WINTHROP — Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop crushed Cleveland/Immanuel Lutheran 56-6 on Tuesday in Section 2A football action.

The win means GFW (7-2), the No. 2 seed, will host Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (6-3) the No. 3 seed, on Saturday.

Turnovers played a part in the contest’s outcome. Cleveland had five fumbles and it lost two of them. Cleveland quarterback Jackson Meyer had four passes picked off by the Thunderbird defense. GFW had two fumbles, but it lost only one.

Meyer was 12 for 23 for 126 yards passing with one touchdown and the four interceptions. GFW’s Hentges was 5 for 10 for 66 yards passing.

The Thunderbirds scored on their first possession of the game on a 21-yard TD run by JC Munoz. Alex Rieke ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion and GFW led 8-0.

Ryan Lavrenz scored next for GFW on a 75-yard punt return to lead 14-0. Brody Hentges tried to pass to Evan Martin for the 2-point conversion, but it was no good.

Dominic Henrichs ran 26 yards for GFW’s third touchdown of the quarter. Henrichs kicked for the extra point for a 21-0 Thunderbird advantage.

Hentges handed the ball to Martin, who scored on a 3-yard run at 10:27 of the second quarter. Henrichs kicked for the extra point and GFW led 28-0.

The Clippers were later forced to punt to GFW. Henrichs ran 5 yards for the Thunderbird’s next score. David Stoll ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion and a 36-0 GFW lead.

GFW put together another scoring drive which culminated on a 1-yard run by Damian Hopp. Henrichs’ kick for the extra point was good and it was 43-0 GFW with 2:39 remaining in the second quarter. That was the score at the half.

GFW’s Blake Schroeder picked off a Meyer pass on the Clippers’ second play from scrimmage of the second half. That turnover later resulted in Nick TenEyck running 10 yards for a touchdown. Henrichs’ kick for the extra point was blocked by the Clipper defense and it was 49-0 for the Thunderbirds.

GFW’s James Wickenhauser later recovered a Clipper fumble at the 47-yard line. Hentges later handed the ball off to Hopp who scored on a 40-yard run for GFW’s final score. Hopp broke several tackles enroute to the end zone. Henrichs kicked for the extra point and it was 56-0.

The Clippers got the football back on the ensuing kickoff. They scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Meyer to Brock Olson. Meyer handed the ball to Levi Baker who tried to run for the 2-point conversion, but the GFW defense stopped it.

Heinrichs ran for 64 yards on six carries, while Hopp had 63 yards rushing on seven carries. TenEyck rushed for 56 yards on eight carries, while Martin rushed for 53 yards on five carries and Munoz rushed for 49 yards on three carries.