Clarkson has a big day at High Plains

Clarkson has a big day at High Plains
Red Devils set tone early, don't let Storm get back in comfort zone
By Marc Zavala   

Clarkson	High Plains
58	0

    CLARKS- The Class D-1, No. 4 Clarkson football team picked a good time to play its best game of the season.
    The Red Devils rolled up 449 yards of total offense, scoring three one-play touchdowns, while the defense held the High Plains offense to 99 yards, three first downs and forced four turnovers to post a 58-0 win Friday night.
    "Everything just clicked for us today," Clarkson coach Jim Clarkson said.  "The kids were focused, played fast, strong, and were confident.  I have no idea how the score ended up like this, but the kids played great.  This is the best we have played in quite a while and probably this year."
    The Red Devils set the tone on the opening drive of the game, even though they didn't score.  The drive was all running plays, 16 rushes for 64 yards.  Even though the No. 5 Storm stopped Clarkson at the 1-yard line, that carried over into its third position.  The Red Devils needed six plays to get on the board, capped by Michael Konicek's 9-yard run for an 8-0 lead.
    After stopping High Plains on its next possession, Eric Brabec found the end zone on the first play of the next possession on a 51-yard run.  The Clarkson defense again stopped the Storm on three and out and found another touchdown on a Konicek 20-yard run.
    The Red Devils dominated the first half, which ended on a Brabec 40-yard run, which gave them 239 yards of rushing.  They ended the game with 413 rushing yards which was enough to impress High Plains coach Andy Vrbka, whose team gave up 59 running yards to Humphrey St. Francis in a 50-20 win last week.
    "To tell the truth, it looked like Clarkson came in here on a mission," Vrbka said.  "They showed us and everybody in the state that they are a heck of a football team.  They have a dominant line with some big boys that can move people around easily."
    The Storm had an opportunity to get on the board on their first possession of the second half.  High Plains' quarterback Jesse Dubas threw a pass to Marcus Bender, who then lateraled the ball to Joe Ditloff for a 39-yard gain, which was its first first down of the game.  But an interception in the end zone on the next play ended the threat.
    Clarkson took advantage when Konicek scored again four plays later on a 34-yard run for a 32-0 lead to put it in complete control.  The Storm drove again to the Red Devils' 37-yard line, but Brabec stopped the drive on a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown.
    Brabec led the Red Devil running attack with 24 carries for 143 yards with a touchdown, along with the interception return, while Konicek had 13 carries for 153 yards, scoring three touchdowns.  Clarkson said he was impressed with, not only those two players, but the offensive line for controlling the line of scrimmage.
    "Our offensive line played very well," Clarkson said.  "Our running backs ran real hard while Brabec just played amazing today.  I'm proud of how all those guys played."
    With the lopsided loss, Vrbka said he is confident High Plains will bounce back.
    "The kids should be motivated to get back to work by looking at the scoreboard," Vrbka said.  "If they can't get excited and work hard at practice after this, then we are in big trouble.  They know this wasn't our best game and we could have given a better effort.  I'm sure the kids will take it as a challenge to come back and show people that we are a better football team than this."
    Clarkson hopes beating a team as good as High Plains should bring some confidence after losing an 8-6 game to Class D-2, No. 1 Dodge Sept. 14.
    "The kids were down a little bit after we lost to Dodge," Clarkson said.  "This win was a good thing to get us back on track.  Hopefully, we can keep our focus and make a run in the last part of the season."

Clarkson (4-1)       0   24   20   14   -   58
High Plains (4-1)  0      0     0     0   -     0

• SCORING SUMMARY:  CLA- Michael Konicek 9-yard run (Brandon Dinslage run); CLA- Eric Brabec 51-yard run (Brabec run); CLA- Konicek 20-yard run (Brabec run); CLA- Konicek 34-yard run (Dinslage run); CLA- Brabec 50-yard interception return (run failed); CLA- Jeff Stoklasa 7-yard run (pass failed); CLA- Ben Kucera 38-yard run (run failed); CLA- Dustin Stodola 47-yard run (Stodola run).