Clarkson/Leigh falls to Howells-Dodge in regular season finale

The Clarkson/Leigh Patriots fell 58-34 at Howells-Dodge Friday night to end the regular season.

The Jaguars doubled up the Patriots 12-6 in the first quarter, and won the second quarter 22-20 to go up 34-26 at halftime.

Howells-Dodge blanked Clarkson/Leigh 12-0 in the third quarter to lead 46-26 at the end of three.

The Jaguars outscored the Patriots 12-8 in the fourth quarter.

Here is the scoring summary:

First Quarter

Howells-Dodge 7:55    #4 Dax VanLengen runs for 23 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #23 Jordon Brichacek no good)

Clarkson-Leigh High School 04:40    #32 Jacob Gall runs for 3 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #55 Anthony Bruhn to Team no good)

Howells-Dodge 03:45    #4 Dax VanLengen pass complete to #37 Zach Bayer for 65 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #4 Dax VanLengen no good)

Second Quarter

Howells-Dodge 09:58    #4 Dax VanLengen runs for 1 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to Team no good)   

Clarkson-Leigh High School 09:45    Kickoff by #43 Brett Fiala to the 21 yard line. #42 Hector Mendoza return for 79 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #55 Anthony Bruhn to Team no good)   

Howells-Dodge 06:02    #23 Jordon Brichacek runs for 5 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to #37 Zach Bayer good)
   
Clarkson-Leigh High School 02:03    #32 Jacob Gall runs for 6 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #9 Bradley Bunner good)
   
Howells-Dodge 01:50    Kickoff by #6 Blake Paprocki to the 26 yard line. #23 Jordon Brichacek return for 74 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to #22 Jon Yosten good)
   
Clarkson-Leigh High School 00:29    #55 Anthony Bruhn pass complete to #9 Bradley Bunner for 15 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #55 Anthony Bruhn no good)
Third Quarter

Howells-Dodge    06:31    #23 Jordon Brichacek runs for 2 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to Team no good)
   
Howells-Dodge    02:25    #4 Dax VanLengen runs for 1 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #4 Dax VanLengen to Team no good)

Fourth Quarter

Howells-Dodge    11:32    #23 Jordon Brichacek runs for 5 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #23 Jordon Brichacek no good)

Howells-Dodge    08:16    #23 Jordon Brichacek runs for 1 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #5 Connor Blum no good)
   
Clarkson-Leigh High School    02:57    #23 Isaak Wiese runs for 54 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #24 Derek Gurnsey good)

Head Coach Jim Clarkson says defense hurt his team.

"We haven't been as sound on defense as we'd like so we had a hard time getting them off the field. But we made them drive the ball down the field, but unfortunately we couldn't quite keep up with them scoring wise and weren't able to get off the field. So they ended up getting us in the second half, but I really liked the way our boys came out and played hard."

3-5 Clarkson/Leigh travels to Nebraska City on Thursday to take on 6-2 Nebraska City Lourdes in the first round of the playoffs.

Clarkson says defense is the key to winning the game.

"It's going to come down to our defense a little bit. We need to make sure we get some stops and get them off the field a little bit. So if we can do that, they have a pretty diverse offense, it's a lot different than probably what we've seen most of the year up in Northeast Nebraska. So hopefully if we're able to get some stops and do some things well on defense, hopefully our offense can get rolling, and hopefully (Bradley) Bunner can be healthy enough to give us a chance to score some points and give us a chance in the game."

The Patriots are making their 5th straight trip to the playoffs.

Bunner has been banged up with a hamstring injury and things of that sort so it will be interesting to see how effective he is against the Knights.

Like Clarkson said though, the defense is going to have to step up.

If they can, I think Clarkson/Leigh has a chance to spring the upset, but if the defense gives up big chunk plays and allows Nebraska City Lourdes to score quite a few points, it might be doom for the Patriots.

If Bunner was fully healthy I would say the Patriots could outscore the Knights, but right now I don't know if that's a real possibility.

Regardless of if Clarkson/Leigh wins or loses though I fully expect the Patriots to give it their all for four quarters.

Not every team makes the playoffs so this is a pretty big deal for Clarkson/Leigh.

The Patriots have been a mainstay in the playoffs the past five seasons and should be proud of the fact they're in the playoffs again.

Kickoff between the Patriots and Knights is set for 5:30 p.m. with pregame starting at 5:10 on 107.9 the Bull.