Glenwood City holds off Clear Lake to earn first conference football victory

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by Joel DeWitt

Sports Correspondent

GLENWOOD CITY — The Glenwood City football team has an offense with the capability to score early and often. While that would be on full display in the first half against Clear Lake on Friday, September 8, they needed more than flash to beat a tough Warrior squad.

The Hilltoppers forced a turnover in the third quarter and stopped the Warriors on downs twice in the fourth to keep their team in the lead. Add a 73-yard kickoff return touchdown by Brady Thompson to the mix and that was enough for the Hilltoppers to hold onto a hard fought 26-19 victory.

“We played well in the first half on offense. Our line gave Brody time to find his receivers and we were able to get open,” indicated Hilltoppers’ head coach Shane Strong. “We need to be able to establish our running game a little bit better.”

The Hilltoppers gained 312 total yards on the evening, with 249 coming through the air.

Glenwood City started the scoring out on the evening. After holding the Warriors on the first possession, the Hilltoppers took over on their own 44 yard line. Two long completions by Brody Olson, first to Thompson for 12 yards and the second Brody Riba for 34 yards, set up the Hilltoppers on the 2 yard line with a first-and-goal.

Clear Lakes defense stiffened and forced the Toppers into fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. However, Mitch McGee took the handoff and pounded it up the middle for the score and the early lead at 6-0 with 6:48 left in the first quarter.

The Warriors countered the next possession with a healthy dose of their run game. They pushed the ball 62 yards over nearly seven minutes of clock time to take the 7-6 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

The Hilltopper quick-strike offense responded. Starting at their own 26 yard line the Toppers only needed five plays to take the lead 12-7 on a Riba 14 yard reception from Olson.

The key play of the drive was on a second-down play when Olson connected with Morgan Eggert for 44 yards and a first down inside the red zone.

The Hilltoppers were not done for the half. After stopping Clear Lake, they started their subsequent possession at the 24 yard line. A 31-yard reception by Thompson on third and long put Glenwood City in Warrior territory.

A 20-yard reception by Eggert and a 14-yard rush by McGee set the Hilltoppers up inside the red zone once again. Five plays later McGee scored his second touchdown of the game with a 3-yard rush around the edge to put the Toppers up 18-7 going into halftime.

The second half unfolded much differently for the Hilltopper offense. While in the first half Glenwood City was able to convert on third and fourth downs, they would find the well dry in the second.

The first possession saw Glenwood City drive inside Clear Lake’s 20 yard line but was stopped on a fourth-down rushing attempt at the 14 yard line. A Warrior fumble two plays later, recovered by Eggert, gave the Topper offense another chance.

However, Clear Lake once again stonewalled Glenwood City inside the red zone. A fourth-down passing attempt by Olson would miss its mark and Clear Lake took over on their own three yard line.

The Warrior offense capitalized on their ensuing drive. Going 97 yards in just under nine minutes of game time, they cut the Glenwood led to 18-13 on a 14-yard rush by Jordan Blanchard with 8:22 remaining in the game.

With their offense struggling to convert in the second half, the Hilltoppers used a different route to find pay dirt. The proceeding kickoff saw Thompson receive the ball off a bounce, find a seam in the defenders, and take it 73 yards down the sideline to the end zone. The 2-point PAT reception by Eggert extended the GC advantage to two possessions at 26-13.

“Brady is an explosive player in the open field, that touchdown was very big for our team,” commented Strong. “He lifted us with a big-time play.”

Clear Lake added another touchdown with 4:00 left in the game, however the Topper defense proved to be too resilient as Glenwood City held on for the 26-19 win on the evening.

The Hilltopper passing attack lead the way. Olson was 18-28 for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Eggert led the way receiving with 77 yards on six catches. Thompson followed close behind with 63 yards, while Riba had 50.

McGee added 44 yards rushing on 17 carries.

The win levels the Hilltoppers conference record at 1-1 (3-1 overall). They travel to Cadott on September 15 to take on a winless Hornets team. Game time is 7 p.m.