Cleveland 34, visiting Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 8 on Friday was as much about the Clippers avenging last year’s stinging playoff loss as it was about extending their record to 4-0.
And while the Clippers didn’t talk much about the 2025 upset, it definitely was on their minds.
“Everyone was thinking about it throughout the week,” said 200-lb senior center and linebacker Jackson Shouler, who scored a defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter. “But we knew we were going to come out here and pound them to the ground, and that’s what we did.”
The Clippers didn’t waste any time taking the lead. After Tony Hollerich returned the opening kickoff to the GFW 45, he took a Carson Lyons handoff 6 yards. Following up, Braeden Smith broke through the line for 18 yards before Lyons hooked up with Tanner Simonette on the run for a 21-yard TD. With Kiptyn Coon’s PAT boot, the Clippers were in front 7-0 with just 50 seconds into the game.
After the kickoff, the Firebirds lined up in T formation—their bread and butter offense over the years but not so much on Friday— for a first down, but they didn’t gain a yard after and turned the ball over on downs at the Clipper 47.
With a 20-yard pass to Smith and a 27-yards Lyons keeper in the mix, the Clippers drove the 53 yards with Simonette getting the TD honors, this time on an 8-yard run, and with the Coon point after, the Clippers led 14-0 with 4-minutes left in Q1.
After the Clipper defense held the Birds to a three-and out, and they assembled a 52-yard campaign that featured a 13-yard Garrett Heldberg catch, a 25-yard Smith catch and run and a 2-yard pass to Jack Mons in the end zone. Coon’s kick sailed under the crossbar, but the Clippers had a comfortable 20-0 lead with 10:35 left until the break.
Taking over on their 35, the Firebirds got all the way to the Clipper 6, but the Clippers stuck a dagger in the drive, and, taking over on downs, rattled off 14 plays before—with just 6.8 seconds before the intermission—Lyons found Wyatt Krenik in the end zone for 6 more points. Lyons connected with Sam Ternes in the end zone for the two-point conversion, and the Clippers led 28 to zero at the break.
While the Clippers never lost control, their offense didn’t get into the end zone in the second half.
“The first half went really well, but in the second half, we let some stupid mistakes get to us,” Lyons said. “It got into our heads, and we didn’t come out firing too well on defense. Yeah, we won, but we could have done better, and we will get better.”
In the third frame, the Clippers punted once, and the Birds picked off a Lyons pass, but after a Coon punt to the GFW 20 in the fourth quarter, GFW fumbled on their 25-yard line. Making sure he could run the ball instead of having to fall on it, Shouler took a quick look in his rearview mirror, saw no GFW player around, scooped it up and dashed the remaining 22 yards to the end zone.
“Big man touchdown,” Shouler said. “All I could think about was throwing the ball up in the air. I was so excited.”
The Clippers were penalized 5 yards before the PAT attempt, and the Firebirds stopped the 2-point run, but the Clippers led 34-0 with 5 minutes remaining.
Taking over on their 33 after the kickoff, the Thunderbirds drove the rest of the way with the touchdown coming on a lob to the corner of the end zone with 12 seconds left. Their 2-point pass, more or less the same one they used for the TD, was successful for the 34-8 final.
The Clippers gained 243 first downs, eight more than GFW. They were flagged nine times for 67 yards compared to four infractions for 15 yards by GFW. Each team had one turnover.
Lyons, who was banged up slightly and didn’t play defense, completed 17 of 33 passes for 192 yards, three TDs and a 2-point conversion.
He scattered his throws among seven receivers. Smith caught four of them for 61 total yards. Krenik had three catches for 56 yards and a TD. Simonette pulled down two passes for 20 yards and a TD. Mons had one catch for a 13-yard TD. Ternes made three catches for 26 yards. Heldberg had two catches for 10 yards. Hollerich made one 6-yard catch.
Simonette legged the ball 12 times for 53 yards and a score. Lyons kept the ball after six snaps for 51 yards. Hollerich ran three times for 9 total yards.
Coon made two of three PAT kicks and punted twice, once for 46 yards and once for 32 yards. The Clippers didn’t field a punt. Hollerich returned the opening kickoff 31 yards.
Garet Peterson made five solo tackles and 10 assisted tackles and sacked the GFW quarterback four times. Simonette made four solo tackles, assisted with 11 more and made two tackles behind the line. He deflected one pass. Ternes made three solo tackles and three tackle assists and deflected one pass. Shouler assisted on five tackles, recovered one fumble and deflected one pass. Heldberg assisted seven tackles and made one tackle behind the line. Coon had three solo tackles and four assists and two tackles behind the line. He forced one fumble. Carsyn Ryg had five solo talks. Smith had two solo tackles and two assists. Krenik made one solo tackle and two assists and intercepted one pass and deflected another. Adam Rain had four assisted tackles. Hollerich had two solo tackles and one assist and deflected one pass. Gauge Bock, Jake Mueller and Urijah Hoheisel each had one solo tackle. Mons, Austin Tarkey and Zander Hoechst each had one tackle assist.
The Clippers take on host St. James Area on Friday. The 2-2 Saints are coming off a 60-7 loss to host Southland.
Elsewhere in the district on Friday, Mayer Lutheran, the Clippers’ Homecoming opponent and the team to beat in the district, upped its record to 4-0 with a 42-6 win over host Madelia. Lester Prairie lost to host Martin County West 40-0.
In crossover action, USC fell to host Fillmore Central 35-0, and Lewiston-Altura lost to visiting NRHEG 36-0.
Above: Tanner Simonette went head to helmet on this play.
Braeden Smith mixes it up with a GFW defender during the Clippers’ first drive. He gained 18 yards on the run.
Jackson Shouler wraps up a GFW runner.
Carson Lyons whips a side-eye pass.
A pair of GFW defenders crunch Garret Heldberg after he made a catch.
A couple of GFW defenders shove Braeden Smith out of bounds just in front of the goal line.
Jack Mons couldn’t quite hang on to this pass, but later he caught one in the end zone.
A GFW defender breaks up a pass to Sam Ternes.
Carson Lyons throws on the run to Braeden Smith.
Wyatt Krenik hauls in a pass.
Jackson Shouler picked up a GFW fumble…
…and ran it 22 yards for a TD.
Sophomore Clara Hilfer sang the National Anthem.
With a volleyball tournament in Burnsville, the bib girls weren’t full strength, but there were still plenty on hand for rousing celebrations of the five Clipper touchdowns.
Sophomores Rayna Williams, Charlotte Meyer, Mattea Grandaw, Bristol Davis, Allie Anderson and Amelia Baker pose for a photo after the game.