By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Clear Lake, IA – For the third time in the last four years, Humboldt’s football program clinched a district title, doing so Friday night at Lions Field in Clear Lake with a 23-13 win over the Lions.
The Humboldt Wildcats came into the night as the 3A RPI No. 1 team in week eight after their thrilling 21-20 win last week against then-ranked No. 1 Algona and faced a hungry Clear Lake team that was upset in last year’s matchup as the No. 1 team in the RPI poll by Humboldt 34-0 in a monsoon.
The 75th meeting between the Lions and Wildcats began in similar fashion to last week, with Clear Lake taking the lead on their first possession of the game after a Humboldt punt with a 42-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jaxson McIntire to senior wide receiver Alex Kerr. The Adrian Ros made PAT put Clear Lake up 7-0. Humboldt would cut into the lead late in the first quarter with Karson Rubel converting a 31-yard field goal to make it 7-3 Clear Lake.
The second quarter saw Humboldt come up with back-to-back sacks to force the Lions to punt which would lead to a momentum swing for the Wildcats. On the next drive, Humboldt would take the lead for good in the game as the Wildcats scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Matson to senior Keegan Groat, but a missed PAT on a blocked attempt left Humboldt’s lead at 9-7 over the Lions with 4:24 to go in the first half.
Another pivotal moment came late in the second quarter McIntire would fumble the ball on the Lions’ own side of the field with the ball recovered by Humboldt sophomore Broedy Hendricks who would return the ball to the 10-yard line. The Wildcats would add another score on the short drive, with Matson finding junior Chase Flaherty on five-yard touchdown pass on third down and goal to give Humboldt the 16-7 lead with 57 seconds remaining until halftime.
Humboldt would add another score in the third quarter with Matson finding Groat for the second time on a long touchdown pass, this time 57 yards to give Humboldt the 23-7 lead with 6:23 left in the quarter. Clear Lake would add a late score with 4:18 left in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from McIntire to senior and future Iowa Hawkeye Thomas Meyer, but would miss the two-point conversion on a sack. Humboldt would recover the onside kick attempt, leading to the win.
With the win, Humboldt clinched the 2024 District Championship in 3A-2 and improves to 7-1 (4-0 3A-2). The win by Humboldt narrows Clear Lake’s lead in the all-time series to 38-36-2.
The Wildcats will next host Webster City in the regular season finale for senior night at Mason Maach Field next Friday, October 25. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. and coverage will start on KHBT at 6:25 p.m.