CLEARBROOK - The tornado-threatening winds didn’t affect Sam Lavin Saturday night, as he led Clearbrook-Gonvick to a 36-12 9-man football win over Norman County West.
Lavin finished with 207 rushing yards and 111 passing yards. He also had two rushing and two passing touchdowns.
“He can throw, he can run, we can do the option stuff with him,” Bears coach Casey Kroulik said of his quarterback. “Most importantly, he’s an incredible leader. He’s a little bit of everything, and we need him.”
After a quick Panther three-and-out, Lavin and the Bears went to work early and got on the board via a three-yard rush by junior running back Tristan Bakke.
They added to the lead a drive later on a 14-yard pass to Hunter Churness to the end zone.
The bulk of Churness’s work came on the ground, though, collecting 58 hard-earned rushing yards up the middle to open the outside edges for the speedy Lavin.
The Bears took a 22-6 lead into halftime, trading touchdowns with the Panthers near the end of the second quarter. But the Bears kept the pressure up during the second half.
Unlike Clearbrook-Gonvick, NCW struggled to get anything going in the tough wind, managing 166 total yards including one passing and one rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Ryan Borgen.
The Clearbrook-Gonvick second half touchdowns came from an 83-yard fake handoff keeper by Lanvin and a seven-yard reception in the endzone by senior wide receiver Luke Burgess.
“We have more experience than them, I think,” Kroulik said. “We have a lot of returning starters, and they don’t have many returning starters.”
The Bears head to Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal next week.
The Titans finished 9-4 last season and made it to the 9-man state semifinals. Kroulik said they would pose a challenge next weekend despite losing a bulk of their main players.
“Their starters might not be back, but I think they’re going to be solid,” Kroulik said.
Clearbrook-Gonvick 25, Norman County West 12
NCW 0 6 0 6 - 12
Clearbrook-Gonvick 14 8 14 0 - 36
