Lions run and run for win

By Paul D. Bowker
Posted 10/7/20

Lone Tree senior running back Alex Viner began to celebrate before he hit the end zone for his third touchdown of the day.

A Moravia defender was on the ground 25 yards away after missing a …

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Lions run and run for win

Posted

Lone Tree senior running back Alex Viner began to celebrate before he hit the end zone for his third touchdown of the day.

A Moravia defender was on the ground 25 yards away after missing a tackle.

Viner danced slowly down the sideline for a touchdown, almost allowing his teammates to catch up for a Lions celebration that was just a piece of Lone Tree’s dominant 50-14 victory on a rainy Saturday two hours from home.

Viner scored two more times before the afternoon was over, totaling 197 yards and leading a Lone Tree ground attack of 241 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Lions (3-2) scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions, begun by quarterback Cade Shield’s scoring run in the first minute of the game. The Lions rolled out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter alone.

“Our offense did a really good job,” said Lions head coach Aaron Bohr. ‘I think with the conditions, we were a little bit worried how that was going to play out.”

A light rain fell for much of the contest, making for slippery conditions. But neither team lost fumbles and Lone Tree’s Cade Patterson had an interception. With the wet conditions, the Lions quickly turned to their strong rushing attack.

“They had a lot of guys stacked at the line; we’re not used to seeing a defense like that,” Bohr said. “We found a couple of things that worked early and just kind of stuck with them. By the time they adjusted, we were already up by a considerable margin.”

Viner’s second touchdown in the opening quarter was set up by a blocked punt. Shield tacked on another Lone Tree touchdown with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

Patterson’s interception set up a 4-yard scoring run by Shield in the fourth quarter and a two-point conversion run by senior linebacker and kick returner Will Hotz.

“Will’s a terrific player, and more than that he’s a terrifc leader,” Bohr said. “He’s out there either making a big hit or scoring on the two-point conversion. Guys get fired up about that because they know what Will has done for our program.”

Mathew Homsted, a sophomore, had a game-high 10.5 tackles for Lone Tree.

Shield was held to nine yards passing on three completions due to the wet conditions. He rushed 11 times for 35 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The victory set the Lions up for a big challenge next week: a road game at No. 7-ranked Montezuma, a team that is unbeaten and has scored 126 points in its last two games.

“The thing that makes them so dangerous is they can hurt you in many different ways,” Bohr said. “They can throw the ball, they can run the ball.”

But the Lions have no intentions of backing off their district rival.

“We’re not going in there to keep it close, we’re not in there to just kind of mess around and let them destroy us,” Bohr said. “We’re not going to roll over. We’re going to do everything we can to get the ‘W.’ “

LIONS STAT LEADERS

RUSHING: Alex Viner, 16 carries, 197 yards, 5 TDs; Cade Shield, 11-35, 2 TDs; Levi Sotzen, 4-9.

PASSING: Shield, 3-of-7, 9 yards.

RECEIVING: Cade Patterson, 2 catches, 9 yards.

DEFENSE: Mathew Hemsted, 10.5 tackles; Will Hotz, 7 tackles; Patterson, 2.5 tackles, 1 interception.