Clear Lake- On paper, the Pepin-Alma football team did not have a lot to play for Friday night in the regular season finale against conference champion Clear Lake. The Eagles were set to miss out on the WIAA playoffs, while the Warriors were looking to secure a high tournament seed. The same two teams met a year ago, on the same field with Clear Lake winning 47-8. Clear Lake boasted one of the top run defenses in Division 7, allowing less than 80 yards per game. The turf at game time was a mixture of slick grass, frost, mud that should have slowed down some of the quick cutting backs that had been the Eagles strength all season. Clear Lake had a decided size advantage in the trenches. All signs pointed to a season-ending struggle. But as the adage goes, games are not played on paper.
Pepin-Alma put together perhaps its most dominating performance of the year as they stunned Clear Lake on the road 30-14 in front of a small, but raucous gathering of Eagle faithful.
A lengthy opening drive was capped by the Eagles’ workhorse running back Wyatt Lehnartz. The senior found the end-zone from 5 yards out, 6 minutes into the opening frame. The teams traded punts on each of the next two possessions before Clear Lake scored on a 7-yard run by Ivan Ruble tying the score 6-6.
Pepin-Alma regained the lead at the 5:35 mark of the second quarter as Lehnartz squeezed through an opening behind a crushing block from Tommy Wheeler and raced for a 32-yard score. Jordan Pearson found Michael Sandstrom for the two-point conversion as the Eagles led 14-6.
One of the game’s turning points came on the next series.
Clear Lake drove inside the Eagles 5 yard-line as time was winding down in the half. Two short runs were followed by a sack by Pepin-Alma sophomore Avery Wald. The Eagles were whistled for a pass interference call on 4th down, giving the Warriors an extra set of downs to work with. The Eagles defense allowed only a single yard on the next 4 plays and took the 14-6 into halftime.
Special teams took center stage to start the third quarter. Junior Thomas Milton recovered a fumble on the opening kick of the half. The relentless Eagle ground game moved the ball deep into Clear Lake territory before turning to the air. Pearson found Lehnartz alone in the right flat for a 3-yard TD pass, and then hit Sandstrom for another 2-pointer and a 22-6 Eagle lead.
Clear Lake responded with a momentum play of their own, as Ruble took the ensuing kick-off back 90 yards for a TD. A successful two-point run left the score 22-14 and the home team seemed to have a surge of hope.
The Eagle offense would have an answer two-minutes later. After a first down run by Roman Engstrand, Pepin-Alma went to it’s favorite inside trap play and Lehnartz broke free for a 53-yard score. Pearson and Sandstrom again hooked up for the conversion and a 30-14 lead. The Eagle’s defense, which struggled mightily during the middle part of the season stood tall on Clear Lake’s final 3 drives, including one more goal line-stand at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Pepin-Alma would grind out the final 6 minutes of the game by converting three separate 4th downs. Pearson took a knee at the 2-yard line as time ticked down and the celebration began for the upset-minded Eagle players and fans.
“Our seniors really wanted this one,” head coach Mike Olson said. “To do what we did against their defense was something to be proud of. We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Olson gave special praise to Wheeler. “Tommy was a wrecking ball out there. It was a fun way to go out.”
The Eagle defense was led by Sandstrom’s 14 tackles. Sophomore Lane Wieczorek tallied 12 and Wald had 11.
Lehnartz finished with 289 yards on 34 carries, including 4 Tds to pace the offense. For the year he amassed with more than 1500 yards and 22 scores.
The Eagles playing their last game included: Lehnartz, Sandstrom, Wheeler, along with fellow seniors Xavier Bergmann, Payton Torrez, Caleb Herold, Wyatt Hamilton and Cole Herold.