In what was also GFW’s Homecoming game, Lyons threw for 197 yards and four touchdowns as he led the No. 8-ranked Clippers to a 29-8 win in a Mid-South District, Gold Subdistrict football game.

After the Firebirds punted on their opening drive, Lyons and the Clippers quickly got on the board on their second play of the night. Lyons’ first pass of the game went down the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown to Bode Bartell, the Firebirds quickly became aware of how important slowing things down and containing Lyons was going to be. GFW head coach Pat Hentges was already well aware of how tough it was going to be to stop Lyons, but that extra, early reminder wasn’t quite what the Firebirds expected or wanted to see.

“We knew they had potential to score from anywhere on the field,” GFW head coach Pat Hentges said. “These guys have played together, they know their offense, they got guys in the right spots, so we knew that would be there, so it was about us having a short memory and the defense sure did.”

The Firebirds also had a punt blocked later in the first by Braeden Smith that was recovered by the Clippers at the GFW 11-yard line. The Firebirds then showed that short memory on defense after that blocked punt as Cayson Gosewisch made a big tackle for a loss on third down to set up a 30-yard field goal attempt by Caleb Possin. The kick was short and wide right to keep it a 7-0 game.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Cayson Gosewisch wraps up Cleveland’s Caleb Possin for a tackle in the first half of Friday’s GFW Homecoming football game in Gibbon.

Late in the second quarter, GFW finally was able to get the ball into the red zone, using all three of their timeouts and getting it to the 1-yard line. But a pass by quarterback Owen Swenson as time in the half expired was batted away and the Firebirds trailed 7-0 heading into halftime.

Hentges was seen applauding his players for getting some offense going before the half, but Cleveland’s stand was still tough for the players to deal with heading into halftime. Despite that, Hentges said his players were ready to go in the second half.

“The body language of the guys after the first half, certainly they were disappointed and you could see that,” Hentges said. “We talked about that at halftime and it wasn’t a minute and they were ready to go. In fact, I think that’s the earliest we’ve ever been back out on the field. It was over six and a half minutes left in halftime and we were back on the field.”

The Clippers made some adjustments at halftime, though, and they were quick to put things in motion.

Cleveland got two quick scores in the third quarter, one being a 9-yard TD pass to Alexander Kortuem and one a 5-yard TD pass to Bartell following a GFW fumble, to lead 21-0.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Garrett Stegeman returns the ball to the 25-yard line during the second half of Friday’s GFW Homecoming football game in Gibbon.

The Clippers continued their pressure in the fourth with another Lyons TD pass to Kortuem for 14 yards. A 2-point conversion made it 29-0.

The Firebirds weren’t going to let their home crowd down without getting on the board, however, as Swenson completed a 66-yard TD pass to Matthew Lee late in the fourth. A 2-point conversion run by Luke Bastian made it 29-8.

“When they put in that second touchdown there in the third quarter, that weighed on us, we’re human, and the kids are, too,” Hentges said. “And you start looking at that doggone scoreboard and instead of focusing on what we need to do. I’m proud of them, though, there are times that we really fought. I thought we played very physical, we just have to be more consistent again.”

Lyons finished the game 17 of 34, while Swenson completed 5 of 10 passes for 136 yards.

Swenson also ran the ball 13 times for 51 yards, while Garrett Stegeman had 13 carries for 34 yards, Lee had six carries for 33 yards and Mason Ahlbrecht had 11 carries for 29 yards.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Homecoming Queen Silvana Ruiz and Homecoming King Reggie Mattes are introduced prior to Friday’s GFW Homecoming football game in Gibbon.

Cleveland saw Possin lead his team on the ground with 10 carries for 74 yards, while Bartell finished with four catches for 108 yards and his two touchdown grabs. Trevor Simonette added three catches for 64 yards for Cleveland.

Bastian led the GFW defense with 10 tackles, two for a loss, while Lee had seven tackles and Koufax Rose had five tackles.

Prior to the opening kickoff, girls and boys runners from the GFW cross-country team delivered the game ball to the officials at midfield after running from GFW High School in Winthrop, 7.7 miles away.

GFW (2-2) is at Martin County West next on Friday, while Cleveland (4-0) hosts St. James Area on Friday.