by DJ Wilhelm was good, boosting the Lion lead to 16-6.
Uhlenhopp completed five of eight passes for 75 yards in the game.
The Lion defense shut down Decorah on the next possession, but a pair of bad plays, a clip and fumble, gave the Vikings the ball on the 20 and they scored in short order to make it 16-13.
Momentum appeared to be headed Decorah’s way when the Lions coughed up the ball on their 44 with 3:10 left in the third. But strong defense, lead by Ryan Williamson and Ryan Brattrud, forced a Viking turnover to end the threat.
The Lions have lead in every game heading into the fourth quarter and they weren’t going to let Decorah surge ahead. After the defense forced a punt, the Lions began a march down the field. Josh Carlson busted into the endzone to make the score 22-13 with just three minutes to play.
But the Vikings weren’t ready to quit. They began a drive at their 22 and passed their way, helped by a pass interference call, to the Lion 32 using just one minute of the clock. On third and 10, a completed pass to the endzone and PAT closed the gap to 22-20.
Decorah’s onside kick attempt was fielded successfully by the Lions and they ran the clock out for the win.
“We did about everything we could do wrong and still win,” said Head Coach Fred Wieck. “We’ve got to start playing better. It’s frustrating, but we’ll take the win.”
Ryan Brattrud paced the Lion defense with 11 tackles and four assists. Ethan Tindall had 10 tackles and three assists and Lukas Matheson was credited with eight tackles. Joe Bieber and Jared Sholly each had six tackles, McChesney five, and Ryan Williamson three. Sholly also sacked the Viking quarterback.
Jake Kopriva had two tackles and returned one kick for 33 yards in the game. Charlie Peterson, Zach Lindquist and Zack Kruger each had a tackle and sacks.
The Lions are on the road this Friday to take on New Hampton. The Chickasaws are 2-2 in the district after dropping a game to Waukon last week. The Lions are currently tied with Waukon for second place in the district with records of 3-1. Waverly-Shell Rock leads the pack with a 4-0 mark.