Madelia came to town on Friday big, tough and willing to air the ball out—which made for a fun game to watch—but the Clippers’ velocity and football IQ prevailed in a 51-0 drubbing.
While speed is the Clippers’ name of the game this season, said head coach Erik Hermanson, the football knowledge came from a core group of players who stuck with the program and learned how to adapt to changing game situations.
“Madelia had a lot of good athletes, very strong, very athletic, love to hit; they were hard hitting, and that’s a great tune-up for the rest of the season. But we’ve been talking about it since the Monday after Thanksgiving: Full speed ahead. That’s our motto. The score will take care of itself. We’re not going to worry about anything but one play at a time and being as fast as we can and never looking back. And we had guys who took their lumps, but they learned with each year adding to their knowledge, and if someone goes down, we can shift gears and go a completely different direction.”
Carson Lyons sprinted the game-opening kickoff to the Cleveland 24, and after Tanner Simonette runs, a Braeden Smith carry and a 4-yard Lyons-to-Tony Hollerich pass that set up the Clippers on the Madelia 4, Lyons found Wyatt Krenik in the end zone for the touchdown. Kiptyn Coon’s PAT kick sailed wide of the uprights, but the Clippers made a statement early.
The Clippers held Madelia to no yards after the ensuing kickoff and blocked the punt. Smith picked it up and ran it 35 yards into the end zone. Lyons and Krenik hooked up again for the PAT, and the Clippers led 14-0 with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Madelia passed for a first down on its next possession but eventually punted. From the 27, Lyons scrambled for 9 yards, Smith took a handoff 19 yards, and Simonette caught a 16-yard pass, but the Clippers fumbled to turn the ball over on the Madelia 7.
Madelia threw a couple of incomplete passes and gained 5 ground yards before they were forced to punt. But Garrett Heldberg was there to block it, and Madelia fell on the ball in the end zone for a Clipper safety.
“Our guys are really physically fit, so we can cover patterns all day long,” Hermanson said.
The Clippers didn’t return the free kick and took over on their45. From there, Lyons connected with Hollerich for 13 yards, Simonette for 8 yards, and Sam Ternes for 6 more before a pass interference call set up the Clippers on the Madelia 30.
From the 30, Smith hauled in a Lyons pass and ran the final 2 yards to the goal line. With the Coon PAT kick, the Clippers led 23-0 with 7:30 left until the break.
After another Blackhawk punt, the Cappers assembled a 59-yard campaign that was capped off by a 41-yard Smith catch and run to the end zone. Coon’s PAT boot found its way through the uprights, and the Clippers had a comfy 30-0 advantage at the break.
The Clippers scored again on their first possession of the second half. That drive featured a 29-yard Lyons-to-Simonette pass before Hollerich caught a 12-yard pass for the touchdown. Coon’s point-after kick was good, and the Clippers led 37-0.
Lyons intercepted a Madelia pass on the next series and took it to the Madelia 23, but the Clippers turned the ball over on downs at the Madelia 18.
The Blackhawks punted again though, and, starting out at midfield, Smith and Simonette went to work again with Simonette scoring from half a yard out. With a successful Coon PAT kick, they led 44-0 early in the final frame.
Later, after Jake Mueller recovered a Madelia fumble at the Clipper 15, Hollerich rattled off runs of 6 yards and 2 yards before he took a handoff down the right side for a 77-yard touchdown. Coon’s kick for a point made for the 51-0 final.
It didn’t help the Blackhawks’ case that their quarterback suffered a hamstring injury early in the game and didn’t return.
The Clippers fought injuries too.
“Garet (Peterson) hurt his ankle in the game yet continued to play hard the entire game. Sam (Ternes) had a hurt back but had a couple of great catches,” Hermanson said. A’
Last week, Smith was limited by an ankle injury he suffered during the game. It still was hurting when Madelia came to town, but he shrugged it off, despite the hard hits he took from the Blackhawks.
“I powered through it for my team, but the team showed up too, 51 points. It was a fun game all around, offense, defense, special teams, and it was fun to get the younger guys in.”
“Having Braeden in their being able to run makes a big difference,” Hermanson said. “Guys playing banged up is part of football, and we have guys that are tough mentally and physically. We don’t want anyone to play injured, but if you are banged up and can play, that’s the toughest.”
But the Clippers also had a couple of players back in the lineup after missing week one: Carsyn Ryg, a 240-lb junior lineman, and Henry Boelter, a 175-lb senior, and that helped make for the lopsided score, Hermanson said.
“We got them back and it was huge. Carsyn is a prototypical football player. He’s what you want. I wish we had five of him. He can block anybody, and Madelia had some great linemen. Number 7 is awesome. There’s a good chance he could be the district lineman of the year. Number 55 is a great linebacker, so having Carsyn back helped so much with those two. Henry probably got more playing time than he ever had.
The Blackhawks moved to 11-man last year, when the visiting Clippers beat them. Prior to that, the former nine-man rivals hadn’t met since 2018.
The Clippers travel to Lewiston today (Thursday) for a 6:00 p.m. contest against Lewiston-Altura. The game was scheduled for Friday but has been moved up because of forecasted thunderstorms and heavy rain.
With a 42-14 loss to visiting Waterville-Elysian-Morristown L-A suffered its third-straight defeat on Friday.
Also in the Mid-South Gold District, visiting USC lost to district crossover Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 44-22, St. James Area blanked host GFW 24-0, Mayer Lutheran beat visiting Martin County West 41-14, and host Lester Prairie topped district crossover BOLD 28-6.
Please check back for an updated version of this story as stats become available.
Above: Braeden Smith cuts into an opening.
A Madelia defender reaches out to tackle Tanner Simonette.
Kiptyn Coon and Adam Rain zero in on the Madelia quarterback as he tries to regain control of a fumble.
Jack Mons took a hit for the team on this fair catch.
Carson Lyons runs back a pickoff. Had the line judge not said he stepped out of bounds, a six would have come with the pick.
Tony Hollerich faces off with a Madelia defender.
Tanner Simonette had some rousing words for his teammates after the win.
The bib girls got in their quota of jumping jacks.
As pep band director, Erik Hermanson had double duty.
The game was Parents' Night. Here, seniors pose with their parents after the game.