Clear Lake tight end Cody Hayes scores in the first quarter, one of his two receiving touchdowns on the night. He ended up with 124 yards on seven catches. (Photos by Minenna Photography)
LAKEPORT — Quarterback Jake Soderquist's first varsity start went more than just pretty well. That will happen when your offensive line doesn't let anyone near you.
Soderquist, a junior, passed for 253 yards and four touchdowns while the Clear Lake defense held Pierce scoreless in the second half as the Cardinals opened a new football season with an impressive 21-15 victory over the Bears at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Clear Lake's defense held the Pierce running game in check throughout the second half, shutting out the Bears on the scoreboard over the final two quarters.
"The offensive line did a great job," Clear Lake head coach Mark Cory said of his senior-dominated veteran unit that gave Soderquist all the time he needed to pick out his open receivers, including junior tight end Cody Hayes (seven catches for 124 yards, two touchdowns), freshman brother Jesse Hayes (five catches for 61 yards, TD), and senior Ayden Williamson (five catches for 64 yards, TD).
"Cody Hayes was a beast tonight," Cory said.
Clear Lake gained only 35 yards on the ground, but that was OK because the Cardinals used a series of short passes to effectively move the ball down the field as good as any running game could do it, a West Coast-type offense reminiscent of what the San Francisco 49ers did during their heyday in the 1980s.
Clear Lake freshman Jesse Hayes made a solid high school debut with five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
"They weren't giving us much to run the ball with," Cory said of a hard-hitting Pierce defense.
However, not all of Soderquist's completions came on short routes. He also effectively picked out receivers deeper down the field, hitting wide receiver Williamson in perfect stride on a 37-yard touchdown play with 5:36 left in the third quarter to move Clear Lake in front to stay at 21-15.
In all, Soderquist (18-for-29) completed six passes of 20 or more yards, four of those to Cody Hayes, who caught the first of his two TDs on a 20-yard play in the first quarter as Clear Lake took a 7-0 lead. Hayes' second score was a 22-yard grab on a huge fourth-and-eight play with 2:45 remaining that sealed the victory. Jesse Hayes kicked his fourth extra point for a 28-15 Cardinals lead.
Clear Lake quarterback Jake Soderquist pitches the ball to running back Hank Ollenberger.
Like his big brother, Jesse Hayes also caught a touchdown pass on a fourth-down play, this one in the second quarter when he hauled in a 3-yard toss on fourth-and-two. That and the ensuing extra-point kick put Clear Lake ahead 14-13.
Pierce (0-2) managed to grab a 15-14 lead as time expired in the first half on a safety, the result of Soderquist being stopped in the end zone while trying to run out the clock.
"That's on me," Cory said of the running play from the 1-yard line with only seconds left. "We don't take a lot of snaps under center (the Cardinals run out of a shotgun formation). We should have just snapped the ball in the shotgun and passed it (to run out the clock)."
Led by running back Manny Lopez (31 carries for 124 yards, TD), Pierce certainly made a game of it in the first half, taking a 13-7 lead on the strength of a Lopez 1-yard run in the first quarter and a 33-yard run by David Aguirre with 7:23 left in the second quarter, that following a lost Clear Lake fumble three plays earlier. The Bears missed the extra-point kick.
Not everyone was at the nearby Lake County Fair on Friday night. These Clear Lake fans showed up in force to root on the Cardinals in their season opener.
The Cardinals wasted little time regaining the lead, marching 60-yards in eight plays before Jesse Hayes scored the first touchdown of his high school career. During that drive Soderquist found Cody Hayes wide open over the middle for a 41-yard gain on third-and-12.
While Pierce was able to generate a solid running attack in the first half, Clear Lake's defense stopped the Bears cold, especially up the middle, in the second half.
"We did a good job defensively," Cory said. "We got used to what they were doing although 33 (Lopez's number) is a great back. We might not see a better back the rest of the season."
Clear Lake receiver Ayden Williamson is brought down after making a catch. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter of the Cardinals' 28-15 win over Pierce on Friday night in Lakeport.
"We played these guys the last few years but I've never beaten them," Cory said. "It was a great high school football game."
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