Lions roar back for 28-7 win over N-H

Victory creates three-way tie in Class 3A District 3
The Clear Lake football team found itself down 7-0 early on the road. But the Lions dug deep and surged ahead of New Hampton in the second half to post a 28-7 victory. The win sets up an all-important game with Waukon in the final game of the regular season (Oct. 26) with a play-off berth in the balance.
Clear Lake is tied for the Class 3A District 3 lead with Waukon and Waverly-Shell Rock. Waukon beat W-SR 32-14 Friday to knot the teams at the top of the District with 4-1 records.
“New Hampton came at us and played tough,” said Coach Fred Wieck following the win. “But I thought we sucked it up down 7-0 to tie it up before the half and then in the second half we stuck it to them pretty good.”
The win over the Chickasaws was the third straight for the Lions, who face Crestwood this Friday at Lion’s Field. It will be the final regular season home contest for Clear Lake’s seniors.
Senior Sean McChesney was instrumental in helping the Lions to come back from New Hampton’s quick start Friday night. The Chickasaws took the opening kickoff down the field on 11 plays for the 7-0 lead. But McChesney broke away for a 71-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and the Lions never looked back.
McChesney tallied another TD for the Lions with just over one minute to play in the half when he caught a 29-yard pass from Justin Uhlenhopp. Uhlenhopp completed four of eight pass attempts for 42 yards and had 47 yards rushing on 10 carries. McChesney finished the night with 134 yards rushing on 14 carries.
And while the second quarter belonged to McChesney offensively, the second half featured Drew Dickson.
Dickson found pay dirt twice in the fourth quarter for the Lions. He collected 54 yards on 11 carries in the game. Josh Carlson was another workhorse, running 12 times for 44 yards. Lukas Matheson carried three times for eight yards and Charlie Peterson had one reception for seven yards. DJ Wilhelm was a perfect four-for-four kicking extra points.
The Lions had 329 yards of offense, compared to 170 for New Hampton.
Ethan Tindall had a team-high 10 tackles, four assists and a sack to lead the Lion defense. McChesney was credited with eight tackles. Ryan Brattrud, Zach Kruger, Jake Kopriva and Jared Sholly had four tackles apiece, with Sholly also recording two sacks. Lukas Matheson had three tackles and four assists.
Ryan Williamson also had a sack for the Lions to go along with his two tackles. Drew Bieber, Joe Bieber and Patrick Kolker were each credited with two tackles. Rudy Wieck got into the record book with a tackle and assist.