ESTHERVILLE, Ia. — The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys football team returned to the grid iron on Friday Night, as they made the trip northwest into the Iowa Great Lakes Region to take on the Estherville-Lincoln Central Midgets at Estherville-Lincoln Central High School. CGD entered with a record of 1-1, while ELC entered at 0-2.
CGD would begin their scoring on the opening drive as JD Morrical hit Paxton Lingenfelter for a 25-yard touchdown pass as the Cowboys took a 7-0 lead. ELC answered with a 73-yard touchdown pass from Will Rosfjord to Amari Armstrong as the Midgets took an 8-7 lead after a two-point conversion, but CGD would respond with a 15-yard touchdown run by Maxton Downing to put the Cowboys head 14-8 after the first quarter. Estherville would put up the only points of the 2nd quarter on 6-yard touchdown pass from Rosfjord to Garrett Smith as the game would be tied at 14-14 at halftime.
The 2nd half, however, would belong to the Cowboys as ELC punted the ball on their opening drive, as Clarion would score on a 34-yard touchdown run by Reed Campbell as the Cowboys took a 20-14 lead. Paxton Lingenfelter would intercept a pass on the ensuing defensive drive and set up CGD with a short field, as Colin Sesker scored form 5 yards out to put the Cowboys up 28-14. ELC would score once more before the end of the 3rd, as CGD led 38-20 headed into the 4th quarter. In the fourth, Clarion would pull away on 3 touchdowns that included a 29-yard touchdown pass from JD Morrical to Huxley Lingenfelter, a 23-yard touchdown run from Colin Sesker and a 46-yard touchdown run by Maxton Downing as the Cowboys capped off a 49-20 win.
CGD’s offense rolled up nearly 400 yards on the ground, as Colin Sesker carried 16 times for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns, Reed Campbell carried 17 times for 91 yards and a touchdown, as Maxton Downing carried 5 times for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. JD Morrical would go 6-for-11 for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing for 90 yards.
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows football returns to action on Friday, when they open Class 1A, District 3 action by hosting Central Springs for homecoming at CGD Middle School, with kickoff at 7 PM.