The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys football team return to action on Friday night, as they host the Spirit Lake Indians in Class 2A, District 2 action at the Clarion Football Field at CGD Middle School. CGD enters at 3-4 and 2-2 in the district, while Spirit Lake enters at 6-1 and 4-0 in the district.
Spirit Lake visits Clarion for the 2nd year in a row, and ranked in the top 5 for the 2nd year in a row. The Indians are led by junior quarterback Caden Lundt, who’s built off a solid sophomore campaign with nearly 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns. Lundt has thrown 5 interceptions, but is still completing nearly 65% of his passes. After losing a senior-heavy receiving core in 2022, Lundt has broken in their new core very smoothly, as Dylan Stecker is the leading receiver with 31 receptions for 607 yards and 7 touchdowns. Ethan Stecker is the 2nd leading receiver with 16 receptions for 320 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season. The backfield features a 1-2 punch with juniors William Ditsworth and Bode Higgins. Ditsworth is the Indians leading rusher with 595 yards and 9 touchdowns, while Higgins has 494 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season.
Defensively, the Indians heartbeat begins and ends with linebacker Owen Lalumendre. Lalumendre has built off a stellar junior season with 52 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. The rest of the linebacker core sees many faces contribute, such as Bode Higgins, Will Graves, William Ditsworth and Joey Andres. The defensive line has been a steady unit all year, led by junior Tyson Robinson and seniors Evan Beck, Owen Meerbeek and Logan Sandman. The unit has combined for 3 sacks and 17 tackles for loss on the season. The defensive backfield isn’t as prolific as a season ago, but the Indians have still made noise, led by unit-leading tackler Sam Henrickson with 32.5 tackles and an interception. Ethan Stecker leads the defensive backs with 2 interceptions including a pick six, while Dylan Stecker has a pick on the season as well.
A key for Clarion-Goldfield-Dows on Friday will be play on the line of scrimmage, the Cowboys have seen plenty of success when they are able to run the football, after rushing for 450 yards against Okoboji in Week 7. Carson Nesheim will need to be efficient throwing the football, while the CGD defense will need to limit big plays and chunk yardage plays with their 3-3 stack defense.
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM from the Clarion Football Field on Friday night.